# 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:** 30
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/581 "2015-10-15T16:21:14Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I don’t get your meaning. Meaning I think this candidate has ulturist values as much as the NDPer, but shes just smarter. ---
**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 15, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/582 "2015-10-15T16:22:40Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > You know you’re in trouble when even the rats are abandoning ship. > > [Lynton Crosby abandons Harper - ThinkPol](http://thinkpol.ca/2015/10/15/lynton-crosby-abandons-harper/) > [@](#): > > Commentators believe that Stephen Harper’s decision to seek endorsements from Toronto’s controversial former mayor Rob Ford and his brother Doug, widely seen as a last desperate attempt by the Prime Minister to cling to power, caused Crosby to bail on the Tories. > > “Betting their was a power struggle behind scenes and when someone suggested using the Ford family, Crosby jumped ship,” former Tory riding executive Tracey Kent tweeted. That’s clearly what is missing from the Conservative Campaign; More Rob Ford! If they’re bringing the Ford Lads on board to shore up the Scarborough, North York, East York and Etobicoke ridings, this must mean their internal polling has them worried. Well, they might hold onto the Toronto suburbs, at the cost of losing the rest of the country. What’s the over/under on Rob showing up drunk and/or stoned to a campaign event? ---
**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 15, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/583 "2015-10-15T16:27:51Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Although I do not presently plan on voting Tory, I’ve tried making this point to people and they simply don’t listen - indeed, will become incredibly hostile to the gentle reminder that life will go on more or less as it always has. Honestly, you would think we lived in Syria or North Korea to hear how terrible it is here and how much worse it will get if the wrong party wins. I don’t think that catastrophe would happen if Harper were re-elected. It would not be the end of the world as we know it. However, it would lead to more restrictions on personal freedom, more denigrating of science and knowledge (cause they’re “elite” dontcha know), more emphasis on “people like them”, more restrictions on federal workers, more attacks on the Supreme Court, more bad laws being jammed into Omnibus bills, etc. etc. I see it not as an immediate crisis, but more as the old story of the frog in a pot, slowly being heated up. ---
**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 15, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/584 "2015-10-15T16:39:43Z")
> [@Andiethewestie](#): > > Meaning I think this candidate has ulturist values as much as the NDPer, but shes just smarter. Did you mean “altruist”? Anyway, my point was the party leader is going to make a bigger difference than your individual MP. ---
**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 15, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/585 "2015-10-15T17:07:04Z")
Latest Nanos Poll numbers: Liberal 37.1 Conservative 29.4 NDP 23.7 Looks like ThreeHundredEight has not updated their poll aggregate numbers in a couple of days… ---
**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 15, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/586 "2015-10-15T18:29:05Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Plus ça change . . .Liberal campaign co-chair resigns, faces possible lobbying investigation. > [@](#): > > In the e-mail, Mr. Gagnier told five people at TransCanada Corp. to target the right people in a new government as quickly as possible so they can help shape either Liberal or NDP decisions on a national energy strategy. Such a lobbying effort would be needed to ensure the planned “in-service” dates of projects like Energy East aren’t put at risk, says the e-mail, So basically he told some people at TransCanada that they’d have to talk to the new government people as soon as possible, no matter who forms government. Wow. Did he also let them know that water is wet, and they should not grab the sharp part of a kitchen knife? I guess the worst you can say is that he should have said nothing at all, even if what he actually did say was very innocuous. ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/587 "2015-10-15T21:41:32Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Latest Nanos Poll numbers: > > Liberal 37.1 > Conservative 29.4 > NDP 23.7 > Looks like ThreeHundredEight has not updated their poll aggregate numbers in a couple of days… They haven’t but I don’t want to think the Liberals have it in the bag either. Nanos has been pretty Liberal leaning for most of this campaign ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/588 "2015-10-15T21:44:45Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Did you mean “altruist”? Anyway, my point was the party leader is going to make a bigger difference than your individual MP. typo my bad. Of course that would be the case whomever I voted for in my riding, it’s a new configuration and no one is the incumbent. ---
**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 15, 2015, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/589 "2015-10-15T22:19:08Z")
Nm ---
