Canadians...

[Awesome]

An american posting about invading other countries? weird.

[Kolar]

I think people are a little pissed off at the Liberals right now to really see what they're doing to Canada with their vote.


The conservatives: They want to change what Canada is in my opinion. First we don't need a strong military because of our geographical location to the USA (Economically it's not needed, protection wise not needed, supporting the American's Administration in whatever war they want to start next: Hell Yes it would be needed). it's not needed and we don't need one to rival the Americans and for that matter we don't need to look like them not only because of terrorism but just because of the way the majority of the free world feels about Americans right now. Canada is by nature a liberal country. Our laws, beliefs and customs are pretty much liberal. Having Unjust laws prohibiting marriage of gay couples and descriminating on gay and lesbian couples isn't Canadian and having "traditional" beliefs or values is just bull shit. Equality for all unless it gets more votes. Now the Enviroment (last and least on everyone's list). It's plain and simple, the kyoto accords which the Americans backed out of will be scraped.


NDP: Yeah in the perfect world we would have all the money in the world to fund stupid programs which benifit the minorities in our society but it just isn't there Jack. BTW Thanks for putting Harper in the PM's office. Really, if a party (PC) opposes your plans and beliefs why attack the Liberals over some money scandal? It's not like you're gonna get to be the head of the opposition, shooting your self in the foot.


Liberals: Lesser of 3 evils imo.

[colony]

Personally, im gonna vote NDP.

I agree with Troll on the minority government issue.

[Bob (SRB)]

Kolar, people do have enough money in Canada, we're fucking rich as hell. It's just right now the average joe is getting taxed like hell. While rich CEO's and corporations as a whole are sitting on their ass enjoying the good life. With NDP in power, it will be much more balanced. Where companies and the wealthy should be taxed more than normal people, not the other way around.

Its kind of like.. if it was a more perfect world with caring and informed citizens, NDP would flourish and go unchallenged. Since there are so many greedy morons who just further mess up the balance of everything, conservatives get the power. The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.

Kind of an extreme look at things, but I'm right anyways.

[Adman]

i'm here crying about the coming election

[aussie]

I don't know who to vote for either, I think i'm going to vote for the Green Party, because as it's been said, I don't like what any other parties are promoting.

[Material Girl]

I think that a minority government might actually turn out to be a good thing for our current climate.

Yes, that's bound to happen at this point. Doesn't matter who you vote for, they're not getting majority. Wasn't Adrienne Clarkson appointed by Chretien? Just wondering...

[Eric is God]

I really don't want to get started on politics because when i do, I usually end up going insane on everyone. So I'll keep it simple.

Conservatives- Vote for these douches if you are a greedy son of a bitch that only cares about furthering your own wealth. Expect privatization of everything so huge companies will run the show, not the people. Tax cuts for the rich, and for companies, regular shmoes don't get shit. Even worse healthcare and education for normal people. Nothing will be put into the environment, and we'll be further assimilated into the American way of life. Take a look at the past of their leader, he's almost a freaking nazi for god sakes.

NDP- The greedy assholes probably won't like these guys because they might have to pay more taxes. Personal wealth goes down for the good of the country. Lots of focus on education, healthcare, taxing of big companies so the money pool is balanced out a bit more. More focus on democracy and the government, instead of the nazi conservatives who will let the private sector run the show. Vote for these guys if you want to be less like America, and more like the best country in the world.

Umm, I believe you have been somewhat affected by the media's view on politics. Privatization is not a bad thing. I repeat, it is not a bad thing if done properly. The private sector can run things much more efficiently than any government. The only thing privitization would do, is allow more choice for the people. Every Canadian citizen will still have access to all the services they already do. What they want to add, is another higher tier of service for those willing to pay for it. When people hear two tiered health or education, they think it means one tier below what we have now and the other above for only the rich. The problem now is that those who have money just fly down to the States to receive service faster. This is causing many of the top medical professional to leave Canada in favor of the States where they can make money. This is not a good thing for the future of Canadian helath care. By providing a higher tier of medical service, you keep doctors here and you have Canadians treated in Canada.

I agree that the health care system is somewhat underfunded at the moment. But, throwing more money at an inefficient process will not help. Think of it as a charity. Some charities have only $0.05 out of every $1 going to the cause, with the rest getting spent on fund raising and bureaucracy costs. This is the primary problem for the education system in Canada. School boards decide where the money goes and it is in their best interest to never recomend that the bureaucracy costs get cut. Here is exactly what happens:

Government to School Boards: "we need to cut $5 billion from somewhere in order to fund essential projects. Try to see where we can get the money from."

School Boards "We can't possibly cut our costs, so if you want to take any money from education, you have to fire teachers or close schools."

Government "dammit, we can't cut those things because people will revolt. I guess we will have to borrow more or cut from somewhere else".

It's a system that simply does not work.

I think it's essential to have an education and health care system in place that provides much needed service to those who truly need it. But, provide only what is necessary and allow people to keep as much of their own money as they can so they get to decide what to do with it.

