A new Prime minister for Canada...

[Sesshoumaru]

SAAM, I hope you weren't comparing conservative Christians (the only real kind of Christian when it comes to things like gay "marriage" and several other topics) to Nazism. That would not be very nice.

*I can't say who I want to win, seeing how Im not Canadian. I'll be happy as long as the guy in charge doesn't let stupid lesbians sue the Knights of Columbus for refusing to allow them to use their meeting hall for a lesbian wedding reception.

[slightly aboveaverage man]

No, I was comparing Stephen Harper's stance on everything to Nazism. Not once did I even write "Christians" and "Nazi" in the same sentence. It's very easy to be a Christian and support Gay Marriage, or denounce it. Personally my stance on it is Judge not lest ye be judged.

What I refer to is Harper and his party's constant (excuse the term) Harping on the minorities of Canada. Natives, Quebecois, Eastern Canada, Gays and Lesbians, Imigrants- hell, practically the only ones his party hasn't started blaiming everything on are African-Canadians, and those of Asian Descent.

[My Lead Airbag]

Originally Posted by slightly aboveaverage man

//snip//
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!

Quasi Nazi-to-Christian comparison bolded for effect.

On the scandal stuff...its expected in any sort of politics workings. Power plus opportunity and all that, although the least (most?) you can say is that he has no reasonable justification (i.e. No "I was doing it for the good of my fellow citizens!" for you sir.).

[Darth SS]

I'll admit now: I live in Alberta. I was born in Saskatchewan. I've only been to Quebec twice, and to the maritimes once. I was also once in Toronto for around 20 minutes.

To be blunt: I don't understand how the east works, or what the east wants.

Even with that said....Harper gives me the willies. I mean, he's so casual with everything. He has members of his party basically scream that they will make Canada religiously and morally "pure" then he slyly brushes them aside and cuts off another one of Paul Martin's limbs.

Now, all around me I have "western-supremists"

If I were to compare these guys to facsists, or nazis....I sadly wouldn't be too far off. Even people my age (15/16) will scream that the east should burn, the liberals should be wiped out. The most common philosiphy is "Fuck the rest of Canada, let Alberta become filthy rich. Even better, make Edmonton the capital and let Alberta reap 100% of the profit, none going into coffers."

Now, I'll admit....the liberals have made their fair share of mistakes. (Sponsorship, BSE crisis, Missile Defence Shield, Slashing the army's funding excessively, rolling over for the US usually) but...if you can say one thing for Paul Martin, he isn't there solely for power. You can tell that somewhere in that hazy cloud of incompetency there's genuine good intentions.

Harper looks like he wants to be in power solely for power. That, and how casually he came to the top after the merge was...spooky to say the least. Aside from that, how he kind of builds up most of the west into a veritable FLQ is not a good sign.

Not to go conspiracy theory, but I honestly think that there's a chance that unless the conservatives get in power fast (And screw the country over) we could get the Alberta Seperation Party evolving into a terrorists group, and another FLQ crisis on our hands.

So...my solution? Suck it up Martin, go and rip a strip off of Harper, then regroup and implement policies to please the majority (as much as I hate to say it) I.E. Ontario and Quebec, then just look at Harper and say, "You want an election? Bring it."

[Krylo]

Originally Posted by Sesshoumaru

conservative Christians (the only real kind of Christian when it comes to things like gay "marriage" and several other topics) .

NO! Bad dog! Bad!

Seriously. You don't define christianity. The book was written in Hebrew, then translated to greek, then to latin, then to english and was translated back and forth a few times (I probably missed a language or two, or got the orders wrong, but that's the gist of it). Go to bablefish and type in a phrase and translate it three times. And then, even IF you could be certain you're reading anything resembling the original text, the book contradicts itself more often than Bill O'Reilly, and, therefore, leaves lots of room for alternate interpretations.

So, not only is that insulting to any liberal christians, it's also a completely baseless statement.

AND, it's insulting a lot of people on religious grounds, which breaks both the no religious discussion rule AND the no flaming rule.

So, let's recap really quick. You made a baseless religious arguement in the form of an insult, thus breaking two rules and making yourself look like an arrogant prick.

Consider yourself warned.

[adamark]

pWned

Oh, and I agree. Even when I still considered myself Catholic I was pro-gay marriage, pro equal rights, all that good stuff. And I still am.

[slightly aboveaverage man]

Originally Posted by My Lead Airbag

Quasi Nazi-to-Christian comparison bolded for effect.

On the scandal stuff...its expected in any sort of politics workings. Power plus opportunity and all that, although the least (most?) you can say is that he has no reasonable justification (i.e. No "I was doing it for the good of my fellow citizens!" for you sir.).

Two different paragraphs, two different topics. The first topic delt with gay marriage, second topic dealt with Stephen Harper, his party, and his policies.

