Canadian federal election

[QuestionMan]

Believe it or not Canada is going to have an election soon it is actually sooner than that of the US.

October 19, 2015 is the day of the federal election

In Canada there are 3 major parties. The other 2 get barely any votes so I am not going to mention them.

The Conservative Party

It is lead by the current Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He has been Prime Minister since 2006. In Canada there is no term limit so he can keep getting elected till he dies. Harper has always been a strong supporter of Israel and most recently of Ukraine as well by being the first head of state to recognize Ukraine's new government. He probably did this because the second largest Ukrainian diaspora in the world is in Canada the first being in Russia. His environmental policy and treatment of aboriginals has been heavily criticized. However his views on international policy are shared by many Canadians and he still remains very popular.

The Liberal Party

It is lead by Justin Trudeau. Perhaps his name may sound familiar either because he wants to legalize marijuana or because you have heard of his father the former prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. For those of you who haven't heard of Pierre Trudeau, he was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada and was responsible for giving Canada it's own Constitution and giving Canada it's official independance. Before Canada gained it's constitution it was a puppet of the UK. Now there are many other things Pierre Trudeau did, enough to write a myTake but I'm here to talk about his son Justin. As the son of a Prime Minister, Justin has always been a celebrity. People tend to prejudge him by his surname since not everyone thinks as greatly of his father as I do. Justin is trying very hard to get out of his father's shadow but his policies appear very unclear. Other than being pro-choice, for the legalization of marijuana, wanting to change Canada's first past the post voting system and being anti-Harper (everything Harper does wrong he hopes to do the opposite) there's not much else I can tell you about him. The Conservatives have made an attack ad against him saying "He's just not ready" which seems quite accurate.

The New Democratic Party (NDP)

It is lead by Thomas Mulcair. He is the current opposition leader and is ahead in the polls as of this moment. He is a staunch critic of Harper and is part of the only party that opposes Bill C-51. Bill C-51 to put it bluntly is Canada's equivalent to the Patriot Act. It is very vague and gives the government a lot of authority. He promises to fix the economy, help protect the environment, lower taxes on small businesses, increase minimum wage, spend more money on daycares and many other things.

Now comes the confusing part.

Here is how Canada's electorial system works:

As of this year there are now 338 riddings instead of 308 as mentioned in the video.

Who would you vote for?

[Floridian]

Justin Trudeau (Lib) will be nearly 44 on election day.
Brian Mulroney (PC) was 45 years old when he became PM.

How was Mulroney “ready”?

He had not run for Parliament … he won the Party’s leadership contest, becoming its leader. It is arguable that, while not the same, both Mulroney and Trudeau - both “young” - were by no means “inexperienced”.

How is 43-45 considered “young”? That’s three times my age. That’s not “young”.

[QuestionMan]

Trudeau's policies seem very weak in my opinion. Everyone I know that isn't voting for PC is voting NDP.

[Floridian]

@QuestionMan oh … no no no, please do not misunderstand what I said (and I probably didn’t articulate my point as well as I could have) … I’m not a Trudeaumaniac 2.0 (I can’t even vote) .

If I could, I’d go NDP, no question
My family’s as conservative as conservative gets, we’re in the 1% “club” (but, no, we’re not lizard-people).

I do follow the politics of the countries that we work with, though (I’m in Canada right now, actually, so I’m getting a close-up view of Justin’s new haircut and Harper’s latest “supporter scuffle”).

All I meant to say was that, while he (Justin) may not be ready to lead, it is not because of his age (or lack thereof). Substance counts. Not age.

As for policies … I agree, Trudeau’s are weak; Mulcair’s are good, in theory, but hard to nail down in practice (that is, not too realistic in implementation, and they presume a long-term government – keep in mind – no government may set policy succeeding govts cannot overturn). And Harper’s are just bad. So … ?

[QuestionMan]

Oh ok. I have nothing against him being young I think we need young blood but just not him.
This election is going to be very close. My riding has always voted Conservative but there are now a lot more Liberal voters. There was a recount because the votes were miscounted with the final tally being 3 more Conservative votes than Liberal ones. I voted Conservative and felt very proud knowing my vote made a difference.
I'm thinking of voting PC again because I rather have the devil I know especially since I support most of Harper's policies.

[Floridian]

See, you can vote.

