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Canadians Gone Conservative!

13:41 / 24.01.06

So it appears our neighbors to the north have elected a Conservative government in the recent national elections. However, they don't have a majority rule. How significant is this? Will there be drastic changes or will the necessity for partnerships dampen Conservative aims? It looks to me like all those disagreements between the Candian and American governments are going to disappear fairly quickly but I'd like to hear from a Canadian about this turn of events.

Tryphena Absent

13:50 / 24.01.06

This Guardian article hurt me. Oh Canada. How could you?

14:01 / 24.01.06

My Canadian friend were all quietly resigned to this result, which, from all accounts appears to have been less about the Conservatives winning hearts and minds as the Canadian voters wanting to punish lazy and corrupt elements of the Liberal party...

Having said which, the BQ also lost seats to the conservatives, which will give a bit of a boost to federalism...

14:38 / 24.01.06

The Canadian government is now going to reconsider missile defense for the United States? That's insanity.

14:56 / 24.01.06

I voted NDP, the New Democratic Party, the only "honest" party that seems to give a shit about same-sex marriage.

The Conservatives vowed to put same-sex marriage to an open vote again in the House of Commons. It's entirely possible that homosexual Canadians will be denied marriage within the next year.

What's next? I'm sure they'd love to take away abortion from us simple folk, too.

It happens every decade or so: We have a Liberal government, and we realize they are corrupt, so we say 'Ah, let's get these bastards out of here!' and then we vote Conservative. Then five years go by and we say 'Ah, let's get these bastards out of here' and we vote Liberal. They're all corrupt. It's a question of choosing the lesser weasal[sic].

16:32 / 24.01.06

The Canadian government is now going to reconsider missile defense for the United States?

Well, we shall see... This is coalition politics time and Canadain coalition governments have a notoriously difficult time pushing their policies through parliament...

IRC Conservative party in Canada at the moment is already the result of the merger of the two main right leaning parties... they don't really have many attractive options when it comes to forming a coalition...

18:12 / 24.01.06

A big problem is that this new Conservative party, in NOT the old Conservative party. After the utter defeat of the Conservatives last go (or a while ago or something), the new ultra conservative Reform party adopted the name.

My knowledge of politics is fairly dodgy, but it’s my impression that there did not happen to be a whole lot of ideological difference between that old Conservative party and our forever in power Liberal party. But these knew guys? They seem to be against everything that I take pride in about my country.

As was mentioned, this seems to be more of a “fuck you” to the Liberals than anything else. Smarten up, or look what happens. Probably the first time I’m happy about minority government.

22:48 / 24.01.06

And the Bush pundits think it's as sweet as candy.

23:23 / 24.01.06

Not the most incisive pieces of political commentary i've ever seen. And it conveniently ignores both the Canadian Conservative's lack of a majority and the rising number of left wing governments coming to power in Latina America...

As the old curse goes, we live in interesting times and I guess that Canadian politics is likely to remain interesting for a while yet...

So, who do we think is likely to be the coalition partner?

The Bloc Quebcois might seem a good bet, but can disagreements on federalism be squared?

Is the NDP too far to the left to be considered? would it provide enough of a majority for the government?

Could the conservatives even contemplate a rainbow coalition with the liberals? Surely not, right?

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

23:52 / 24.01.06

sleazenation must have been joking when:
Canadian politics is likely to remain interesting for a while yet...

no, really... is that a joke?

in our riding (Vancouver East) the same candidate for the NDP got in as has in as long as I can remember. Libby Davies actually represents this community.

gasp. shock. horror.

wrt the Conservatives (Progressive) of yesterday and the Conservatives (Reform-ish) of today - the lynchpin was our dear old Brian Mulroney, who was very comfortable with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, back in the days when much of our current hullabulloo really sped up. He pushed NAFTA through (thanks for all the fillerbustering), introduced the GST, and gave the US the give go to start bombing aboriginal communities in the Northern parts of the country (still doing it today).

the US started the war on terror under Reagan, and yet, here we still are. As if voting for Conservative yahoos is any improvement to voting over Liberals or NDP for that matter.

it's not like we have anyone to lead us, or to represent us, so what does that leave us with?

Stephen Harper? egads. the most charismatic thing said the entire campaign was Paul Martin's concession speech, when he actually sounded sincere.

waiting to see how we ride out the rest of GW Bush's presidency, and how he plans on staying on for a third term. The US may just take Alberta in a hostile business merger, and then, well, we'll see...

--not jack

00:23 / 25.01.06

It was sort of going to be the lead up to a joke about how interesting Canadian politics normally is...

...but it seems likely that Canadian politics is to remain in a period of flux as long as there is a coalition government... and those are are usually interesting... even in Canada...

