Canadian Politics Thread

Less impressed now.

The volume of provincial ads is numbing.

Frightened enough by the prospect of a Conservative majority that I voted Liberal just now. Our (incumbent) NDP candidate is well liked around here, though, so I dunno. This one's gonna be a nail-biter.

Which riding?

I felt really good about my Green vote! Between merging the school boards, the GAI, protecting farmland, increased resource royalties, and the social innovation fund, that was a platform I could actually get behind (and the PCs are not going to take my riding: http://globalnews.ca/news/1340983/ontario-election-2014-ottawa-vanier-riding/).

I had been anticipating a Liberal victory until this morning but this is scary: http://warrenkinsella.com/2014/06/ipsos-just-now-ontario-liberals-behind-in-every-region/

xpost

Windsor-Techumseh

Threehundredeight gave the ONDP a 94% chance in Windsor-Tecumseh: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3FA7VPkAJ28/U5mjb44dQxI/AAAAAAAATVk/rb5xR3QyvcM/s1600/Ridings.png

Since the PCs came second in the byelection (and are projected to come second this time), a Liberal vote might be un-strategic if your goal is "anyone but PC".

I lived in Windsor West for three years. I really liked that city.

Strategic voting guide: http://one-big-campaign.blogspot.ca/2014/06/34-key-ridings-where-we-need-to-defeat.html

There seems to be a bit of a "stop Hudak, vote Liberal" movement happening around here even among those who are usually NDP voters, so I was going by that. Also, our candidate recently stuck his foot in his mouth a bit w/r/t the hospital situation in the city, which might hurt him a bit. Honestly, though, I still think NDP will take it here, easily. Ah well. I should have just voted Green (as usual) so at least I could feel good about myself.

Has a Conservative or PC won either Windsor riding at any point in our lifetimes?? Strategic voting campaigns can be counterproductive sometimes.

http://idealisticpragmatist.blogspot.ca/2005/12/idealistic-pragmatists-guide-to.html
http://fence.blogspot.ca/2005/12/rerun.html

(Sorry, didn't mean to beat up on your choice.:P I just get frustrated with - usually - Liberal strategic voting arguments sometimes. Fwiw, of the three major parties, I like the OLP best and hope they win another minority.)

Not at all! I'm kinda beating myself up anyway :-)

And no, there's not a chance in hell of the PCs taking either Windsor riding.

I lived in Windsor West for three years. I really liked that city.

Oh! Somehow didn't see this at first. If I may ask, did you go to the University here? I'm trying to think of another reason why someone might move to Windsor.

I taught at the university there. Great opportunity, horrible but educational teaching experience.

I lived in Windsor for a year because my wife was finishing her masters degree there. Weird town but I had a lot of fun and made tons of friends in a pretty short time. I worked at Mackenzie Hall.

I LIVED IN MAC HALL FOR A YEAR! I went to UofW in the late '80s...specialized in buying records, playing euchre and reading Graffiti magazine (hello Clem)

(Voting Green after work)

Does windsor still have that bizarre hum? (also plan on voting green in a pretty safe NDP riding)

Lol, if only ilx were more representative of the province.

(I lived in Old Sandwich, just down the street from Mac Hall.)

Thanks, Myonga. God, I hated Windsor when I went to teachers college there. Felt like I spent the entire time waiting for buses that took forever. I remember heading out to see Goodfellas one Sunday morning and literally getting back home eight or nine hours later.

I'm in Etobicoke-Lakeshore. Glad my Liberal vote is in sync with the strategic voting guide (which I should have checked beforehand--a friend mailed me the link a few days ago--but didn't).

Haha. The Windsor transit system is STILL the worst. And belligerent about it too.

The bus situation is indicative of the city overall: all the hassles of a big city, but none of the conveniences. My immediate family and the few remaining friends that still live here aside, I'll be happy to finally be outta here in roughly a year's time.

Oh yeah, luckily, I had a car when I was in Windsor.

