# Canada: It's beginning to look like an election **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 27, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-its-beginning-to-look-like-an-election/461413 "2008-08-27T13:39:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Happy\_Booker\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/71c47a/32.png) [@Happy\_Booker\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Booker_1)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-its-beginning-to-look-like-an-election/461413/81 "2008-09-06T12:47:25Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > I’m curious how you think the system works. Minority governments don’t as a rule last very long. Typically less than a year and rarely longer than 2. The Conservatives have held power for more than 2.5 years now. Had the opposition wanted an election there have been numerous times they could have caused one. They didn’t, so the government oddly enough governed. I think of the typical model as being the governments formed by Pearson and Clark that developed a working relationship with one of the other parties and then worked on an issue by issue basis to govern. That seems to me to be a more productive model than “I dare you to defeat us as we implement our agenda, unchanged.” I agree, btw, that the opposition parties bear considerable responsibility for letting the Conservatives proceed unhindered. Layton’s hands aren’t clean, hence my hesitation in supporting the local NDP candidate in the what-was-going-to-be-a-byelection. Dion has lacked the nerve and the tools to challenge Harper when it really mattered. I think that the Liberal’s leadership convention will go down as one of the great political disasters of the past hundred years. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-its-beginning-to-look-like-an-election/461413/82 "2008-09-06T12:48:32Z")
> [@Happy\_Booker](#): > > Don’t forget the copyright legislation and (as a subset to Arts funding) Bill C-10 to be sure that the contents of Canadian films is morally acceptable. True though my objections may not be your objections. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-its-beginning-to-look-like-an-election/461413/83 "2008-09-06T12:50:44Z")
> [@Happy\_Booker](#): > > I think that the Liberal’s leadership convention will go down as one of the great political disasters of the past hundred years. That’s a tad melodramatic don’t you think? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Booker\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/71c47a/32.png) [@Happy\_Booker\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Booker_1)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-its-beginning-to-look-like-an-election/461413/84 "2008-09-06T13:35:43Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > That’s a tad melodramatic don’t you think? Actually, no. Oh, it’s rivalled by the PC’s decision to merge with Reform, and by the foolishness of turning back the clock in the Pipeline debate, but for the potential to create long term damage – with the potential being realized – I don’t think that there’s either hyperbole or melodrama. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-its-beginning-to-look-like-an-election/461413/85 "2008-09-06T13:41:22Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > The Liberals haven’t done anything visible to clean up their party. I remember the sponsorship scandal- the Liberals taking money that was supposed to be used to hold the country together and funneling it back into the party coffers. Dion (also graced with the charisma of a dead fish) doesn’t reassure me. I’m sure he’d rather we all just forget what kind of crooks his party was filled top to bottom with. While I agree with some of what you said, and disagree with others, this is the one that boggles my mind. Sure the Liberals deservedly got booted from power over this as well as many other reasons, but what makes you think Conservative hands are clean? AFAIC, the Conservatives ceded any claim to the moral high-ground with their little in-and-out ad scam. Clearly, their election promises of a more transparent and accountable gov’t were complete and utter bollocks from the very beginning. > [@Grey](#): > > Oh for fuck sakes…a Hitler/Harper comparison? **Grey** , I think you’ve missed some of the wider context of that clip. Re-subtitling clips from “Downfall” (awesome movie, BTW) for satirical purposes has become something of a mini-trope on the intarweb. I’ve also seen “Downfall” clips used to satirize the victory of Blu-ray over HDDVD and Hillary’s negative campaign against Obama in the primaries. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-its-beginning-to-look-like-an-election/461413/86 "2008-09-06T15:52:17Z")
Fair enough, but I have doubts it was intended to be anything but a superficial riff on conservative = fascist. **Happy\_Booker** you wouldn’t take embracing of Quebec Nationalists by the PCs? That led to the collapse of the PC party, the emergence of the Bloc, the abandonment of the West by the Liberals and the happy state we’re in now. When it comes down to it, regardless of who wins, the country will be fine if tacking to a course I don’t agree completely with. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-its-beginning-to-look-like-an-election/461413/87 "2008-09-07T01:37:11Z")
Well, for me, I think it is best summed up like this - What is good for society as a whole will be good for business, but what business thinks will be good for business will not necessarily be good for society as a whole. The quotation about being socialist before thirty and conservative after thirty is cute and pithy, but anyone who thinks business should be allowed to regulate itself either has never been ripped off, or is too dumb to realize he’s been ripped off. Stephen Harper reminds me of something one of my nephew’s teachers once said - “Anyone who tells you he’s got the only answer probably didn’t understand the question.” ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-its-beginning-to-look-like-an-election/461413/88 "2008-09-07T03:43:40Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > **matt** , that’s too bad. Given the by-election win you guys had I figured you’d be right in there. Oh, I _am_ right in there! I’ve been working seventy-hour weeks in the by-election in St-Lambert, and now that I’m a campaign manager I’ll be even busier. Don’t expect to see me too often for the next month or so 🙂 I like this role better than that of candidate, for the time being. It seems to agree more with my psychological makeup. Anyway, I told them about two years ago I wasn’t going to run again, so they rose to the challenge and found a really kick-ass candidate for this riding. The Globe and Mail profiled him as one of their candidates to watch this morning. ---
**Author:** ![Myrrajh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/87869e/32.png) [@Myrrajh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrrajh)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-its-beginning-to-look-like-an-election/461413/89 "2008-09-07T07:27:07Z")
Harper and Dion are both epic fails with charisma. Harper has the steely eyes and rigid demeanor, and Dion just comes across like a deer in the headlights. So neither of them is Prince Charming. Who cares? I’m more concerned about who’s going to get the job done with a minimum amount of police investigations and with policies that match my own political beliefs. I am a conservative supporter and I have detested liberal policies ever since I can remember. I don’t think an election is necessary since not much is going to change, power-wise. I don’t quite get what Harper is up to. Those ads of his are awful, especially the “I love being a dad” one. And what, exactly, does that painful-looking admission have to do with government? If that’s the best his handlers can do to make him seem more appealing to the women voters, then they should all be fired. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-its-beginning-to-look-like-an-election/461413/90 "2008-09-07T12:40:31Z")
Well, here we go. Harper is presently (early Sunday AM) meeting with Jean. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-its-beginning-to-look-like-an-election/461413/91 "2008-09-07T12:53:41Z")
And they’re off! Gotta give it to Harper – he makes for far better Sunday morning TV than the typical televangelists. Unfortunately, I’m booked up with clients until Tuesday evening, so I won’t be out planting signs until then. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-its-beginning-to-look-like-an-election/461413/92 "2008-09-07T14:01:57Z")
Since it’s now official, not just a rumour, I’ve started a thread in GD so we can be in full debate mode: [The Race is On! Canadians go to the Polls October 14](http://boardstest.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=482185) Just my little effort to satisfy all those people griping that there’s nothing in GD but US election threads - now there’ll be a Canadian election thread, for a bit of diversity! We aim to please. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-its-beginning-to-look-like-an-election/461413.md?page=4)