My family loves this country. But, when I was younger and my dad starting his own computer consulting business (it's just him working in it), they thought about moving to the States because he could easily save $10,000 - $20,000 a year in taxes. Our family, like many Canadians have private health insurance that makes OHIP and other government subsidies almost useless anyways. There has to be a balance between providing for those who need help and obtaining the necessary funds in a just manner.

As far as the NDP goes. If they ever got into power on a federal scale, this country's economy would tank. You simply cannot increase government spending by 20% or so per year and expect to balance the books without borrowing incredibly large amounts. I don't have time to look it up, but I believe our country pays somewhere between $5-$10 billion in debt interest every year. That wasted money is the result of past governments over spending and now its impacting my future.

[Ilya]

when i went to canada last year i was in the parliament building and i was all touching chairs and stuff and the tour lady yelled at me and said if i did it again i would get kicked out

:down:

you should vote her out

[Eric is God]

when i went to canada last year i was in the parliament building and i was all touching chairs and stuff and the tour lady yelled at me and said if i did it again i would get kicked out

:down:
you should vote her out

Ya, that tour kind of sucks horribly. It used to be standard for every grade 7 class in Ontario to take a 3 day trip to Ottawa. Personally, I'd rather of have a 3 day trip to a box factor .... don't you want to know how these amazing things get made?

[Nethila]

hmmm

i have to go wat a friend of mine said earlier to me
"right now, we are not voting for the best party anymore. right now, we are voting for the party that is the least suckiest."

NDP and bloc Quebecois are out of the choices.

Conservatives, well, their promises looks really good. Tax cut and better education etc.. however.. it's not realistic. Where will the government get the money to improve stuff when they are cutting down the tax? This is like saying "honey, my salary just got cut down in half, but we are buying a bigger house."

Liberal.. I really don't like them either, wat they did to Ontario is nuts. But at least their plan sounds reasonable. No tax cut, but a better health system.

No one can gurantee that the party they voted for will keep their promises and do what they said they would do. (Look at Liberal for Ontario as an example.) Honestly.. I don't trust any of those parties, so i'm goin to vote for the party that is goin to screw up Canada the least.

btw.. imo.. If conservatives are in power, they are goin to turn Canada into another USA. War hunger.

[Vantage]

goddamnit.

i hate when people talk about how their biggest concern is health care, education, and all that babble. how many people honestly care? i think u guys just wanta look smart when being interviewed by 680 news.

like 90% of canadians, i dont have problems with health care or education. so fuck both parties... who really cares.

btw, go conservatives, i want tax cuts. screw the liberals and spending my money for me.

[Nethila]

i care about health care system.. i don't feel like pay $50 when i just have to see my family doctor to get a vaccine shot..

and btw, conservatives wont cut the tax when they realize they need the money..

[Epinephrine]

Eric I don't understand how you can claim to be an economist on one hand and be so grossly misinformed about things on the other.

1) The Conservatives want to lower taxes and increase spending. In fact their economic plan has them spending on MORE new programs than the Liberals, yet unlike the liberals they want to cut taxes and thus cut government revenue. How are they going to make up the difference? The answer? It'll just be like in America where they are running record deficits thanks to increased spending (on mostly military matters) and greatly decreased tax revenue thanks to tax cuts.
For a more local example, it will be like the Harris government which too cut taxes and also increased spending. A lethal combination.

With what the Conservatives want, the natural increase in revenue from a growing economy won't offset things at all.

2) Your family has private health insurance sure, but think of how much more the premiums would be if we didn't have public health care in Canada. The Americans pay more for their healthcare overall than we do, because it is privatized. Believe or not, some things really are more effectively run by the government because when there is only one agency controlling health care, costs don't have to spiral upwards too fast, and also unlike private insurance companies the government isn't trying to make a profit.

Obviously tough for me to support overall if I was completely self-interested because I enjoy living in Canada and making more money would be good too, but hey I care about people

3) I've never heard of it being standard for grade 7 kids to go to Ottawa :P Maybe at your school it was (yah un-economic related point).

4) Privatization can be good or bad I agree. But when it's bad there's little you can do afterwards to patch it up because it may be too late. Look at the idiotic idea of privatizing our power systems... it didn't work in Britian, it didn't work in California and it certainly as hell didn't work in Ontario.

As for voting... I voted early and I voted Liberal. I don't especially like them (I did like them last election, but Paul Martin managed to screw himself over so badly in the past few months I wonder if he really should be in charge), but then again the Conservatives will ruin this country and the NDP are living in an economic dream world. So I voted Liberal, consciously knowing that I didn't want to give my $1.75 to the Green Party because I read their platform a while back and I didn't like it.

-Epi

[Vantage]

i care about health care system.. i don't feel like pay $50 when i just have to see my family doctor to get a vaccine shot..

and btw, conservatives wont cut the tax when they realize they need the money..

rofl. no one will privitize health care so i dont know what ur worrying about. They are talking about putting more money into the system to reduce waiting times and junk.