Originally Posted by SuperSaiyan

Now, I'll admit....the liberals have made their fair share of mistakes. (Sponsorship, BSE crisis, Missile Defence Shield, Slashing the army's funding excessively, rolling over for the US usually) but...if you can say one thing for Paul Martin, he isn't there solely for power. You can tell that somewhere in that hazy cloud of incompetency there's genuine good intentions.

I will disagree with you on the defense shield, but you're perfectly right about the Military budget. He used to cut their funds before his feet hit the floor in the morning. Also, don't forget Harper's policies towards the US. Even though Martin does have a tendancy to bend himself over the proverbial barrel occasionally, whenever the US comes up, Harper all but suggests we lay down the flag and surrender right off the bat. From what I see, in the worst case scenario if Harper gets into power is that he destroyes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Best case Scenario: He becomes another Brian Mulroney and staples his lips to Bush's ass just like Mulroney did to Regan's ass.

Originally Posted by supersaiyan

So...my solution? Suck it up Martin, go and rip a strip off of Harper, then regroup and implement policies to please the majority (as much as I hate to say it) I.E. Ontario and Quebec, then just look at Harper and say, "You want an election? Bring it."

Well, Martin has a hard time riping a strip off of anything, but he has one advantage: Harper's party will end up doing it for him. Sometime in the next few months one of his shadow cabinet, or back benchers will come forward and make some flagrantly anti-homosexual/anti-native/anti-islamic/etc comment, that's going to make his party look like a hooplah of racists and biggots again.

That isn't to say there's nothing Martin can do. What could really turn things around is for Martin to cut the Conservatives knees out from under them. Scrap the current budget, and create a joint Defence/Health care budget. Outline a huge plan to rebuild the healthcare system and Military, and then impliment it. The Healthcare system being rebuilt will attract most of the centerist and leftist voters, while the military would attract a good deal of blue tories. Find those policies that the Conservatives have that appeal to the general public, and impliment them. Suddenly the Harper wouldn't have a party platform to stand on, Martin gets the credit for tackling some of the biggest issues to Canadians, and we won't have to worry about another Mulroney.

[Nikkoru]

My area has voted Liberal since the dawn of time, but - I will be voting NDP. Usually I am a liberal on most things, I have moderate-liberal views and a tendancy to agree with the Liberal platform the most. I volunteered my time to help the provincial Liberals in the last election, and have given money to the party... however, my local representitive is more conservative than I would like, she is against gay marriage and was pro-missile defense - I am the opposite on both issues.

I am voting NDP because they are the closest to my political perspective, they value social programs and the environment, they won't win in my area however as I understand it the party gets more government assistance (money) with the amount of votes they recieve.

I know about the sponsorship scandle and how we, as tax payers, were cheated out of money. However, why - just because of that - should anyone vote Conservative? I think most people understand that - they shouldn't - and that is why the Conservatives have only had a minor bump in the polls. If the Conservatives win in the election it won't be because the majority want them to but because Liberals won't vote. Voter apathy is pretty bad here to begin with.

[videogamerz2000]

I have to agree with SAAM here. Even though the Liberals have made their mistakes (and I believe the only one so far is the Sponsorship), the Conservatives will down play a whole lot of freedom's we currently enjoy.

To SuperSaiyan, I hear you too. I have also been only to the east once, at the Toronto airport while waiting to go to Europe, but I do understand this, Canada's population has been, and I kinda regret saying this, horribly distributed.

Back on topic, the reason I go Liberal is that at least they concern themselves with internal affairs. Conservatives, on the other hand, are always trying to be buddy-buddies with the Americans against the wishes of it's own populace. Didn't the polls say that between 60-70% of Canadians didn't want the Missle Defense program.

As for gay marriage, it really doesn't affect me, but I do know 'some' people who are directly affected. They are sometimes enjoyable people and really don't have to many problems, so I say, let them do whatever the hell they want. Yet Harper is a defender of the bible to the very end. Well get this. My friends are all atheists (sp?). Weird huh. NOT REALLY.

As for elections, as we all know shall happen and get pissed off at, we really don't need to bring other old political leaders. They're out for a reason. Such as Stockwell Day and Joe Clark. They are all either too old or simply put, poor leaders.

Now as to where NDP and the Bloc stand, Quebec has been, as I believe it, whiny little babies. And for the NDP, I believe my parents love them but their plans for social programs don't affect me. As for environmental issues, yes I would like to see some dramatic changes but Liberals are working on it.

It's all a matter of time. Argue against me now, as you wish.

[Jack of Spades]

I haven't heard anything about tis scandal or election. Partly because I'm American, and Partly because I don't watch the news. So what basically happened?

So my opinion with no facts is

If X did something wrong, and the public disagrees than maybe they should get Y as thier leader. If Y wins than all the Xs will be unhappy so I'd rather hope party Z wins and dissapoints Xs and Ys. That way neither side really wins, but the person who did wrong is still punished.