# The "Longest Election Campaign in Modern Canada" Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 2, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807 "2015-08-02T15:45:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 22
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/421 "2015-10-01T13:07:36Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Actually, the Liberals have clearly stated that they will not support a Harper minority. And the NDP have said “not a snowball’s chance in hell” will they support a Harper minority. > > So if there is a Harper minority, it will fall in the Throne speech. The GG will then be asked by the party with the 2nd most seats to give it a chance to form government (with the support of the 3rd place). His choice will be to accept this, or to call another election. > > I suppose there is another choice; Trudeau has specifically said he would not support _Harper_ in a minority situation. He chose his words carefully. No word on whether or not he’d support a _different_ Conservative party leader… It is hard to know if those resolutions will hold up, if the choice is calling another election - that may be the the incumbent’s advantage: it may annoy the electorate into voting back a majority. Alternatively, forming a government under whichever party leader has the most votes may cement them in the public’s mind as the next incumbent to form a political dynasty - to the detriment of the other party. Why set oneself up for another’s success? It will be a tough, and interesting, situation. I personally have no idea what will happen. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/422 "2015-10-01T13:35:31Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Is any among them a Rhino? > > I miss the Rhinos–they got my vote a few times back in the 80s, just because they never took themselves seriously; and I was sick of how seriously people were taking politics. Kind of like how I feel now. > > “Vote Rhino–and vote often.” Yup. Green, Pirate, NDP, Rhinoceros, Marxist-Leninist, Liberal, Libertarian, Conservative, and two independents. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/423 "2015-10-01T13:38:55Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > I miss the yogic flyers myself. Pretty sure those were the Natural Law party. They were de-registered in 2004. Pity. They were funny! ---
**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:** [October 1, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/424 "2015-10-01T16:53:14Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > It is hard to know if those resolutions will hold up, if the choice is calling another election - that may be the the incumbent’s advantage: it may annoy the electorate into voting back a majority. The point is, there is a clear choice other than simply calling another election. The GG should first see if another party leader can maintain a confidence and supply agreement with another party, and therefore hold the confidence of the majority of MP’s in the house. This is how our system works. The GG needs to explore this option before calling another election. A Harper minority will not be able to hold the confidence of a majority of MP’s, however a Liberal or NDP minority may be able to. If the NDP or Liberals go back on their word, and support a Harper minority, my prediction is that they would get completely wiped out in any subsequent election. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/425 "2015-10-01T18:06:38Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The point is, there is a clear choice other than simply calling another election. The GG should first see if another party leader can maintain a confidence and supply agreement with another party, and therefore hold the confidence of the majority of MP’s in the house. > > This is how our system works. The GG needs to explore this option before calling another election. > > A Harper minority will not be able to hold the confidence of a majority of MP’s, however a Liberal or NDP minority may be able to. Of course. Hence my second point, which you did not quote - that the alternative is for the two other parties to form a government. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/426 "2015-10-02T01:13:18Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Of course. > > Hence my second point, which you did not quote - that the alternative is for the two other parties to form a government. You mean a coalition! Of course! Except that historically, Canadians are not big fans of coalitions. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/427 "2015-10-02T02:04:09Z")
> [@Andiethewestie](#): > > I’m definitely an Old Stock Canadian, my old family arrived in PEI in the 1730’s and we can trace an ancestor to the Fathers of Confederation. Another side of the family were a group of UE Loyalists. But that was a time when white men determined everything, and I am not looking back with rose coloured glasses. It was a shitty time for anyone who wasn’t a white Anglo Saxon male. Harper’s little phrases and deeds shows that his past keeps seeping out, and it isn’t pretty > [http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2013/12/16/Harper-Mandela/](http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2013/12/16/Harper-Mandela/) Hmmmm - early PEI settlers - check, UEL - check, Father of Confederation - check. Are we related? Another Old Stock Canadian™ here who doesn’t agree with Harper’s policies at all. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/428 "2015-10-02T02:04:23Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > You mean a coalition! Of course! Except that historically, Canadians are not big fans of coalitions. There haven’t been many opportunities for Canadians to be fans or opponents of coalitions. If you are thinking about the last one threatened that happened a month and a half into a term and included the separatist BQ, then that is not a fair example. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/429 "2015-10-02T02:09:22Z")