And then there is the question of if the liberals will manage to clean up their act once they have selected their new leader. The lesson would appear to be that they are not entitled to power, but has that lesson been learned? And even if it has, how are they going to communicate this?

00:37 / 25.01.06

Well, it was either give the Liberals a time-out or give them the vote and say, Yes, it's ok that you have more members than I care to count that have been caught in the past year for essentially ripping the Canadian people off. I'm no fan of the Tories, but really how can we justify such blatant fucking thievery. Plus, so many of them are rich lawyers from Québec and they're all bred with a silver spoon in their mouths. At least the Conservatives know the value of a dollar.

I choose the party that will rip me off the least. (On that note, I voted Green.)

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

02:57 / 25.01.06

also

I think what we used to call the Progressive Conservatives are closer to our current-day Liberals than (Reform) Conservatives.

Honestly, it's time for a cohesive, radical alternative to this mealy-mouthed cow-towing.

(it is a canadian right to complain about politicians and talk about the weather at the drop of a puck).

I lived in ottawa for a couple of decades, and the atmosphere there is very... well... pent. There's a lot of pressure on people at all levels - overworked and all that at the lower levels of the bureaucracy, and anyone who takes their job to heart and the least bit seriously. there are some. I've met them.

I think that the time has come to rethink this. I don't really believe that our current role of government suit our current social and physical environment.

think we should have a referendum on it?
let's see what Stephen Harper's been smiling about first.

it chillsss uss to think about it.

--not jack

10:00 / 25.01.06

Sleaze mentioned the important thing, it's a minority government so they're unlikely to go maaaaad with hubris like Bush and his buddies. I wish UK politics would be more amenable to hung parliaments as that would make politics a darn sight more interesting and make every MP realise they could make a difference.

12:09 / 25.01.06

I'm sort of glad with the results. The NDP increased their seats, (especially Olivia Chow finally winning in my old riding) the Bloc lost some seats, and Paul Martin is gone.

I don't know why, but he always annoyed me... and I felt that for someone who's worked their whole life to be PM, to only last 2 years in the job would be a great ending.

I think this might go over well if it's just an iternim government until the next Liberal one... with hopefully a better leader (please, NOT Michael Ignatieff).

I'm just hoping they don't try and do anything about gay marriage, the Kyoto Treaty, and missile defence since they won't have the votes.. I hope..

Foust is SO authentic

12:53 / 25.01.06

He pushed NAFTA through (thanks for all the fillerbustering), introduced the GST, and gave the US the give go to start bombing aboriginal communities in the Northern parts of the country (still doing it today).

What the hell are you talking about? That's a pretty outlandish claim, and can't go unchallenged.

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

15:13 / 25.01.06

outlandish but true.

cold lake alberta is a military testing ground. the us tested their cruise missiles there in the 80s (as the terrain resembled that of the dreaded Russia).

cold lake isn't just a lake. there are people living there. in fact, they have been for several thousand years.

the sonic booms, cluster bombs (well, that was in 2002) were rendering residents deaf, knocking them out of their beds. Some got sick from the amount of jet exhaust dumped on the communities under/around the flight paths.

why is that outlandish? the US has had an undeclared nuclear war against the Marshallese and Aleuts since the 50s (don't know how much testing has been going on there of late).

--not jack

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

15:22 / 25.01.06

here's something:
cold lake alberta

in case my sources matter, I spoke with a number of people who live in Cold Lake.

why would US marines need to walk onto a Canadian First Nation's Reserve?

--back on topic--

I hope that our department of external affairs (or whatever their calling themselves these days) decides to network with all those South American Leftists.

Wondering what Mr Harper's thoughts on it are.

Paul Martin always struck me as more of a caretaker PM anyway.

--not jack

17:24 / 25.01.06

Laurie Hawn, the Conservative that ousted Liberal Anne McLellan in my riding (Edmonton Centre), has "over 30 years service in the Canadian Air Force; Special Service Medal (NATO), Canada 125 Medal, Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, Canadian Forces Decoration and two bars." He used to work at Cold Lake, managing multi-million dollar projects for them.

On that note, in high school I actually had a dream about biological weapons experiment near Cold Lake where the government was turning people into weird vampire-ghouls for war.

00:08 / 27.01.06

Doesn't look like the new canadian PM is overly anxious to kow-tow to the neighbours down south...details...

Of course this is mainly for domestic consumption... it will be a while yet before we see how close the new government plans to cleave to washington...

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

15:13 / 31.01.06

Well, it's begun.

