# 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:** 41
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/801 "2015-10-21T18:49:18Z")
Probably sometime (early) next month. Unlike the US presidential succession, there isn’t a fixed date and is largely event-driven and ultimately at the behest of the Governor General. Until then, Harper remains PM. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/802 "2015-10-21T19:11:25Z")
^^ > [@](#): > > He is expected to take office on [**November 4, 2015**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Trudeau) at which time he will assume the honorific style The Right Honourable for life. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/803 "2015-10-21T19:13:18Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Probably sometime (early) next month. Unlike the US presidential succession, there isn’t a fixed date and is largely event-driven and ultimately at the behest of the Governor General. Until then, Harper remains PM. Looks like Nov. 4th is the date > **[Trudeau takes over Nov. 4 - CHCH](https://www.chch.com/trudeau-takes-over-nov-4/)** > > Justin Trudeau has announced he'll be sworn in as Canada's 23rd prime minister two weeks from today ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/804 "2015-10-21T19:15:02Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Until then, Harper remains PM. What sort of mischief can he do in the meanwhile? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/805 "2015-10-21T19:27:01Z")
> [@](#): > > He is expected to take office on November 4, 2015 at which time he will assume the honorific style The Right Honourable for life. Perhaps some variant could be used for the first few years until he at least develops a few respectable strands of gray hair – “The Junior Right Honourable”; “The Right Honourable Kid” … Might not be long. Apparently when Obama called to congratulate him, he told him that his nice young hair would soon be turning gray, like his own. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/806 "2015-10-21T19:29:55Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > What sort of mischief can he do in the meanwhile? Probably not much, he’s down in the basement sulking. To be fair to Harper, in the aftermath of the loss he’s been graceful and humble. ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/807 "2015-10-21T19:34:41Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > That’s true if you want Hamilton to grow as a bedroom community similar to Oakville or Burlington, but if you want Hamilton to grow as one of Canada’s top ten cities, it should focus on economic and cultural development rather than GTA commuting convenience. If you haven’t been to Hamilton you’re missing out. A bedroom community it aint. It has already a great many living and working in Hamilton coming from the east, Oakville and Burlington and beyond. We’re feeling the crunch West bound and East bound on the 403. It’s not just one way, there needs to be a comprehensive transit system to grow the community. We’re seeing R and D facilities at McMaster University, its international reputation as a leader in medical research, and an overall important city for Health Care. it’s just cool that Hamilton’s downtown core has become an exciting cultural hub, and the manufacturing sector is partnering with education to realize its full potential. Certainly what comes with the boon in housing markets is that a more vulnerable sector will feel the pinch. We’re seeing a lot of youth moving to the downtown not only for culture but for work. That’s why with it’s promise to address youth unemployment, we will need the Feds to bring their funding and their support. ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/808 "2015-10-21T19:53:44Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > This is the Conservative talking point that grates on me the most, particularly after they’ve already lost the election, and are trying to figure out why. > Here’s a hint: There actually are some people who care about _more than just taxes_. I know the Rob Ford-loving “Sex with a Sheep” type Conservatives just don’t get that, but they really do need to start _trying_ to get it. > > Constantly bleating on about lowering taxes, low taxes, OMG TEH TAXES!!!111!!!, while the rest of us are trying to discuss regressive social policy, the erosion of parliamentary democracy, and blatant pandering to the most racist elements of our society, simply is not going to be a winning strategy moving forward. Interesting, remember Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau? he did an interesting op ed piece before the election [http://looniepolitics.com/underestimate-trudeau-can-kick-butt-already-knew/](http://looniepolitics.com/underestimate-trudeau-can-kick-butt-already-knew/) ---
**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 21, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/809 "2015-10-21T20:06:35Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > What sort of mischief can he do in the meanwhile? Absolutely nothing. The government can only exercise its executive powers if it has the confidence of Parliament. We are operating under the “caretaker convention” at the moment. No major decisions can be made, no treaties signed, no new appointments made. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/810 "2015-10-21T20:39:15Z")
> [@Andiethewestie](#): > > Interesting, remember Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau? he did an interesting op ed piece before the election > > [http://looniepolitics.com/underestimate-trudeau-can-kick-butt-already-knew/](http://looniepolitics.com/underestimate-trudeau-can-kick-butt-already-knew/) Yeah, that was a good piece, one of several such written by people formerly associated with the Conservatives who have distanced themselves from what the party has become. > [@](#): > > I’m on the Anyone But Harper (ABH) bandwagon for obvious reasons, both personal and professional. I am not against the Conservative party but he simply needs to be replaced. Harper’s “Conservatives” are no longer Conservative. His party has gone back to Reform/Canadian Alliance roots. I never supported those parties because they were too radical for me. It must be a reason why Harper has lost so many “Red Tories” during his tenure. This is my position, pretty much exactly. I was a Red Tory, who voted Conservative most of my life, but Harper and his ilk have driven moderates like me out of the party. I can understand them not wanting to listen to a “bunch of hippies” complaining about the Conservatives, but what excuse do they have for ignoring people who used to be supporters, but who are now largely disgusted with what the party has become? ---
