Canadians! Vote NDP

[all.your.base]

hehehe bloc.
I did a paper on Quebec separatism in highschool. It's a funny subject.

if melo saw this... :fear:

[Jeenyuss]

Jeenyuss, in Saskatoon the ONLY riding where the Liberals will finish ahead of the NDP is probably Saskatoon-Wanuskewin, the North-West section of the city. Unless you live there, if you want to vote strategically, NDP is probably better. (Liberal candidate is Chris Axworthy in Saskatoon-Wanuskewin)

I live in the Blackstrap District homie:

 Blackstrap  	 Lynne Yelich **   	 CONS  	15608  	 41.5
	Tiffany Paulsen  	LIB 	11815 	31.4 	  	 
	Don Kossick  	        NDP 	8862 	23.6 	  	 
	Lynn Oliphant  	        GRN 	1168 	3.1 	  	 
	Clayton A. Sundberg  	CHP 	177 	0.5

My point WAS that either way, Liberal or NDP, it's unfortunate how successful Conservatives were(will be) last(this) election and with some of the moves that the Liberals are making it seems like it may happen again. The reason the Conservatives are winning is because the NDP and Liberal supporters clusterfuck.

[Eric is God]

I think Paul Martin's a good PM, he's done a lot fo Canada and people easy lose sight of that. I'd vote for liberals if it was a close race but I'd like to see NDP in a position to push for more social programs.

We already have a poor track record of running the social programs we currently have so why complicate matters further? Everyone just loves the idea of more money for education, health care, government run car insurance and subsidized day care. But if you ran the calculations and asked people questions like: "would you be willing to pay $300 more per year to decreasing waiting times at doctor offices by 15 min?" or "would you be willing to pay $500 more per year to decrease class sizes by 4 students per teacher?" I think a lot of people would be forced to realize that all of this infrastructure comes at a cost when you actually put a $ value on it.

[Eric is God]

and then the Conservatives who slashed all the taxes that got us into the this mess that we have in Ontario.

Had the Ontario Conservatives been able to remain in power longer I believe we would have slowly seen that money put back into schools and health care. A lot of people hated their agenda, but at the very least you have to give them credit for following through on the majority of their promises. It's only my opinion, but I believe that slashing taxes and gutting the school board bureaucracy was the necessary first step towards improving the school system. Perhaps they cut too much too fast, but if they were going to reinvest that money where it is supposed to go (classrooms not bureaucracies) I would have applauded them. That said, I voted Liberal in the previous provincial election because of screw ups like the 407 :annoyed:

[Eric is God]

And the Liberals have brought the country as a whole into a surplus so, whatever on that.

The government itself doesn't have as much control on the overall economy as most people think. Yes they can mess around with taxes and spending, which will definetely have an effect, but a lot of it has to do with the business cycle (recession-> recovery-> boom->recession) and factors largely beyond the control of the government such as the exchange rate, how the US's economy does, demographics etc... I'm not saying the Liberal government hasn't done a good job of managing the economy (they have in my opinion) I'm just saying that you shouldn't be so quick to give them all the credit for it.

[DoTheFandango]

Listen, there is always corruption in Politics. It's the way shit works.

[Bigwig]

Government subsidized child care is among the WORST ideas that has ever been proposed in this country. It's 4:30 am and I'm tempted to break out my labor and wage economics notes from 2 years ago to prove mathetically and theoretically why government subsidized child care doesn't work. I'm not saying you can't find a way to help single parents take care of their children, but a nation-wide program that will only increase bureaucracy in the government and mostly be used by middle income families is not the answer.

And don't get me started on the amount of money the government spends to protect farmers in your province Spider. The country would save more money in the long run by paying them all a $60,000 salary every year for the rest of their lives than continue to protect the wheat and dairy farmers in central Canada.

so what are your thoughts on quebec's goverment subsidized day care?

[Eric is God]

so what are your thoughts on quebec's goverment subsidized day care?

The same as most reports that have been conducted on the topic. It's a huge waste of money and a program that does a poor job of targeting the group it was meant to help.

[Epinephrine]

Had the Ontario Conservatives been able to remain in power longer I believe we would have slowly seen that money put back into schools and health care. A lot of people hated their agenda, but at the very least you have to give them credit for following through on the majority of their promises. It's only my opinion, but I believe that slashing taxes and gutting the school board bureaucracy was the necessary first step towards improving the school system. Perhaps they cut too much too fast, but if they were going to reinvest that money where it is supposed to go (classrooms not bureaucracies) I would have applauded them. That said, I voted Liberal in the previous provincial election because of screw ups like the 407 :annoyed:

Yeah they screwed us over with the 407... but I was talking about how Conservative tax cuts directly led to Ontario's current budget deficit... they were unnecessary and the few hundred dollars that most people got back wasn't really a great bargin considering all that we lost.

As for spending, it actually increased in education and healthcare during the Mike Harris years, although how much it increased once you factor in a growing population and inflation I am not sure.

[Capital Knockers]

Yeah they screwed us over with the 407... but I was talking about how Conservative tax cuts directly led to Ontario's current budget deficit... they were unnecessary and the few hundred dollars that most people got back wasn't really a great bargin considering all that we lost.

As for spending, it actually increased in education and healthcare during the Mike Harris years, although how much it increased once you factor in a growing population and inflation I am not sure.

I'm not highly educated in politics, but one point I'd like to make is this. If tax cuts end up giving people two hundred dollars out of the blue - how many of them aren't just spending it on drugs/alcohol and etc. Tax cuts suck.. everyone should stfu, and pay taxes in hopes that we can sort this mess out. Rather than have politicians make it worse, by constantly promising to lower taxes, just because they want to be in power. :fear:

[RATTY...]

And don't get me started on the amount of money the government spends to protect farmers in your province Spider. The country would save more money in the long run by paying them all a $60,000 salary every year for the rest of their lives than continue to protect the wheat and dairy farmers in central Canada.

Same problem in Norway, fucking farmers who does nothing. Kill them all.
Just wanted to say that.

[Spider]

The farm subsidy question is very much global in scale. The problem is that every country greatly subsidises their agricultural sectors leading to over production, etc... Canada is actually a world leader in trying to reduce farm subsidies and we keep our own fairly low. This is one of those cases where some kind of international action is needed.

[froedrick]

I'm willing to bet Jack Layton bullies his way through the debates, and pisses me off. And I bet Gilles Duceppe pisses me off when he answers every question like this, "well I really 'ave no say in dat matteur, because, what does eet do for Quaisbec? Nothing"

[Unorthadox]

NDP always get shitkicked in the elections.

[all.your.base]

I'm not highly educated in politics, but one point I'd like to make is this. If tax cuts end up giving people two hundred dollars out of the blue - how many of them aren't just spending it on drugs/alcohol and etc.

No, I'm pretty sure the tax ut wont affect the hobos of Canada. -_-