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Korean Job Discussion Forums "The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
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Which party would you like to see win the most seats? |
Liberals |
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17% |
[ 9 ] |
Conservatives |
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45% |
[ 23 ] |
NDP |
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21% |
[ 11 ] |
BQ |
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1% |
[ 1 ] |
Greens |
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13% |
[ 7 ] |
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Total Votes : 51 |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 3:23 am Post subject: |
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Moldy Rutabaga wrote: |
Interesting how us Liberal, expat, cappucino-slurping ESL teachers are supporting said Conservatives in this poll. Especially when Harper is, by the way, an extreme right-wing America-loving, Hitler-clothes-wearing fundamentalist who is actually Mussolini's grandson, and who wants to sell all Canadians to space aliens to work in underground salt mines. I know because the CBC told me.
Ken:> |
It might be because some of us Americans are bending the poll right by voting.
RachelRoo wrote: |
So he [Paul Martin] relies on ridiculous fear mongering about the Americans and he continues to plunge in the polls. Most Canadians are smart enough to see through this. |
Quote: |
A Conservative win would sure make their confreres down south happy. (1)Make no mistake what Harper has told them at meetings where press was banned. (2)Sweetheart deals for our oil and water...you name it, it'll be up for sale to the US...and cheap. It'll embolden the extreme right-wing freaks, including the religious ones to start pushing to influence public policy. (3)All of a sudden it's not ok anymore to teach evolution in schools, women's right to choose, etc etc etc the whole disgusting Conservative Freak agenda. Similar to what has happened in the US. |
Apparently not every Canadian, anyway. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Retired
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 3:53 am Post subject: |
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mithridates wrote: |
[Not really. Chretien did a really good job.
Quote: |
Canada has been well served by 12-plus years of Liberal rule. Despite what the opposition parties would have us believe, it has not been all scandal and nest-feathering.
Ask yourself a simple multiple of Ronald Reagan's famous electoral question: Are you better off today than you were 12 years ago? Unemployment then stood at 11.2 per cent. Today, it is 6.5 per cent. An average mortgage rate was 8.78 per cent. Now it is 5.99 per cent, making home ownership affordable for hundreds of thousands more Canadians. The national debt has fallen from 66.5 per cent of gross domestic product to 38.7 per cent. Taxes are down; our standard of living is up.
On a more qualitative level, while much of the world has struggled with intolerance, Canada has emerged as a beacon of diversity — home to newcomers from around the world and confident enough of managing differences to become one of the early adopters of same-sex marriage.
The Liberal years certainly have not been without their failings, from the gun registry to the sponsorship scandal to the fumbling of the income-trust issue. But there is no denying we are better off than when Jean Chrétien first came to power with Paul Martin at his side. |
source
That's Chretien though.
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[/quote]
What exactly did Chretien do though? He was fortunate to inheirit a government at the time the stock market started to take off. The '90's were a great time for stocks and funds. We may be better off, but that certainly had little to do with Chretien. The booming stock market of those time among other economic factors made life better. They eliminated the deficit, but apart from that they did very little that was notable. |
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RachaelRoo

Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Location: Anywhere but Ulsan!
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 4:38 am Post subject: |
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But eliminating the deficit was one of the most important things a government in Canada has accomplished. Something like 25% or 30% of every tax dollar we pay goes to INTEREST on the debt. Eliminating the deficit was a huge step towards eliminating the debt. It makes Canada stronger economically and it will result in enormous long term savings for Canadian tax payers, as well as an increase in funds available for social program like education.
Jean Cretien is my hero.
He did have balls.
The only thing that worries me about a Conservative majority is the risk that we will be plunged into deficit again due to oversealous tax cuts for corporations and individuals in higher tax brackets. |
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Moldy Rutabaga

Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Location: Ansan, Korea
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 6:03 am Post subject: |
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Eliminating a deficit by cutting the size and scope of government and by becoming more efficient would be a laudable achievement. But the Liberals did not do this; they kept taxes constant while cutting transfer payments to the provinces, who simply passed on the costs to us. Ever wonder why university tuition has skyrocketed in the last fifteen years?
The best PM we've had in forty years was Mulroney. But before anyone gets cranky about this statement, think of the duds and cranks in office I'm comparing him to. It's pretty weak praise.
Ken:> |
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Big Mac
Joined: 17 Sep 2005
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 9:24 am Post subject: |
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RachaelRoo wrote: |
But eliminating the deficit was one of the most important things a government in Canada has accomplished. |
Jean Chretien's Liberals were riding on the coat tails of Brian Mulroney's Conservatives. The financial situation of the federal government was horrible when the Conservatives took over from the Liberals in 1984. Mulroney put in place policies like the GST to help put the economic house in order again.
Brian Mulroney got the ball rolling and Jean Chretien just kept it rolling. It was the Conservatives' accomplishment, not the Liberals. |
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igotthisguitar

Joined: 08 Apr 2003 Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:45 am Post subject: |
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Greens see up to million votes, no seats
By John McCrank
Tue Jan 17, 4:36 PM ET
TORONTO (Reuters) - Shut out of a realistic stab at seats by a first-past-the-post electoral system, Canada's Green Party hopes a 6 percent protest vote will force its rivals to concede the need for change.
The party, which wants to tax polluters, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and change the priorities of the publicly funded health system, is running candidates in all but one of Canada's 308 electoral districts.
It has garnered 6 percent support in recent opinion polls, up from the 4.3 percent it got in the last federal election in 2004.
But it has never won a seat in Parliament.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/canada_politics_greens_col;_ylt=AtUvP4K2OM5g_GAHQsp4SNwDW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
Call it Democracy
by Bruce Cockburn, written Nov. 1985
Padded with power here they come
international loan sharks backed by the guns
of market hungry military profiteers
whose word is a swamp and whose brow is smeared
with the blood of the poor
Who rob life of its quality
who render rage a necessity
by turning countries into labour camps
modern slavers in drag as champions of freedom
Sinister cynical instrument
who makes the gun into a sacrament --
the only response to the deification
of tyranny by so-called "developed" nations'
idolatry of ideology
North south east west
kill the best and buy the rest
it's just spend a buck to make a buck
you don't really give a flying *beep*
about the people in misery
IMF dirty MF
takes away everything it can get
always making certain that there's one thing left
keep them on the hook with insupportable debt
See the paid-off local bottom feeders
passing themselves off as leaders
kiss the ladies shake hands with the fellows
open for business like a cheap bordello
And they call it democracy
and they call it democracy
and they call it democracy
and they call it democracy
See the loaded eyes of the children too
trying to make the best of it the way kids do
one day you're going to rise from your habitual feast
to find yourself staring down the throat of the beast
they call the revolution
IMF dirty MF
takes away everything it can get
always making certain that there's one thing left
keep them on the hook with insupportable debt |
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Bulsajo

Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 7:40 am Post subject: |
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And so your idea of 'participating' is posting Bruce Cockburn lyrics- good show old chap.
Next time you might actually consider voting. |
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igotthisguitar

Joined: 08 Apr 2003 Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 7:55 am Post subject: |
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Bulsajo wrote: |
Next time you might actually consider voting. |
Oh i see ... so you know now i don't vote, eh?
Clearly, something like this could only come from a presumptuous turd such as yourself.
Before you start shooting off half - c-o-c-k-e-d there cowboy, next time " ... maybe you should consider thinking."
Yee - haw !!! |
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Bulsajo

Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 9:32 am Post subject: |
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Okay, you didn't answer my question on the previous page,
so answer it now:
Did you vote?
If you are in Korea and you haven't already mailed in your vote it's too late.
So, you braying jackass, did you or didn't you?
P.S. Do you have some sort of fixation about the word cock?
No need to be ashamed of that, son. |
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mithridates

Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 8:04 pm Post subject: |
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Big surprise, the Liberals get an F for accountability.
Big surprise!
Quote: |
Tories have best accountability platform: watchdog
Updated Wed. Jan. 18 2006 3:22 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
An advocacy group for clean government has awarded top marks to the federal Conservative Party for accountability.
Democracy Watch has released its annual review of the main federal parties' platforms, giving each of them a letter grade in 16 different areas -- ranging from "Requiring honesty-in-politics" to "Ensuring loophole free laws and strong penalties for wrongdoers."
Highlights of the group's Report Card on the 2006 Government Accountability Election Platforms:
* The Tories had the best overall grade of "B" -- mainly because they made many specific pledges in the areas of ethics and accountability, says Democracy Watch.
* The Tories also had the best grade in two of the five sections (a "B+" in "Open Government Measures, and a "B" in "Representative, Citizen-Driven Measures").
* The New Democrats scored the best grade in two of the five sections (a "B-" in "Honest, Ethical Government" and a "B-" in "General Government Accountability Measures"), and tied with the Bloc Quebecois and the Green Party with an overall grade of "C+".
* The Liberals scored an overall grade of "F" -- the worst result by far of all the parties, and they also had he worst grades in all five sections.
Excluding the Liberals, the overall grades for every party are better than in all past election platform report cards that Democracy Watch has produced since 1993.
* To look at the full report card, click here
Duff Conacher, coordinator of Democracy Watch, said the fact that most of the parties are scoring better than in the past four elections is a positive sign. He says they're finally starting to address key flaws in Ottawa's system of accountability.
Conacher adds, however: "Given the lack of a federal honesty in politics law, and the lack of a clear pledge by any of the parties to pass such a law, voters should be wary of trusting any political promises."
Fundraising
As in past elections, the group is also raising questions about the way political parties have raised money for their campaigns.
Conacher says voters have the right to know the identity of donors and the amount of donations and loans to candidates and parties from October to the end of December, 2005.
"They have a democratic right to know, before they cast their vote, who has bankrolled political parties and candidates," Conacher told CTV.ca, "because it's key information as to who the parties may owe or may have ties to -- especially given that unlimited secret donations to candidates are still allowed."
Since January 1, 2005, parties have to disclose their donors every three months under the Elections Act.
But donors from October to December, 2005 have not yet been made public.
Under the Act, loans to the parties, and donations to riding associations for the previous year, aren't required to be disclosed until the end of the fiscal period (June 30).
Loophole
Further to this information voters aren't privy to before they cast their ballots, Conacher says contributions of money, property and services can be made in secret because of a "loophole" in federal law.
"It's only counted as a contribution if it's used in a campaign," Conacher told CTV.ca
"If it goes into your personal bank account, or if it's a car that's given to you or some sort of service, if it's not tied into your campaign or used for your campaign, it's unlimited -- and you never have to disclose it. It is a gaping loophole."
Conacher also points out holes in a law that applies to Members of Parliament, requiring them to disclose any gifts over $100 they may have received.
"But once the election is called, Parliament is dissolved and MPs are no longer MPs," said Conacher.
"And so the MPs' code does not apply to them because they become candidates, and as candidates, the criminal code provisions don't apply to them. So all you have to do is not use it on your campaign, and you can take an unlimited donation from anyone and never have to disclose it."
Conacher calls this a "recipe for corruption," which only the Conservative Party has vowed to get rid of in its Federal Accountability Act.
He said he hasn't seen anything close to the Tories' promises in the other parties' platforms.
"The Greens say they'll require the full identity of donors to be disclosed. But it's very vague -- nothing specific on these particular types of accounts or donations. None of the other parties even mention it." |
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numazawa

Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Location: The Concrete Barnyard
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 11:17 pm Post subject: |
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Bulsajo wrote: |
P.S. Do you have some sort of fixation about the word cock?
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Hey, nice filter-dodging there, sport.  |
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Alias

Joined: 24 Jan 2003
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Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2006 4:57 am Post subject: |
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Now that it is becoming more likely that the Conservatives will form the next government there is more talk about who would serve in cabinet.
There is one good rumor I like. Stockwell Day won't be foreign affairs minister. |
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Sooke

Joined: 12 Jan 2004 Location: korea
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Bulsajo

Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2006 7:44 am Post subject: |
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And Igotthisguitar is a no-show.
I'm so surprised.
Just remember that folks- the guy who posts all the nutty political stuff doesn't even bother to vote. |
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mithridates

Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2006 7:52 am Post subject: |
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Interesting poll:
Conservatives have been losing some momentum and the gap's not so wide anymore. For the first time ever though the Green Party has gone up by two points - looks like some people have just been turned off all the major parties and are thinking of going for something new. |
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