I mean, we’re only four years removed from a minority government that operated under an informal agreement of support instead of a coalition. This isn’t all that hard to figure out. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/430 "2015-10-02T04:29:10Z")
So Conservative candidate Rick Dykstra may have entirely by accident bought a shitload of overpriced vodka for a bunch of underage girls: > **[Conservative incumbent Rick Dysktra denies buying vodka for teens at nightclub...](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/headlines/conservative-incumbent-rick-dysktra-denies-buying-vodka-for-teens-at-nightclub-1.3253561)** > > A longtime Conservative is denying a report that suggests he knowingly bought hundreds of dollars of alcohol for underage girls at a nightclub last month. Now of course this is a licensed establishment and the staff are supposed to be checking IDs at the door so this can’t really be Dykstra’s fault. And I’m sure his presence at the nightclub was part of some important matter before Parliament. And his staffer offering one of the girls lifetime VIP service (when she is of age) if she would forget that any of this happened was a complete miscommunication. He was probably trying to tell her she should be first in line when she’s old enough to vote. Maybe he described that as being a very special VIP club and she obviously misunderstood. Seems legit. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/431 "2015-10-02T14:07:55Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > You mean a coalition! Of course! Except that historically, Canadians are not big fans of coalitions. Yes, hence the point I was making … ---
**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:** [October 2, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/432 "2015-10-02T15:51:30Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I disagree that’s the thing. Whether you can get turfed at all is the thing. Harper hasn’t passed a law that makes native born/non dual Canadians turfable, because that would be too obviously illegal and undoable. So once again, he passes a law that has to wind it’s way all the way up to the Supreme court to be shown illegal or undoable. All so he can get a few attaboys from his base. “Fuck the law and reality”, his loyalists say, “at least he’s trying!”. I’d like to read the court’s reasons once it make a decision in this matter. Might be interesting. [Tories move to revoke citizenship of convicted terrorist born in Canada - The Globe and Mail](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/tories-move-to-revoke-citizenship-of-convicted-terrorist-born-in-canada/article26629517/?click=sf_globefb) ---
**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:** [October 2, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/433 "2015-10-02T16:27:46Z")
Where I strongly disagree with the Harpers is that I believe that person is a citizen, provided that the person had not obtained citizenship by fraud. Not a probationary citizen. Not a second class citizen. Not a revocable citizen until he or she can prove that he or she is not a citizen of some other country. Not a probationary citizen until he or she can prove that his or her parent was not a citizen of some of the country. > [@](#): > > 10.4 (2) If an instrument referred to in subsection (1) prohibits the deprivation of citizenship that would render a person stateless, a person who claims that subsection 10(2) or 10.1(2) would operate in the manner described in subsection (1) must prove, on a balance of probabilities, that the person is not a citizen of any country of which the Minister has reasonable grounds to believe the person is a citizen. > > [2014, c. 22, s. 8.](https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-c-29/latest/rsc-1985-c-c-29.html#sec10subsec2_smooth) Time for the Harpers to stop taking away Canadian citizens’ citizenship, and instead have Canada deal with its criminals. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/434 "2015-10-02T16:49:32Z")
