# Canadope 2015: Battlestar Canadica **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 1, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655 "2015-01-01T01:49:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/441 "2015-11-05T20:17:10Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Conservatives are going to pick an interim leader today. The position will pay an extra $80,000 per year, on top of the $163,000 MP salary. Nice. > > Each potential candidate will have three minutes to make their case in front of caucus. A three minute job interview. For an extra $6600/month. > > We have no idea who is allowed to vote, and who will be making this decision. I personally wonder how much power Harper still wields within the party. We’ll see soon if the CPC decides to double down on the continuation of The Harper Party. Per the [Conservtive Party constitution](http://www.conservative.ca/media/documents/constitution-en.pdf) and the bolding is mine: > [@](#): > > 0.8 In the event of any of the following, National Council shall implement the leadership selection process at the earliest convenient date thereafter: > 10.8.1 the death or **retirement of the Leader** ; > 10.8.2 the Leader indicates an intention to resign by submitting notice in writing to the President of National Council; > 10.8.3 more than fifty percent (50%) of the votes cast at a national convention as provided for in Article 10.6 are in favour of engaging the leadership selection process. > 10.9 In the event of the implementation of the leadership selection process, the following shall apply. > **10.9.1 The parliamentary caucus shall appoint an Interim Leader of the Party who shall exercise the powers and responsibilities of the Leader until a new Leader has been selected**. A person appointed as Interim Leader may not be nor become a candidate in the leadership selection process. An Interim Leader may but need not be appointed where the Leader has indicated an intention to resign. > 10.9.2 The leadership election organizing committee shall determine the rules and procedures for the conduct of the leadership selection process, including a dispute resolution procedure which shall be final and binding. The rules shall provide that a member may cast a postal ballot; the minimum membership period established for eligibility to vote in the leadership election shall be set so as to permit adequate time for ballots to be mailed to members and returned by mail. Voting by way of faxed ballot shall not be permitted. > 10.9.3 National Council shall appoint the chair and members of the leadership election organizing committee. The only reason you don’t know who’s going to vote is because you never went looking. As for the pay upgrade, I have no idea why this is a problem. The party needs a leader and the party happens to be in opposition. Besides, unless they tweak the by-laws, the interim leader can’t run for the job when it finally rolls around. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/442 "2015-11-05T20:25:25Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Was he also picked after a three minute interview? How much influence did Ignatieff have on the selection? Who gives a shit? The interim leader is just that: interim. Stop it with all the nonsensical bashing of the Conservatives who did an exemplary job of leading Canada through the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. We came through it better than any other G8 country. It’s time to move on. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/443 "2015-11-05T20:31:58Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Stop it with all the nonsensical bashing of the Conservatives who did an exemplary job of leading Canada through the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. We came through it better than any other G8 country. > > It’s time to move on. Ha ha ha ha ha! Good thing that Harper’s gang did not succeed with their hopes to deregulate our banking industry before the sub-prime crisis. That had a LOT to do with how we weathered the storm. Paul Martiin’s delivery of many surpluses in a row also had a lot to do with the good financial shape the country was in before Harper took over. Finally, Harper had a minority during the financial cirisis, and thank God for this, because he was all for bringing in austerity measures, which would have made the crisis worse. Thank God the opposition forced him to do otherwise. Now of course Harper did some good things - some of the credit for how well we did can certainly be given to him. But to give him all of the credit is simply ludicrous at this point. It’s laughable. I do agree with your last sentence though. I (along with most of the country) is very, VERY glad to be moving on. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/444 "2015-11-05T20:32:44Z")
Actually the last time this happened I guess would be after the 2011 election. Jack Layton, while fighting cancer, kep his roll as Party Leader but suggested to his parliamentary caucus to have NyCole Turmel act in his stead. The caucus approved and following Layton’s death she became the official leader of the opposition. I assume she received an pay raise as will the newest Conservative Interim leader. Since we’re moving on, I wont bother looking for your earlier outrage. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/445 "2015-11-05T20:46:21Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > Per the [Conservtive Party constitution](http://www.conservative.ca/media/documents/constitution-en.pdf) and the bolding is mine: > The only reason you don’t know who’s going to vote is because you never went looking. As for the pay upgrade, I have no idea why this is a problem. The party needs a leader and the party happens to be in opposition. Besides, unless they tweak the by-laws, the interim leader can’t run for the job when it finally rolls around. [I guess you’re not up to date:](http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/conservatives-choice-for-a-temporary-leader-could-transform-the-tone-harper-set-for-the-party) > [@](#): > > It’s not yet clear exactly who will be voting for the interim leader. > > Changes to the Parliament of Canada Act enacted before the election will require MPs to decide on four matters at the caucus meeting, including whether senators should be excluded from the leadership vote. Unless of course you are currently posting from the caucus meeting itself, and know the results of whether or not Conservative senators will be voting on the interim leader. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/446 "2015-11-05T20:54:54Z")
No, I’m right. The Conservative Parliamentary Caucus votes. The fact that the definition of who sits in caucus is in flux based on newly introduced legislation is not my problem. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/447 "2015-11-05T20:58:01Z")