**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 15, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/590 "2015-10-15T22:23:26Z")
> [@Andiethewestie](#): > > They haven’t but I don’t want to think the Liberals have it in the bag either. Nanos has been pretty Liberal leaning for most of this campaign Nothing is guaranteed at this point - things are just too close together, and too volatile. I think one of the things that messed up the predictions during the last BC election is that everyone thought the NDP had it sewn up, so all the NDP voters just stayed home to watch the victory on TV and forgot to actually vote. ---
**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 15, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/591 "2015-10-15T23:39:27Z")
[Canadian Jews are second-class citizens under the Conservative government’s new citizenship law](http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/10/14/new-law-makes-canadian-jews-second-class-citizens.html) according to an immigration lawyer who was an MP, and a refugee lawyer, among others. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/592 "2015-10-15T23:55:24Z")
I’ll go out on a limb and predict: The Maritimes will deliver 26/32 seats to the Liberals Quebec 34/78 Ontario 76/121 Prairies 13/62 B.C. 20/42 North: 2/3 That’s 171/338 a bare majority for Justin Trudeau ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/593 "2015-10-16T15:13:28Z")
This endorsement must be the most cynically reasoned example of [conservative newspaper ownership](https://twitter.com/Paulatics/status/655006911117393921) trying to influence the vote. [ > [@](#): > > Which brings us to Stephen Harper and the Conservatives. There is a lot to be unhappy about, after nine years of Harper rule. He has picked political fights with major pillars of our democratic system – Elections Canada, the judiciary, officers of parliament – for no obvious reason apart from the fact that they appear to stand in his way. Under his watch there were unreasonably high levels of moral and even criminal corruption among some of those closest to him. He has indulged his MPs in their quest to make a mockery of Question Period. > > Nevertheless, there are two serious issues facing Canada right now: Ongoing economic uncertainty, and an increasingly unstable situation in the Middle East. (snip) > > Strip away the hard partisanship and chip-on-the-shoulder populism, what remains is a government that has presided over a prosperous and united Canada in the face of powerful countervailing forces. For this alone, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives deserve to be returned to power on October 19. ]([Editorial: The case for returning the Conservatives to power | Ottawa Citizen](http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/editorial-the-case-for-returning-the-conservatives-to-power))IMO media endorsement doesn’t mean much in the end of an election, but it is a powerful reminder where ‘the money’ stands on the issue. ---
**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 16, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/594 "2015-10-16T16:01:27Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > This endorsement must be the most cynically reasoned example of [conservative newspaper ownership](https://twitter.com/Paulatics/status/655006911117393921) trying to influence the vote. [URL=“[Editorial: The case for returning the Conservatives to power | Ottawa Citizen](http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/editorial-the-case-for-returning-the-conservatives-to-power)”]IMO media endorsement doesn’t mean much in the end of an election, but it is a powerful reminder where ‘the money’ stands on the issue. As I recall, the Edmonton Journal editorial board was also forced by the Toronto owners (Postmedia in Toronto) to endorse Jim Prentice during the Alberta Election. In that instance, Albertans were not too happy to be told how to vote by Bay Street Toronto moneymen. And we saw what happened that election. I guess the Calgary Herald, Edmonton Sun, Calgary Sun and National Post are all soon to follow, as are all of the other newspapers in the Post Media chain. Who was that dude here who was rabbiting on about The “leftist media”? ---
**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 16, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/595 "2015-10-16T17:01:55Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > As I recall, the Edmonton Journal editorial board was also forced by the Toronto owners (Postmedia in Toronto) to endorse Jim Prentice during the Alberta Election. In that instance, Albertans were not too happy to be told how to vote by Bay Street Toronto moneymen. And we saw what happened that election. > > I guess the Calgary Herald, Edmonton Sun, Calgary Sun and National Post are all soon to follow, as are all of the other newspapers in the Post Media chain. > > Who was that dude here who was rabbiting on about The “leftist media”? In that case, endorse away! Harper will soon be joining old buddy Jim on the golf courses of the nation. [http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/16/f1ad3063d4880ceb864e2c5ecbb955de.jpg](http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/16/f1ad3063d4880ceb864e2c5ecbb955de.