I see the Greens have one seat so far. Without checking, I'm guessing that it is somewhere near Guelph.

Oh, weird. CBC is saying that the Greens are leading in Scarborough-Guildwood because one vote has been counted and it is all Green??

OLP majority looking possible at this point.

LOLP

Looking more and more like a Lib majority.

Peter Milczyn has won in Etobicoke-Lakeshore. If the Liberals get exactly 54 seats, I'll actually feel like I accomplished something today.

CBC called Lib majority just now. Strategic voting seemed to be fairly heavy this time.

Interestingly, the Libs seemed to pick up rural PC-held ridings.

was not expecting this!

So, "Wynne Win" puns for headlines tomorrow?

Odds on the OLP actually sticking with the budget they presented before the election?

So long, asshole!

never seeing him or Doug Holiday again was all i truly wanted out of this one.

So we've elected a lesbian premier on the left of the Liberal Party who has an educational background. I'm actually intrigued to see how this is going to pan out (although my hopes would be higher if we'd given her a minority).

heyo glad to have been wrong upthread

as satisfying as it was to see Doug Holyday get his ass handed to him, we'll probably see him back running for TO City Council again, he was mayor of Etobicoke and prob could still swing it - but who knows maybe the old creep will fuck off for good

but his loss did make me wonder if Ford was a factor at all pushing people away from Cons provincially - probably so much else going on that it didn't make a huge difference but couldn't have helped

So...31 charges against Duffy. Numerous counts of fraud & breach of trust and (excitingly) bribery of a judicial officer (Wright) which apparently carries a max sentence of 14 years. Well done RCMP.

wow!

I don't quite understand the Wright thing - Wright is the judicial officer? But it seems like he bribed Duffy, or...?

http://www.thebeaverton.com/national/item/1466-rcmp-mike-duffy-charged-with-accepting-a-bribe-from-nobody-in-particular

Sums it up nicely.

This can't actually be as bad as the critics say, right? Right?: http://www.newsweek.com/new-treaty-allows-china-sue-canada-change-its-laws-270751?piano_t=1

I mean it's Newsweek so it ain't exactly a leftwing blogger source... This sounds like the real deal.

If it is, this—like several other pieces of legislation Harper has launched in the past few years—have made me glad I already live in Quebec.

I think everyone here, franco, anglo, and other alike would agree that the aftermath of selling the country down the river to China over Alberta's oil revenue is hardly worth sticking around for.

I mean, it seems amazing (or not, given Harper's track record) that we're not hearing more about it. Entire federal elections were held before the FTA and NAFTA were ratified. The only defences I've heard of this, aside from John Manley's, are from total Tory partisans. Even more independent-minded right-wingers don't seem very excited.

i'm wondering how something snuck in like that could ever be legal.

independent-minded right-wingers

Right! There is a huge segment of these people, your average pickup truck Albertan for example, who love Harper but despise or at least distrust the weird bogeyman of Chinese Business Interests.

On that note there's also a lot of veiled racism among this segment of the Canadian population, and some of the reaction to Anything Chinese verges on the kind of crude stereotyping you'd hear from Rob Ford. Come to think of it, veiled racism masquerading as political discourse is another thing I've noticed Canadians exhibiting more and more of the past decade's Americanization of Canada.

But really, I'm not too jazzed about selling off our legislative sovereignty to any country. Sweden or Denmark I could probably handle, though, because I'd assume that a Swedish company would be more ethical and responsible in its conduct towards local populations and the environment. I don't think it makes me racist to say that China seems like it can be pretty fucked up and untrustworthy on this score.

No, I'm not sure that any part of Chinese history would indicate that the 'Communist' Chinese government or its companies (usually with significant state involvement) are the most trustworthy partners to enter into some sort of investment protection/free trade deal with.

racist!

Ha, just to be clear, that was a comment on the track record of the Communist government in China, not anything broader than that.

Fucking hell.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/parliament-shooting/article21217602/#dashboard/follows/