Federal Election Options

[MEly]

So now my question is this: Was it worth it?

Harper called an election 1 year before his "mandated" election call... and all we end up with is another minority government.

I think minorities are truly best for Canada, but I am sick of going to the polls all the time.

I'm not going to lie - over the course of the campaign I became sold on the Liberal campaign, but not Dion. I like him as a person but knew he wasn't the right leader. I voted Liberal anyway. I am disappointed that the Liberals didn't even pull through in my riding which has been a Liberal stronghold for ages now but this could be a new start. If Dion truly is a man of integrity as he proposes (and I believe he is), he will step aside and allow a new, more appropriate leader to take the helms. If they're smart - bring in some new young talent and the Liberal party can truly be reborn.

Don't get me wrong, I don't really have anything against the Conservatives. Although some of their moral values are not the same as mine, they've done a decent enough job running the country and especially with another minority (albeit a strong one) they won't go out of control this time around either.

I just hope that in 2... 2.5 years from now when the next election is called, the outcome will be dramatically different.

Just my $0.02.

[02CanGT]

I have to say that complaining about the cost of an election, where we live in a democracy, and where elections, like them or not (Hey Bigs!) come and go every 2 to 4 years, without question, never made sense to me.

So a party with a minority governance calls a snap election, and people start to say 'What will change, and this will cost.' Yes, it will. They always do, but thats democracy. We the taxpayers end up paying for some part of the type of government we have been born into.

If it were a pure facist or dictatorial system, think of the money saved by having no elections!

And as to why? The Conservatives I think were pretty savvy. Sure they did not get the majority they hoped for, but they did gain over their previous seat-holdings. And, the Liberal party is now in worse shape post-election than it was before. Soon they will attach a new head, and in 3 or 4 years, they may win the next one.

I think the blues played this pretty well. My 2cents.

[MEly]

And as to why? The Conservatives I think were pretty savvy. Sure they did not get the majority they hoped for, but they did gain over their previous seat-holdings. And, the Liberal party is now in worse shape post-election than it was before. Soon they will attach a new head, and in 3 or 4 years, they may win the next one.

I agree with pretty much everything said about the cost. It just seems redundant to call an election to get a larger minority.

Now, as for the Conservatives playing well - I would have to counter you there. I actually don't think they 'played' at all. Like I said before, I have nothing fully against Harper or the Conservatives, but I was a bit dismayed that their platform didn't come out until a week before the election, and even then the platform was weak. It felt like it was 'dumbed down'. I honestly get the impression that Harper thinks Canadians are idiots. The Green Shift was NOT complicated... Harper kept telling us it was.

Dion was too focused on his policies. Unfortunately, that's not where the current state of politics allows for. Harper, on the other hand, focussed almost entirely on attack ads.

To be totally honest, if I didn't think the NDP's would bankrupt the country with such a socialist mandate I would have voted for them. I think Jack Layton would make an excellent PM and they ran an excellent campaign. They managed to get their point across without harping too much on negative attacks.

The Canadian and American political systems are two entirely different beings. Attack ads are common in both places, but in the past, I find it hard to remember a time a party focussed almost entirely on them.

Anyway, again, just my $0.02.

One last thing - I was talking to a friend of mine today and said this. "I really like the Ontario Liberals. McGuinty's doing a good job running the proving. Nothing's going wrong, things are going smoothly, I don't even really notice them there". That's how I think good government should be. In all fairness, that's also how I've felt about the Harper government since they were first elected. They're just not really my 'cup of tea' per se.

[Ishtar]

Don't worry, a senior economist is warning that there will be a $10 billion dollar deficit come 2010 with the Harper Government. First deficit since the early 1990s.

Thanks Stephen, you're a fiscal joke!

[MEly]

Don't worry, a senior economist is warning that there will be a $10 billion dollar deficit come 2010 with the Harper Government. First deficit since the early 1990s.

Thanks Stephen, you're a fiscal joke!

Yeah, I read that too. Let's just hope he's wrong, shall we?

[Ishtar]

I don't think so. Man, Conservatives love to run deficits. Oh well, this will give Mulroney a run for his money when it comes to be despised once leaving office.

[Duck Toller]

So now my question is this: Was it worth it?

Harper called an election 1 year before his "mandated" election call... and all we end up with is another minority government.

I think minorities are truly best for Canada, but I am sick of going to the polls all the time.

I'm not going to lie - over the course of the campaign I became sold on the Liberal campaign, but not Dion. I like him as a person but knew he wasn't the right leader. I voted Liberal anyway. I am disappointed that the Liberals didn't even pull through in my riding which has been a Liberal stronghold for ages now but this could be a new start. If Dion truly is a man of integrity as he proposes (and I believe he is), he will step aside and allow a new, more appropriate leader to take the helms. If they're smart - bring in some new young talent and the Liberal party can truly be reborn.

Don't get me wrong, I don't really have anything against the Conservatives. Although some of their moral values are not the same as mine, they've done a decent enough job running the country and especially with another minority (albeit a strong one) they won't go out of control this time around either.

I just hope that in 2... 2.5 years from now when the next election is called, the outcome will be dramatically different.

Just my $0.02.

Your wish didn't come true.