All government is corrupt. I don't think just liberals benefited from the money, but maybe more liberals then conservatives, so now they open the whole can of worms. Who knows. None of us really know the truth when it comes to these big scandals. There is always more to the story.Originally Posted by desslock
It's all very interesting though and hats off to you Desslock for being so sexy AND so damn knowledgeable about these things. Are you single and looking? :francais:
Yes, I am single and looking.
Perhaps because of the fact that I am also sitting here in Texas watching CBC Canadian Network News on NewsWorld International, that I am single.
:square:
Still damn sexy to me AND you're single! :high
Sounds like you need a visit to Australia :francais:
I am sorry Dresslock but I'll disagree with you on the state of affairs up here in Canada.. to begin with the scandal involves about 250 million, of which about 100 million was supposedly funnelled to Liberal organizers and party officials, not to elected officials...
In addition whether it was 100million or 250million or not I think Martin can survive simply because while they may have pissed away that amount, they also eliminated a 60 odd billion dollar deficit by the Tories.. and no when a government gets elected up here it does not go to the middle.. Brian Mulroney proved that by totally fucking up this country, introducing american style politics that we abhor and which is one more reason why we have consistently had Liberal governments.
As to whether Harper & his ersatz republicans can claim office will have to be seen. We pride our national health, national education and as much as it sucks about the sponsorship scandal, we value that a whole lot more than we do punishing Martin. In addition the scandal was news during the last election as well, so its effect right now is not going to have any greater impact. I think too that if they do force an election, it will backfire because the people do not want one.. a great counter to the scandal. In addition the threat of gutting our national health, the threat of overturning supreme court decisions because they don't agree with Harper's religious views should be enough to counter any backlash on the scandal.. least that is the hope and I believe reality of it all.
If anything it could strengthen the NDP rather than the conservatives which isn't always a bad thing. A lot will depend on the campaign itself... unlike the USA where issues get tossed, our elections are more issue focused and again another reason why the Liberals seem to constantly hold power.
Also it is interesting to note, that while Martin has a minority government, history has shown that a lot does get done by minority governments. Canada brought in national health with a Pearson minority government, it also brought in major criminal reforms and even our own flag... all by a minority Liberal government...
Sorry if this sounds like a rant, but I really don't believe Stephen Harper can serioulyy achieve a majority in the next election... unless Martin totally fails to campaign which I suppose could happen. Harper is not liked and there is a bad taste here from within his own party as well... so again, it isn't a lock. Hell he had a 20 point lead going into the last election and didn't win it.. so at least up here, polls and all the hoopla before mean squat... its the campaign that counts... and so we'll see.
just my view point from the frozen tundra of canuck land.
Ian
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It's not true that political parties move to the middle. The Progressive Conservatives under Mike Harris in Ontario were far from middle. Maybe they were middle if you were in business, but if you were gay, were on welfare, were a teacher, worked in health care, or rented an apartment, they were hardly "middle."
In Alberta, Ralph Klein's PC government is not middle either.
And just in case you're going to pull out the "they're provincial not federal" argument, I don't think Brian Mulroney was "middle" either. He was pro-business, anti-gay, and he was bobbing on Reagan's cock for a good party of his term. Funny though how the what goes around comes around thing works: Mulroney's eldest son is an entertainment reporter on television and is the host of Canadian Idol. "Look at me, daddy, I'm displaying my homosexuality all over television even though I'm not really gay." Oh his lawyer daddy must be so proud.
dzinerbear
Yes, minority governments can be good things because no one party (and there are four major ones in Canada) has the power to do anything on its own. To survive a vote on no confidence the Liberals must cooperate with at least one of the other parties and in this case it looks like it will be the NDP, which are more socialist in idealogy. So a minority government can be a good thing because the government can not run amok rubber stamping insane legislation.
cheers
dzinerbear
I'm getting confused as my mind keeps wondering to naked gay men playing ice hockey with hairy legged lesbians in skirts cheering them on the sidelines. I think I've had to much to drink :francais:
Canadians - I certainly defer to you guys about the corrections.
However, just to point out it is weird for many of us in the US to hear you complain about Canada under any main party government being rabidly anti-gay.
This sparked my interest enough to search Google on the topic of when Canada lifted its ban on gays serving opening in the military. Canada lifted its ban during Mulrooney's conservative government in 1992.
To outside observers, this is a prime example showing how the ruling party in Canada moves in the middle, particularly since that specific welcome change is cited as one of the country's prime examples of fair and equal treatment toward gays and lesbians.
Steve
Well... let me go to to Bush... may be we are next... who know? :francais:
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