But … Canada’s in recession (don’t … even try — I know the technical definition — Canada’s in recession).

Harper’s been at the helm since I was four, I don’t remember who the previous PM was (I know who it was, I just don’t have any memory of him) … but my point is, 10 years … what is he waiting for, an engraved invitation from HRM? FIX IT, ALREADY!!! Ack. Caps lock. But … I’m leaving it in.

Historically, under Chretien (I’m not saying he was perfect, I’m not even saying he was good, but, I dare you to say he wasn’t) Canada was at the top of just about every top-10 or top-20 list you could think of, Harper inherited that from the Liberals, and now, IMHO, Canada’s not at the top of too many of those lists, and even the ones it is, Harper can claim partial credit, only.

As PM I like Harper/Mulcair … I’m sorry, but I can’t even say Trudeau.
As Govt, I like NDP/CP/*totally grossed out for typing this* Liberew, ew, ew, ew.

Libs post Chret have been floundering/lost.

[QuestionMan]

I never said I couldn't vote, it's just most of the options suck.
I know Canada is in a recession, I know the definition as well.
Didn't realize you are 14 I never look at age :P Anyways Harper has been PM ever since I got my citizenship so yeah it's a long time.
The reason I'm thinking of voting to maintain the status quo is because I don't know what risky policies Mulcair will introduce. Harper is far from perfect but his policies in international relations are what get my support as well as some domestic ones.

[Floridian]

I meant that as “see, you can vote — I can’t”.

[QuestionMan]

You'll be able to vote in the next one don't worry

[Floridian]

I’m American. So … nope. :)

[QuestionMan]

Oh I thought you were Canadian but regardless when you turn 18 you can vote.

[523206720]

This is the first election where I don't know who I'm going to vote for. Not the liberals because they are forcing 8 year old children to learn about anal sex at the elementary school. Not the conservatives cause they want to legalize marijuana and cut money from health care. BUT the NDP and PC have almost no chance of winning and I'd be wasting my vote if I voted for them.

[QuestionMan]

I think you got a little confused there, the Liberals want to legalize marijuana not the conservatives.
The NDP and the PC are the top 2 parties in the polls with the Liberals slightly behind.

[sketchy]

I think you should vote for whichever is going to make it easiest for an experienced outdoor instructor from the UK to immigrate... So not Harper, please.

[9mfeo]

I'm probably going to vote for the Green Party because I don't trust Mulcair. I hate Harper. I kind of like Trudeau but he's too young and doesn't have a set platform.

[QuestionMan]

There's no point of voting for the Greens since they never get enough votes. At the end of the day the PM will either be Harper or Mulcair regardless.

[9mfeo]

At least Harper is predictable in his awfulness. Mulcair looks hella untrustworthy.

[QuestionMan]

It's the beard.
Truth is I'm still undecided. Harper has been in power for too long but I agree with most of his policies, Mulcair is a fresh face that promises to overturn Bill C-51 and bring other much needed changes. Justin isn't even a contender for my vote. We've got more important things to worry about than making marijuana legal.

[9mfeo]

If he had more of a platform other than that I might vote for him. I really hate the Liberal Rep in my riding though. Absolute worst human ever.

[QuestionMan]

The thing I hate about the Canadian system is that you vote for the party and not the candidate, so if the candidate for your jurisdiction sucks but you still want to elect a Liberal for PM you have no choice.

I'd run for PM but the only way to win is to have your own political party and I completely oppose the idea of political parties.

[ruskodisco]

Anyone dumb enough to antagonize Russia thinking it's just another 3rd world country is completely retarded.
We can only have one nuclear war.

[QuestionMan]

Russia isn't going to nuke anyone. NATO can be more supportive of Ukraine by providing weapons since Russia isn't going to do shit. Russia's already arming the separatists it's not like it's going to declare war officially.

[ruskodisco]

Actually russia will do anything it can to protect it's citizens.
And if a full scale war does happen which is very likely considering the situations around the world.
Including china not liking usa and being on the side of russia and doing military exercises with them
You seem to be much to excited about this conflict, it serves no one no good.

[ruskodisco]

Tell me how else do you think WWIII is going to end if not in nuclear war?