**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 21, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/811 "2015-10-21T21:09:05Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > This is my position, pretty much exactly. I was a Red Tory, who voted Conservative most of my life, but Harper and his ilk have driven moderates like me out of the party. I can understand them not wanting to listen to a “bunch of hippies” complaining about the Conservatives, but what excuse do they have for ignoring people who used to be supporters, but who are now largely disgusted with what the party has become? They just don’t care. This was an era where the party (and the entire country too) was run larger from the PMO by unelected Harperite lackeys (“the boys in short pants” as Duffy and the other MPs called them). Here’s an illustrative anecdote, in July they crushed the political aspirations of Ches Crosbie (in the current election) [over a joke about Harper he made](http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/conservative-hopeful-ches-crosbie-claimed-to-be-an-independent-voice-for-avalon-harper-wanted-none-of-that) on stage during a charity event. This was a HUGE deal over there since the [Crosbie name for Tories in NL](http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/why-the-tories-said-no-to-a-star-candidate-in-newfoundland/) is akin to the Kennedys for Dems in New England. If you reject a Crosbie in Newfoundland you’re basically rejecting Newfoundland Tories. That’s serious votes; and for what? A joke? Crazy. [ul] [li][The Harper impersonation](https://twitter.com/melissaroyle/status/616394810182737920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)[/li][li][“The party has gone to hell” Newfoundland Tories lament](http://ipolitics.ca/2015/07/05/the-party-has-gone-to-hell-newfoundland-tories-lament/)[/li][li][Ches Crosbie rejection could cripple federal Tories in N.L.](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/ches-crosbie-rejection-could-cripple-federal-tories-in-n-l-1.3144816)[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/812 "2015-10-21T21:09:39Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Absolutely nothing. > > The government can only exercise its executive powers if it has the confidence of Parliament. We are operating under the “caretaker convention” at the moment. No major decisions can be made, no treaties signed, no new appointments made. I am not going to try to find a cite, but haven’t outgoing prime ministers appointed senators just before they left office in the past, or is that a figment of my fevered senile imagination? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/813 "2015-10-21T21:22:07Z")
Never mind what he can do now, take a look at what he chose to do verily on the eve of his ouster. Signed the TPP ! Without revealing the details to his country. Said he’d release a short summary before the election, then refused to. It’d be hard to find a shenanigan that can measure up to that, in my opinion. (How is importing milk into Canada, with a very healthy dairy industry, from New Zealand, anything but an environmental crime of the very highest order? How could anyone, anywhere think that makes any sense? ) ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/814 "2015-10-21T21:43:01Z")
The TPP has to be ratified by Parliament; Harper cannot “sign” it in any legally meaningful way. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/815 "2015-10-21T21:46:02Z")
Point taken, but still a pretty shitty way to behave. Especially when ‘Honourable’ is part of your official title. ---
**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 21, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/816 "2015-10-21T21:47:54Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > I am not going to try to find a cite, but haven’t outgoing prime ministers appointed senators just before they left office in the past, or is that a figment of my fevered senile imagination? You may be remembering the following: Pierre Trudeau was criticized for making a raft of appointments (including senators) before he left as leader, and before Turner took over. Turner himself was criticized for not cancelling these appointments, as was his right, after he officially became PM. But that was not just before an election, and was not covered by the “caretaker convention” since at that time, the party held the confidence of the majority of MP’s in parliament. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/817 "2015-10-21T21:57:23Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I was a Red Tory, who voted Conservative most of my life, but Harper and his ilk have driven moderates like me out of the party. I can understand them not wanting to listen to a “bunch of hippies” complaining about the Conservatives, but what excuse do they have for ignoring people who used to be supporters, but who are now largely disgusted with what the party has become? Sounds very similar to what has happened to moderate Republicans in the U.S. I sometimes wonder if a centrist party might have a chance here, as Democrats go more left and Republicans wayyy right; I suppose in Canada the Liberals are the centrists? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/818 "2015-10-21T22:23:34Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Sounds very similar to what has happened to moderate Republicans in the U.S. I sometimes wonder if a centrist party might have a chance here, as Democrats go more left and Republicans wayyy right; I suppose in Canada the Liberals are the centrists? It’s actually gone rather ass backwards this year. The Liberals use to be a slightly left of center party, with the New Democrats (NDP) being the very left party. But in this campaign, the NDP actually ran on a platform of fiscal restraint, while the Liberals moved left with a plan that calls for deficit financing for the next three years, to fund infrastructure stimulus spending. So at this point, I don’t think anyone really knows who is what anymore! ---
**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 21, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/819 "2015-10-21T22:31:28Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > So at this point, I don’t think anyone really knows who is what anymore! At this point, all we know is that 70% of the country are crazed leftist marxist hippies, who want to completely destroy the valuable oil industry in Alberta, which is responsible for all of the goodness and money that flows to the entire rest of the country. At least, according to my high-school friends in Alberta. They’re an interesting bunch there. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/820 "2015-10-21T23:07:37Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Point taken, but still a pretty shitty way to behave. Especially when ‘Honourable’ is part of your official title. The timing of the negotiations wasn’t really up to Canada. There are many countries involved and it’s mostly happenstance that the final round of talks coincided with the campaign. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807.md?page=40) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807.md?page=42)