Election news 2011

[styky]

The Ignatieffalump in the room

http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/03/31/the- ... -the-room/

[styky]

<center></center>

Stephen Harper takes heat over Conservative campaign media chill

By: Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press

Posted: 03/31/2011
HALIFAX - The yellow steel fence that kept reporters far from Stephen Harper today was a potent symbol of his election campaign.

Harper is running a tight travelling show with little room for spontaneity, where national media are limited to four questions a day — and kept a safe distance from the Conservative leader.

Harper was pressed by frustrated reporters to explain the strict control of his campaign and his reluctance to answer more questions, in contrast to the dozens that are taken by his rivals.

"If there are other subjects I'm not addressing, I'll take em. What's the subject, one subject?" Harper said, ignoring the question about the limits placed on the media.

On Wednesday, frustrated by two days of questions about controversies involving campaign volunteers, Harper's team told reporters they would not answer any questions about riding campaigns.

Thursday's events followed the usual campaign script: a policy announcement made against an appropriate backdrop — this time the Halifax harbour to talk about trade deals and exports.

A few dozen chairs were set up in front of Harper's podium where local candidates, Tory senators and other area Conservatives sat and applauded.

National media — who are paying $11,000 per person per week to travel with Harper — were asked to provide the names of four reporters for questions, two in English and two in French. A local reporter got a question as well. And then it was done.

Harper finds time to do one or two carefully staged photo opportunities each day. In Halifax, it was at the Red Stag Tavern at the Alexander Keith's Brewery. As with all such events, the people who come in contact with Harper are Conservative supporters or part of the planning.

The brewery was almost completely empty but for some Tories sitting appreciatively at the bar. A Conservative staffer placed bar stools in front of the small media pack to restrict their movements as Harper arrived. An RCMP officer said it wasn't a security issue but a campaign one.

Six days into the campaign, Harper has still not greeted the 25 reporters and TV technicians travelling aboard his plane. His wife, Laureen, ambled to the back of the aircraft late Wednesday night to offer up some chocolate covered treats.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/specia ... 84854.html

[Canadian Dad]

I love the irony of this story. The CPC is "taking heat" over their "media chill." From who? Why, the very reporter writing the artile. Clever.

[styky]

I've read it twice and I'm still shaking my head in disbelief.



Ignatieff: Harper blew Canada's chance with the UN security council
Toronto Star - Les Whittington -
WINNIPEG-Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff says Canada would be in a better position to influence events in Libya if Stephen Harper's Conservative government had not failed to win a seat for Canada on the United Nations Security Council. ... <a href=http://news.google.ca/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=ca&hl=en&q=%22Ignatieff%3A+Harper+blew+Canada%E2%80%99s+chance+with+the+U.N.+security+council%22>linked thru google</a>

[styky]

Campaign Notes


Postmedia News March 31, 2011



KENNEY DEFENDS USE OF AD CRITICIZED AS 'XENOPHOBIC'

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has defended his party's use of an ad that a Tamil group has called "xenophobic." The ad touts the Conservatives' proposals to crack down on human smuggling and features an image of the cargo ship MV Sun Sea which brought 492 Tamil migrants to B.C. last summer. "Canada welcomes people who want to build a better future," the announcer says. "But our openness doesn't extend to criminals who target Canadian generosity." The National Council of Canadian Tamils urged the Tories to remove the ad and to apologize for labelling the asylum-seekers as criminals. But Kenney defended the ad, saying the "vast majority" of Canadians support a crackdown on smuggling.

AGLUKKAQ UNOPPOSED IN RACE FOR NUNAVUT RIDING

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq is, so far, unopposed in her bid for a second term as Nunavut's MP in the May 2 election. As of March 29, the Liberals and the NDP had yet to nominate candidates for Canada's largest electoral district. The Green party candidate dropped out for health reasons. Both the NDP and Liberals are still looking for someone to run. The parties have until April 11 to nominate candidates.

ELECTIONS CANADA UPDATING VOTERS' LISTS

Elections Canada began revising and updating voters' lists in all federal ridings on Wednesday. Voters who are not on the National Register of Electors or whose residential or personal information has changed since the last election in 2008 can contact their local Elections Canada office to make the necessary changes. Officials also will attempt to reach some eligible voters through a door-to-door campaign. Information cards are to be mailed to voters next week and any voter who does not receive one by April 13 -or receives one with inaccurate information -should contact Elections Canada.

RIFT BETWEEN HARPER, NEWFOUNDLAND HEALED

It seems the rift between the Harper Conservatives and the Newfoundland and Labrador government has pretty much healed. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to pledge today to support a massive Labrador hydroelectric development. The Newfoundland and Labrador government has been lobbying hard for a federal loan guarantee for the hydro project to be built on Labrador's Lower Churchill River.

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Campa ... z1IDuQIWTJ

[WarHawkster]

Democratic Space is projecting Conservative majority with an average of 157 seats, minimum 137, and a maximum of 174 seats.

http://www.democraticspace.com/canada2011/

[kowalski]

Who controls the UN Security Council and do they have big planes?

