A new Prime minister for Canada...

[Nikose Tyris]

Ever since the scandal here in Canada, Paul Martin has been in it deep. the federal level politics, and the liberal scandal, has resulted in some serious carnage. For you all to review, We are now in the midst of a new election, in order to discover if support is still behind the liberals, or if we should place the conservatives (or even better, the NDP!) into our government as the majority leader.

your thoughts on the topic of both the coming election, and the scandal itself. please only mention who you want to win if it has something to do with the rest of the post.

Anyone who read my other threads will find this as no surprise: Vote Green!

[Nikose Tyris]

I hate when people ignore me. I asked to please only mention parties if you have something more insightful to add, such as, " I would vote green because they were against outside funding of campaigns in the first place, which would avoid this whole scandal!"

don't make me unleash my squirelly wrath on you.

Sorry, I answered in haste. In longer form:

I vote Green locally and provincially. Federally, I really have no opinion one way or the other, except for: Don't vote for Stephen Harper. This guy truly scares me. I mean, his school reforms I can really get behind, he wants to spend a lot of money on the educational infrastructure... he also wants to ban anything resembling gay / same-sex marriage, because they are contrary to the will of God. I hate when a given party has both awesome and horrible policies (personal opinion only).

Federally, I don't know who I will vote for yet... I still have to do my research.

As for locally and federally, I have met all the candidates, and the Green candidates were the only ones who didn't make me feel greasy after speaking to them.

[Nikose Tyris]

and thou's thoughts upon the scandal? come on, Throw me a frickin' bone here... I'm supposed to get 20 opinions on it for my business class...

*ahem* STOP BREAKING THE LAW, A33HOLE!

To quote Jim Carey, that is. Thats my opinion on all those things that happen in politics.

[Robot Jesus]

I am saddend that this scandal had tarnished the liberal party. Even with the scandals of recent years Canada is still one of the least corrupt countries in the world. Yes the liberal party could use some humbling and defiantly needs to stop the shady dealing they are still the natural party of leadership in Canada. The reform… er alliance… er whatever there calling themselves this week is a far right wing party that tries to present itself as moderate. There base is the conservative Christian vote, people always seem to forget that that is also the core of the party. And while I like the NDP and Greens they are too extreme to rule.

Where’s Joe Clark when we need him. He looks like a duck and walks like a duck but he may be Canada’s only hope.

I don't necessarily want the Greens to rule for the sake of their party politics, but in the last election the Greens had 6% of the provincial vote (BC). That was a gentle kick in the nards for all the other parties, since that meant that a goodly chunk of the voters didn't like ANY of the 'major' parties anymore. The Alliance has the Middle (praries) the Liberals have the Ontario and West, and the NDP has everywhere else (as is my knowledge of Canadian politics). The Greens are making headway in the Maritimes and in BC, and the Greens are expected to make a very big impression in several ridings out here in the west in the coming election.

Forget Joe Clark, where's a Trudeau? We need a drinking, swearing, womanizing GIANT of a man to lead us into greatness!

EDIT: In response to the post below: Man, I really gotta start watching more news programs. I'm 24, and I've been too busy putting myself through school, raising a child, and working my ass off to provide for my family to give a rats ass about politics. I didn't know half of the stuff you just said. My Dad always said the true Canadian "Just wants the Government to keep the water pumping, the power flowing, and to keep the hell out of his or her face". Really, thats my attitude. Just make sure the system exists that lets me and my family do what we need to do to be happy. If the Liberals can do a better job than the NDP, or vice versa, then power to them.

DOUBLE EDIT: I know THE Trudeau is dead, I just meant A Trudeau. Some Ukrainian immigrant from Taber who drinks a six-pack before bed when he isnt falling trees. Put him in charge. And the Mulrooney / Truedeay boy-fight would rock, as long as they showed it on The Hour and got George Stroumboulopoulos to referee.

[slightly aboveaverage man]

Ahem.

Personally, I would vote Liberal again. I do know that the Liberals have come under fire for the actions of a few, rogues who took both their party and the country for granted. While I don't doubt that Paul Martin knew something about it, I also know that he also lacks a spine. The man can't do anything without fear of everything. He tried taking a hardline stance on the Gay Marriage bill: saying that if it did not pass, he would force a General Election, but like the good ol' duck he is, he backed down. "I'll force an election that could drop your seat numbers!-or not..."

On the topic of Stephen Harper, if anyone has watched the news lately you'd notice how he's using the boost in the polls and the scandal in general as leverage against the Gay Marriage Bill. He all but came out and said "The Liberals support Gay Marriage, and they're also corrupt! Thus everything the Liberals support is corrupt!" *is drowned out by the roar of the thumping of bibles.*

I know it's a bit extreme to call him a Neo nazi bogie man, but face it, this guy makes Preston Manning look like Tommy Douglas! Harper tries to downplay the radicals that make up his party, but every election, another nut comes forward and beats on Natives, the French, the East, and imigrants. And it's usually someone in his Shadow Cabinet, like in the last election when his Bilingualism Critic who said that if they came to power, he'd change the Official Languages act, then was contradicted by Harper in damage control mode.

As for the NDP, Jack Layton and the NDP have no chance in hell of winning an election. Face it, the last time he's been in the paper was when his Apendix burst. Even if by the off chance the NDP got in charge, Jack Layton is too extremist for the Government. Last election his entire platform was based upon throwing money at everything, and when asked how he was going to pay for it, the first half of the election his responce was: "Uhh....Um...Uh... Err..." and the second half was: "Taxes, there will be a tax raise here, and there-" Come ON people! If you put an indecisive, radical lunatic in power, we're gonna have another episode like the NDP in British Colombia! They took one of the richest provinces in Canada... AND RAN IT INTO THE GROUND! At least under the Liberals they've managed to shave off almost 1/5th of our debt. The NDP would end up Doubling it like Mulroney, or even Tripling it! Failing that, we would end up with taxes out the wazoo, so suddenly, your paycheque is on par with the amount of Canadian Tire money you have in your house!

Frankly, I see only two real solutions to this problem:
1. Get Paul Martin the hell out of the Liberal party, and haul John Manley and Brian Tobin out of retirement to run the Liberals.

or

2. Get Harper the hell out of the Conservative Party, and Shove Bernard Lord in his stead. For all his faults, at least he knows what he's doing, and won't steal civil Liberties to do it.

Thank you and goodnight.

Edit: Trudeau is dead, bless his soul. He would be exactly what we need, as long as he had Ralph Goodale to keep a hand on the purse of the nation. I say find Justin Trudeau and see him try things out. Failing that, make him get in a street fight with Ben Mulroney. You know you wanna see that.

Edit: For a nice comparison between Harper and Martin, clicky.

Also, a tribute to Joe Clark

[Robot Jesus]

I truly hope that the reform party get a new more moderate leader, but not only because it would create a viable opposition to the liberals but because it has the potential to create the greatest running gag in the history of Canadian politics.

If a moderate leader was brought in it would appease everyone but the Albertans, who would feel betrayed by the distinctive lack of Jesus. With a little luck I think we all know what is possible. A new western based party that understands real Canadian ideals even if the rest of Canada doesn’t.