[QuestionMan]

Donetsk residents are not Russian citizens. Everybody is scared of Russia because they have nuclear weapons but guess what, NATO has a defence against that. China isn't going to get involved, they don't care about Ukraine. A full scale war will not happen that is all just Western paranoia.

Give Ukraine weapons to take back it's land, you don't have to send NATO troops in.
Russia is already giving the rebels weapons and NATO isn't doing anything when it was them that caused the revolution.

[ruskodisco]

They don't care about ukraine, like russia doesn't care about japan or hong kong.
BUT if usa calls war against china then russia will get involved and if it happens to russia then china will get involved trying to argue other wise while they are doing military exercises together, and doing new trade and oil deals is kinda going to be a mute point.
You are obviously fooling yourself if you think nato can stop the nuclear weapons of russia.

You are admitting that nato caused the over throwing of the government in Ukraine right?

[QuestionMan]

Of course the west was involved in the revolution there's no deny it. I support the overthrow of Yanukovych however much like in Libya the west overthrew the government and just left the locals to work everything out. Ukraine has always had tensions between the Russian speakers and the Ukrainian speakers so getting rid of a Moscow puppet obviously was going to have consequences.

Russia doesn't care about Japan's claims to the Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Islands or the status of Hong Kong.
The US isn't going to declare war on China or Russia but the US can provide lethal aid to Ukraine. Congress passed the bill to provide Ukraine with lethal aid Obama was just too scared to sign it. That is why I support Harper's anti-Putin stance since even though our army equipment is out dated (circa 1980) he still supports Ukraine.

[ruskodisco]

Well if that happens then russia provides lethal weapons. and they can do it a lot easier.
and China did speak on behalf of russia saying that they knew it was america doing this.
And why would you support that? he was legally elected in there and it was no secret that he was pro russian, he fucking said he was and it was part of the campaign.
America is supporting nazis in ukraine. why would you support this?
The east are killing and shelling people in ukraine.:www.youtube.com/watch
there is plenty of witnesses in donbass and logonesk saying it was the Ukrainians.

Honeslty, do you think Russians will do nothing when the Ukrainians won't let them leave to russia and are killing them at the same time?

Why promote events like this that could incite WWIII

[QuestionMan]

Well as Ukrainian who is actually aware of what's going on by being informed not just by Western sources but by local Ukrainian, my relatives still living there, Russian sources and my knowledge of Ukrainian history I have come to the conclusion that the revolution was a necessary event for Ukraine to break away from Russia's sphere of influence.
The reason he was elected was because there were no other good alternatives especially since Yushchenko wasn't that great of a president. The revolution created new political parties such as the Petro Poroshenko Bloc which I support and the radical Right Sector which I oppose.

The Donetsk separatists are terrorist elements supported by Russia. The Russian propaganda has made them think that their rights are going to be taken away and that Ukraine will Westernize very quickly. They are against all churches except the Orthodox Church and have been oppressing Protestants.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhEe2PSaEW0

[ruskodisco]

Yeah i have no clue how we are going to convince on another of our ideas.
Either way, Russia will act if continuation of bombing Russian speakers by Ukrainian forces ensues. And Russians have no need to take the rest of Ukraine since they already own Crimea. That move was made and cannot be undone, which of course was the whole reason why america was trying to do the revolution and why they stopped caring so fast after they knew that russia already had it and the people their voted to be part of it.
They would of sent weapons a long time ago when people in America and Europe were in most support of this. I'm not stating that it's out of the discussion but i am saying that as more time passes on the less likely it will be.
All that happened was you switched from russian sphere of influence to america, and ukraine now has to get it's gas from Europe (which gets it from russia) so you're really just getting more expensive gas.

[ruskodisco]

I'm sorry dude but i see no reason as to why Ukraine had to break apart so violently from russia as to actually attack them and it's citizens.
Poroshenko even admits to bombing them: "we will have our children go to school, while theirs will be in basements" www.youtube.com/watch

I understand not wanting to be part of the kremlin influence, but why kill russians for it? not only have you destroyed relations with a superpower that has support from china but you also killed their people, and for what? American influence over ukraine? they are not even giving you weapons. Hell of a influence.

Not only that but this could also end in WWIII. And that WILL end in nuclear war with the world dying. Billions of people will die. I don't understand how you are not seeing this.
Anyways, I'm going to bed. goodnight.

[ruskodisco]

not citizens but people***