Even the Green’s deputy gets paid by the party to be the deputy (and yes, he works his ass off, and accounts for his MPP work and income separately from his party work and income). Look, if you want the best folks possible to work in their respective political parties and if elected then sit in Parliament, rather than for the preponderance of people who lead parties or sit in Parliament to be there by virtue of their being independently wealthy, then you’re going to have to pay them a competitive rate, or else they will tend to earn their livings elsewhere. Look about at what a top CEO/CFO, financier, doctor, judge, lawyer, professor earns. Serving in Parliament must be somewhat wage and benefits competitive if you want the best of those sorts of people to serve. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/448 "2015-11-05T21:05:39Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Ha ha ha ha ha! > > Good thing that Harper’s gang did not succeed with their hopes to deregulate our banking industry before the sub-prime crisis. That had a LOT to do with how we weathered the storm. Paul Martiin’s delivery of many surpluses in a row also had a lot to do with the good financial shape the country was in before Harper took over. > Finally, Harper had a minority during the financial cirisis, and thank God for this, because he was all for bringing in austerity measures, which would have made the crisis worse. Thank God the opposition forced him to do otherwise. > > Now of course Harper did some good things - some of the credit for how well we did can certainly be given to him. But to give him all of the credit is simply ludicrous at this point. It’s laughable. > > I do agree with your last sentence though. I (along with most of the country) is very, VERY glad to be moving on. Many countries were running surpluses in the 1990s; it was a good decade all around. Martin and Chretien robbed EI, robbed public service funds and did whatever they could to make an appearance of balanced books. Anyway, I voted for the Liberals back then, perhaps once, and liked what they were doing for a short period. I’m fine with our current situation and think Trudeau has picked a strong cabinet. I think we’ll still be the envy of G8 countries unless he does something ridiculously stupid. I do think he’s too inexperienced, but that will obviously change; he’s surrounded by good people. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/449 "2015-11-05T22:17:23Z")
Looks like the CPC have chosen Rona “marijuana will kill your children” Ambrose as interim leader. Good luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/450 "2015-11-05T22:29:25Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Paul Martiin’s delivery of many surpluses in a row also had a lot to do with the good financial shape the country was in before Harper took over. Well, yeah, and with creating provincial deficits that continue to this day. They balanced the federal budget largely by slashing health transfers. You can’t just create money, and you’re not really any better off for the debt money being your responsibility as a resident of your province instead of as a resident of Canada. > [@](#): > > She served on the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Sure, and my buddy Mark did six months in Cyprus. That doesn’t mean he won the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/451 "2015-11-05T23:03:43Z")
Once Trudeau wins the peace prize, will she get credit? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/452 "2015-11-05T23:36:18Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Sure, and my buddy Mark did six months in Cyprus. That doesn’t mean he won the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize. I think he’s entitled to say: “I was with the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces, when they won a Nobel Prize”. Without people quoting him out of context. That would be nice. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/453 "2015-11-06T00:38:19Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Was he also picked after a three minute interview? Trust me, there’s been a lot more than three minutes put into this. Each candidate would be trying to line up support in advance, and their supporters will have been doing some politicking as well, behind the scenes. The three minute statements are just the final, formal stage of the process. ETA: as the National Post article you linked to also indicates, there’s been a lot of action behind the scenes. > [@](#): > > How much influence did Ignatieff have on the selection? No idea, but the general rule is that a leader who has led the party to a defeat and resigns the leadership, they tend to have lost influence. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2015, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/454 "2015-11-06T00:51:25Z")
So, **Euphonious Polemic** , how would you prefer the Conservative Party pick its interim leader, bearing in mind that they have to be ready to go in Parliament in a month’s time? And it’s a temporary position? ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/455 "2015-11-06T01:00:09Z")
I think they should select them based upon who their parents were. It’s done that way with our head of state and our PM, so why not with the official opposition party? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/456 "2015-11-06T01:02:30Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > So, **Euphonious Polemic** , how would you prefer the Conservative Party pick its interim leader, bearing in mind that they have to be ready to go in Parliament in a month’s time? And it’s a temporary position? Televised PPV cage match. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2015, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/457 "2015-11-06T02:01:55Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Televised PPV cage match. Then Trudeau would be both leader of the Liberals and interim leader of the Conservatives at the same time, unless that strip club guy who was convicted of assaulting his moll were to do better in a rematch with Trudeau than he did [the first time](https://youtu.be/XuSpZ3_5pTc). ---
**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:** [November 6, 2015, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/458 "2015-11-06T10:50:56Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Televised PPV cage match. So you’re prepared to bitch about a political party you don’t like, but have nothing of substance to offer. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/459 "2015-11-06T21:34:04Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > So you’re prepared to bitch about a political party you don’t like, but have nothing of substance to offer. Not bitching… More like pointing and shaking my head at this point. The CPC is going to have to shed the “Nasty Party” tag that they have earned for the past 9 years. They were heavily controlled by Harper and the PMO. Now they have a chance to change directions, hopefully without having another Authoritarian leader in charge, who tells everyone what to do. There are hopeful signs. Recently [Tony Clement](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/liberals-to-reinstate-mandatory-longform-census/article27116084/)has said he’s not opposed to bringing back the long form census. > [@](#): > > Mr. Clement told reporters on Thursday that the decision to bring in a voluntary census had been made “collectively” in 2010 by the Conservative government. In hindsight, he said, “I think I would have done it differently.” So basically, as the minister, the decision to scrap the census was not his. He was ordered to do it. “collectively”. Ha! There was no “collective” within the Harper Government. And that’s another thing I’m thankful for. We Don’t have, and will not have, “The Trudeau Government”. And federal civil servants will not be[ORDERED to call it that.](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tories-re-brand-government-in-stephen-harpers-name/article569222/) My God, that was pathetic when Harper attached his name to the Canadian Government, and ordered everyone to use his own name. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655/460 "2015-11-16T18:20:12Z")
I’m on a train overlooking Lake Ontario at the moment, and having a beer and surfing the Dope. Quite peaceful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadope-2015-battlestar-canadica/708655.md?page=24)