[styky]

Liberal's posters defaced with rifle-target symbols

By SCOTT TAYLOR and DOUG HEMPSTEAD, QMI Agency

Last Updated: April 3, 2011 8:03am
OTTAWA - More than 100 election signs were spraypainted by vandals with symbols depicting crosshairs of a gun over his face, homophobic comments and course language.

And Ryan Keon's campaign team have reported the vandalism to Ottawa Police for investigation.

More than 100 public signs of the Nepean-Carleton Liberal candidate were tagged sometime overnight Friday, according to the team.

They say it appears it's an organized case of vandalism against him.

The campaign team says the most chilling image -- which resembles the crosshairs of a gun scope aimed at his face -- was sprayed on the signs using black spray paint.

Keon and his wife have two young children and are concerned about the intended message, not only of the targets, but also the homophobic and coarse, offensive language.

"Regardless of how serious or stupid their intentions might be," he said, "it's obviously an attempt by somebody who doesn't want me to succeed, to intimidate me. It won't work. This really is a direct attack on our democracy."

Some of the signs call him a tree hugger.

"I didn't think we lived in the kind of place where people would use these kind of tactics to oppose me in my attempt to provide the people of my riding with a viable option," he said.

His campaign workers were equally shocked by the vandalism.

"It's the same thing that Sarah Palin ran on her website that she was admonished for," said Al Toulin.

"And then the congresswoman in Arizona was shot just after that, so that's why we're worried."

Toulin said people are phoning in from across the riding saying signs have been defaced.

"We have no evidence of who it is, but he's got kids and a wife and so it's very disturbing."

Toulin said there's always some sign damage in every election campaign, but this is the first time he has seen such an organized effort.

"It's something you don't want your children to see."

Ottawa Police said they were not aware of a report being written and couldn't comment on the investigation.

http://www.lfpress.com/news/decision201 ... 57821.html

[WarHawkster]

New nanos poll:

Conservative: 40.7
Liberal: 29.4
NDP: 16.9
BQ: 8
Green: 4

http://www.ctv.ca/mini/election2011/pol ... index.html

Liberals are polling a little higher because of Atlantic Canada's margin of error is quite high, and battle for Ontario is tightening, but still within margin of error.

Going to be some interesting vote splitting this time!

[Jean]

Saturday, April 2, 2011
Liberal and Conservative ceilings after Week 1

After the first week of campaigning, it seems that the Conservatives are capable of topping out at more than the 155 seats needed to get a majority government. But the wiggle room the party has is miniscule.

Every weekend, I am going to calculate what the Liberal and Conservative ceilings were during the preceding week. The ceilings are established similarly to how I calculate the best and worst case scenarios: I take the best regional results for each party from all of the polls released during the week, and run seat projections with those results. The only difference is that I am taking the highest poll result, rather than the result that delivers the most seats. This puts the onus on the parties themselves, rather than on the strength or weakness of other parties. It is also more manageable from my end.

Of course, these calculations are greatly influenced by the smaller samples of regional polls. But we can still draw some useful information from these ceilings, as it is unlikely that the parties are capable of outpacing the best polls when you consider that the best polls are likely a few points higher than reality thanks to the MOE.

We'll start with the Conservatives. Their best poll results were 43% in British Columbia, 61% in Alberta, 52% in the Prairies, 47.5% in Ontario, 26.7% in Quebec, and 36.2% in Atlantic Canada. Together, that would give the party roughly 43% support in Canada.

It would also hand them 160 seats, five more than are needed for a majority. Their ceilings for the first week are 24 seats in British Columbia, 27 in Alberta, 22 in the Prairies, 63 in Ontario, 12 in Quebec, and 11 in Atlantic Canada, based only on the best poll results. As the Conservatives are currently riding higher in the campaign projection in Atlantic Canada, this is an indication of how the polls have not been great for the Tories out east in this last week. Their numbers have been good, but the Liberals have been doing better. With their support for the Lower Churchill projection, however, I expect the Tories to gain.

For the Liberals, the week has given them some reason to dare to hope that things may turn in their favour, but they still have been struggling and trailing the Conservatives by a significant margin. Their best poll results were 32.3% in British Columbia, 21% in Alberta, 33% in the Prairies, 34.5% in Ontario, 26.5% in Quebec, and 47.9% in Atlantic Canada. Nationally, that would give them 32% support.

Their best seat results are seven in British Columbia, one in Alberta, six in the Prairies, 30 in Ontario, 18 in Quebec, and 23 in Atlantic Canada. This would give them 86 seats in all, a gain of nine over their standings when the government fell and the election was called.

It's a modest gain, but the Conservatives would also make a modest gain of their own. That the best the Liberals can do in Ontario is 30 seats shows the real problem of the first week for Michael Ignatieff: the Conservatives are doing extraordinarily well in Ontario. The Liberals need to whittle that lead down if they want to have any hope of winning more than 90 seats. If they want to form the next government, it is absolutely essential that the tide turns in Ontario.