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/596 "2015-10-16T18:55:27Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > In that case, endorse away! Harper will soon be joining old buddy Jim on the golf courses of the nation. > > [http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/16/f1ad3063d4880ceb864e2c5ecbb955de.jpg](http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/16/f1ad3063d4880ceb864e2c5ecbb955de.jpg) I doubt it would be at a golf course in this nation. All the more so because he probably hates living under [**Liberal Party advertising**](http://www.thestar.com/news/federal-election/2015/10/16/canadian-flag-too-liberal-for-manitoba-polling-station.html). ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/597 "2015-10-16T18:58:08Z")
For the forth election in a row the Globe shows how deep they’re in the bag for the Tories[ > [@](#): > > Canada needs a change. It also needs the maintenance of many aspects of the economic status quo. What Canada needs, then, is a Conservative government that is no longer the Harper government.(snip) > > The Conservatives have been a big tent party in the past, and they must be once again. Fiscally prudent, economically liberal and socially progressive – the party could be all of those things, and it once was. But it won’t be, as long as Mr. Harper is at its head. His party deserves to be re-elected. But after Oct. 19, he should quickly resign. The Conservative Party, in government or out, has to reclaim itself from Stephen Harper. ]([The Tories deserve another mandate – Stephen Harper doesn’t - The Globe and Mail](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/editorials/the-tories-deserve-another-mandate-stephen-harper-doesnt/article26842506/))The endorsement reads as a desperate plea, one for a new/responsible Conservative party. What a crock of shit; an endorsement in the hopes for a reformation? That, my friends, is what ‘being in a party’s pocket’ looks like. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/598 "2015-10-16T19:23:20Z")
The Conservative Party’s past goes back only to the point where the PC Party was killed, at which point zombies began their lurch across the land. ---
**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 16, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/599 "2015-10-16T19:25:01Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > For the forth election in a row the Globe shows how deep they’re in the bag for the Tories[URL=“[The Tories deserve another mandate – Stephen Harper doesn’t - The Globe and Mail](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/editorials/the-tories-deserve-another-mandate-stephen-harper-doesnt/article26842506/)”]The endorsement reads as a desperate plea, one for a new/responsible Conservative party. What a crock of shit; an endorsement in the hopes for a reformation? That, my friends, is what ‘being in a party’s pocket’ looks like. So they endorse the party and want to pretend that Harper will somehow step down after a victory? This is insane. It’s not an endorsement, it’s an immature fantasy/wish-fullfillment. The Conservative Party of Canada is now the Harper Party. It’s the “Harper Government”. So the Globe thinks we should vote conservative and then **HOPE** that Harper leaves the party that he personally branded with his own name? What the heck are they basing this hope on? If re-elected, Harper won’t leave. He’ll take it as a PERSONAL endorsement. Give me a major freakin’ break. ETA: Who the heck does the Globe think is a future leader in this hypothetical scenario? Kenny? Polievre? There is NO TALENT there. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/600 "2015-10-16T19:29:49Z")
If interested you can read the Globe’s Editor-in-Chief [David Walmsley respond](https://www.facebook.com/theglobeandmail/posts/10153602685703904) to some reader’s questions. A favourite journalist of mine is The New Republic’s [Jeet Heer](https://twitter.com/HeerJeet) who writes: > [@](#): > > David, the editorial says: “The spectacle of a prime minister seemingly willing to say anything, or demonize anyone, in an attempt to get re-elected has demeaned our politics.” So you acknowledge that Harper has run a campaign to demonize Muslim Canadians. Yet you endorse him anyways. Isn’t it fair for Muslims (and others) to conclude that the Globe thinks demonizing Muslims is no big deal – less important than economic policies the Conservatives follow. And if that’s the case, shouldn’t Muslim-Canadian (and others) reasonably feel that the Globe is a newspaper that doesn’t think their rights are important? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807.md?page=29) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807.md?page=31)