Stephen Harper, Canada's new PM has decided to ship our military to the great white north to protect our sovereignty from Russians, Americans and others.

the US Ambassador said something derogatory about it. Stephen Harper responded that his mandate is to the people of the country, not the US Ambassador.

way to go Steve.

Why on Earth would Canada want to protect her Arctic reaches? Don't believe in global warming?

take a looksee:
defending the NorthWest Passage

16:05 / 31.01.06

So, what's your point not jack?

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

17:19 / 31.01.06

point?

that this hasn't been an issue discussed in Canadian politics until after Harper became PM.

mostly wondering if this is going to lead to a conflict in drawing lines around the Arctic, and the wealth of naturally resources made avaiable due to the receding ice.

there are incursions testing Canada's sovereignty - if the vast land is unregulated, then it opens itself up to corporate exploitation, regardless of the flag flown overhead.

Harper's position strikes me as pro-business, and this move could be to strengthen canada's claim on the resources (oil, gold, fish) to sell to the highest bidder.

which could be tragic.

when Jacques Cartier described the Grand Banks in the Maritimes, the cod filled the seas such that you could lower a bucket and haul it up full of cod.

all that is gone now. call it resource mismanagement.
like our forests.
like our water.

so, now that we're mobilizing to secure new resources, what have we to fear from those with the financial influence to exploit these resources?

why is this Harper's first order of business?

--not jack

20:20 / 31.01.06

Perhaps because, as I pointed out in my previous post where I highlighted the same story, it plays well with the domestic audience... particularly reassuring them that the new administration isn't going to jump into bed with the Bush Admin... in addition to securing claims to mineral and fisheries and possible access restrictions through a potential North West Passage...

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

20:52 / 31.01.06

sorry sleaze,

my head is full of cotton today.

--not jack

18:43 / 01.02.06

that this hasn't been an issue discussed in Canadian politics until after Harper became PM.

They've been talking about this for years though. During the Cold War the US (and USSR?) drove their subs all over the arctic, and the government routinely tried to stop them. And there was that bit of idiocy last year over that island off the coast of Greenland that Canada wanted to fight Denmark over...

03:01 / 10.02.06

Well, PM Stephen Harper announced his cabinet, and of course, there's the hullabaloo and controversy. What's interesting this time is the swearing in and defection of one David Emerson, formerly Liberal. For most of the campaign, he talked about being Stephen Harper's worst enemy. He talked and talked about reform and making a lot of noise.

And lo, when the Cabinet was announced, Emerson defected and became " the Minister of International Trade in Stephen Harper's Conservative government. This defection created a large amount of voter anger in the riding of Vancouver-Kingsway where less than 19% of all voters there voted for the Conservatives. Vancouver-Kingsway has not elected a Conservative since 1958" (from here) A lot of people are calling for resignation and for Emerson to pay back the money he spent campaigning.

He's also the "Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics," which is to say that he stands to make a lot of money gouging tourists and businesses come Olympic time.

What I want to know is if he planned this from the beginning....

18:38 / 10.02.06

I hope he resigns... it would be one thing to sit as an independent in the house, and on the cabinet. Multi-party cabinets have happened before... but to switch to the Conservatives when you represent a riding where 75% voted Liberal or NDP is just wrong...

It is sort of bad, because the best thing that could come out of a Conservative government right now is government reform, voting reform, getting rid of the senate and all that, etc. To start out by getting a Liberal MP and an appointed senator on the cabinet sort of doesn't give much hope for the next 18 months...

There's a Recall David Emerson petition online here if anyone's interested. They're up to 11,000 now. (it was only 3300 when I signed yesterday)

11:46 / 06.12.06

And thar ya go - A motion to reopen same sex marriage bill issue is going to a vote today.

"The motion calls on the Harper government to introduce legislation that would restore the traditional definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman."

The Tories are trying to be "reasonable" with "...without affecting civil unions and while respecting existing same-sex marriages."

22:03 / 07.12.06

Motion defeated 175-123

I really didn't get the point of this aside from stupid political 'we promised we would'. Why wasn't the last vote a 'free vote'?

The vote should put an end to parliamentary wrangling about same-sex marriage, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper said a free vote — promised during January's general election campaign — would settle the matter.

Liberals called this most recent motion hollow because, even if it had passed, it would not have struck down the right of gays to marry.

Most constitutional lawyers have said the only way the Tories could change the law would be to invoke the notwithstanding clause of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, something Harper has said he would not do.

01:14 / 08.12.06

Yay! It is settled then: Canadains is not as Conservative as their government!

Harper did as he promised. Instead of selling false promises, he sold his constituents false hope.Err..Nice strategy.

Why the last vote wasn't a free vote is beyond me. Why did Martin feel the need to pressure his cabinet?