[braveheart]

Well this could be a curve ball for Iggy . The recent incident involving a Boeing 737-300 where part of the fuselage blew a hole in it has cause the FAA to issue an air worthiness directive.


http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guida ... rgency.pdf

Well guess what type of plane Iggy is using - it is a 737-400. Same type structure, same type of problem.

This means that some where they have to pull his campaign plane and inspect it.

[styky]

Well this could be a curve ball for Iggy . The recent incident involving a Boeing 737-300 where part of the fuselage blew a hole in it has cause the FAA to issue an air worthiness directive.


http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guida ... rgency.pdf

Well guess what type of plane Iggy is using - it is a 737-400. Same type structure, same type of problem.

This means that some where they have to pull his campaign plane and inspect it.

The liberals have always had a knack for picking equipment that leaks.....remember the sub indecent.

[laconic]

Part of an email from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation;

“CTV, Global TV, and CBC are hosting the federal leaders' debate scheduled for Tuesday, April 12th and are inviting questions from the public. It’s important they hear from taxpayers. Can you take a minute right now and send in a question or two? Here are some suggested topics:”

…………….

“Questions posed in your own words will have a better chance of being considered. Submission deadline is this Thursday, April 7th. Please e-mail questions to question@electiondebtate2011.ca, and be sure to include your name, address, and daytime telephone number.”

[styky]

Big issues dumbed down

Liberals and Tories are fudging facts on corporate tax rates

By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN, QMI Agency

Last Updated: April 7, 2011 7:28am

As former Progressive Conservative prime minister Kim Campbell rightly put it in the 1993 election campaign, an election is no time to discuss serious issues.

The claims being made by Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals and Stephen Harper’s Conservatives about whether it’s better to raise corporate taxes (Liberals), or lower them (Conservatives), is a good example.

Let’s start with Ignatieff.

He says he will pay for $8.2 billion of Liberal election promises over two years — public daycare, subsidized university tuition, family work leave, green renovation tax credits and an enlarged Canada Pension Plan — by cancelling $9 billion of Conservative corporate tax cuts over the same period.

Sounds great, except for the fact corporations faced with higher taxes pay for them by increasing their revenues, cutting expenditures, or both.

This means they raise prices to consumers and/or cut payrolls and staff.

In reality, ordinary working people will be paying for these Liberal campaign promises through higher retail prices, or lower wages and lost jobs, or both.

Raising corporate taxes isn’t a cookie-jar from which politicians can draw free money to pay for election promises.

We all pay in the end, just as we all pay for any other tax hike imposed by government.

Ironically, Ignatieff’s plan to raise corporate taxes, or, more accurately, cancel planned Conservative tax cuts, is the opposite strategy of former Liberal prime ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin.

They made corporate tax cuts a mainstay of their economic policies. (So has Ontario Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty, lately.) The federal Liberals argue they’ve changed their view because when they were cutting corporate taxes in government, Canada was running big annual surpluses, not the huge deficits of today.

Nonetheless, the Liberals allowed Tory corporate tax cuts to go ahead in recent years — long after Canada was running huge deficits in the wake of the 2008 global recession.

The Grits did that by abstaining or not showing up for the Parliamentary votes that approved these cuts, allowing the Conservatives to pass them in a minority Parliament, where the opposition parties control the majority of seats.

The counter-argument by Harper and the Conservatives, that corporate tax cuts increase employment, is similar to putting lipstick on a pig.

That’s because corporate tax cuts only lead to increased employment if corporations in fact decide to hire more workers.

But they can do all sorts of other things such as paying down debt, increasing cash reserves, and/or upgrading technology, the latter of which can cause more job losses because of increased efficiencies brought about by better technology on production lines.

While it’s true an economically healthy, or healthier, corporation may decide to employ more people over time — and offer higher-skilled jobs at better pay as its technology improves — many other factors affect employment levels beyond corporate tax rates.

For example, the value of the Canadian dollar compared to the U.S. and other currencies.

The simple truth is corporate taxation policies are complicated.

They can’t be accurately explained to voters in the 10-second sound bite environment of political campaigns.

Thus, Ignatieff and the Liberals simplistically promise better social programs via cancelled corporate tax cuts, while Harper and the Conservatives simplistically promise more jobs, via more corporate tax cuts.

Proof, yet again, that elections are no time to discuss serious issues.

<a href=http://www.winnipegsun.com/comment/columnists/lorrie_goldstein/2011/04/06/17903291.html>source</a>

[styky]

This is getting ridiculous. This might as well read my mothers boyfriends sisters husbands step-brother who was once accused of speeding in a Liberal riding is possibly working for a conservative candidate. (I feel the need to state the scenario mentioned is fictitious)

Tory supporter facing fraud charge gets plum seat at Harper rally
Toronto Star -
OTTAWA—A Toronto businessman who says he has ties to a Conservative MP and at least two Tory campaigns is facing a criminal charge. Snover Dhillon is accused of fraud for allegedly withdrawing $10972 from a woman's credit and debit cards. ... <a href=http://news.google.ca/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=ca&hl=en&q=%22Tory+supporter+facing+fraud+charge+gets+plum+seat+at+Harper+rally%22>linked thru google</a>