It’s pretty outrageous. The minister just needs “reasonable grounds to believe” he’s a dual citizen. Yeah, I am sure all these other countries want us handing them our terrorists because the minister “reasonably believes” they’re not our problem. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/435 "2015-10-02T19:41:40Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Where I strongly disagree with the Harpers is that I believe that person is a citizen, provided that the person had not obtained citizenship by fraud. Not a probationary citizen. Not a second class citizen. Not a revocable citizen until he or she can prove that he or she is not a citizen of some other country. Not a probationary citizen until he or she can prove that his or her parent was not a citizen of some of the country. I am rather disappointed and surprised at the number of people I know who think C-24 is perfectly okay, though not at all surprised at the number who cannot articulate a good reason why we need it (a number presently at zero.) ---
**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:** [October 2, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/436 "2015-10-02T20:43:36Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I am rather disappointed and surprised at the number of people I know who think C-24 is perfectly okay, though not at all surprised at the number who cannot articulate a good reason why we need it (a number presently at zero.) I think that’s because the supporters are embarrassed to say what they really think; That only people “like us” should be real citizens, and “those people” should just be thankful we let them stay to do menial jobs. Insert dog whistle here. Harper is doing a masterful job of whipping up support from bigots and other nasty people. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/437 "2015-10-02T22:05:44Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I think that’s because the supporters are embarrassed to say what they really think; That only people “like us” should be real citizens, and “those people” should just be thankful we let them stay to do menial jobs. > > Insert dog whistle here. > > Harper is doing a masterful job of whipping up support from bigots and other nasty people. Well, as an immigrant I disagree. There’s not a bigoted bone in my body. But, you can think what you want. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/438 "2015-10-02T22:26:02Z")
So please defend taking away a born and raised Canadian’s citizenship away. And no “well it won’t happen to me” is not a defense. I’d also love to hear why you expect other countries should take our criminals. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2015, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/439 "2015-10-02T23:30:41Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > So please defend taking away a born and raised Canadian’s citizenship away. And no “well it won’t happen to me” is not a defense. I’d also love to hear why you expect other countries should take our criminals. I don’t believe there’s any provision for taking away the citizenship of a person born in Canada. They’re not taking our criminals; we’re deporting them back to a country with which they also hold citizenship. If I committed an act of terrorism and placed pressure cooker bombs in Rogers Centre, for example, that killed and maimed dozens of people, I would deserve to be charged, serve out my sentence in Canada and be exported to the UK and never allowed to return. I have no problems with that, because I sure as hell would never consider such a path. If this deters others from coming to Canada, gaining citizenship, and doing similar things then I’m all for it. ETA: We’re not sending them back for a parking ticket. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/440 "2015-10-02T23:32:25Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > So please defend taking away a born and raised Canadian’s citizenship away. And no “well it won’t happen to me” is not a defense. I’d also love to hear why you expect other countries should take our criminals. You know who would like to take our home-grown terrorists? ISIS, or any number of terrorist organizations throughout the world. Since that would probably not be a good thing, the Harpers also withhold passports for national security reasons (be it either our nation or some other nation) – see [Prevention of Terrorist Travel Act, SC 2015, c 36, s 42](Prevention of Terrorist Travel Act, SC 2015, c 36, s 42), on the quite reasonable assumption that letting terrorists travel outside of Canada will come to no good. Now here’s the thing. If someone is a convicted terrorist with a bee in his or her bonnet against Canada, which would be safer for Canada: keeping them locked up in Canada, or letting them loose in some other nation where they can share their knowledge, experience and bitterness with other potential or actual terrorists? Which would be safer for Canada: keeping them under surveillance so as to sniff out other terrorists in Canada, or losing track of them once they are no longer in Canada? Quite simply, the Prevention of Terrorist Travel Act is based on “Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer.” Giving Canadian terrorists the boot runs contrary to the purpose of the Prevention of Terrorist Travel Act. Quite apart from the issue of establishing second class citizens – even Canadian born and raised second class citizens, the exile amendment to the Citizenship Act puts Canada at greater risk of terrorism than were terrorists simply to be incarcerated and monitored in Canada. The amendment is both dumb and nasty. Joe McCarthy would be proud. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807.md?page=23)