Election news 2011

[Canadian Dad]

I think you're wrong styky. This is clearly the breakthrough the Liberals have been hoping for. They are going to ride to victory on the wave of anger over a TO businessman who says he has ties to a CPC MP and allegedly improperly withdrew 10000 bucks from some chick's bank account.

[Angleland]

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>

I have not been thrilled with so,e actions by the Tory Gov't recently but this story is ridiculous. What's next? Somebody complained that one of Harper's brothers was rude to them once 20 years ago?

[pirapoi]

Tory supporter facing fraud charge gets plum seat at Harper rally

Attack Harper for 3 days for over-zealous security because Awish Aslam is removed from rally for a Facebook picture with Iggy.
/ even though it was most likely the RCMP who removed her.

Attack Harper for 3 more days for under-zealous security because someone accused of a crime isn't removed from a rally.
// I thought in this country you were innocent until proven guilty?

I guess this is what the media likes to call balanced journalism.

[styky]

"Smell test: Can the NDP bring down the Tories?"

Toronto Star -
Claim: New Democrat strategists have cast their party as the one that can beat Conservatives, saying their candidates placed first or second in 104 ridings across Canada in the 2008 election and that the majority of those they did not win went to the ... <a href=http://news.google.ca/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=ca&hl=en&q=%22Smell+test%3A+Can+the+NDP+bring+down+the+Tories%3F%22>linked thru google</a>

[Jean]

The big talk nowadays in Québec is the rise of the NDP. A recent poll have them at 24%, comfortably in 2nd place, 10 pts behind the Bloc.

Some would say this is have to be a mistake in the poll. However, I'm inclined to take it at face value. The NDP has been getting increasingly more revelant in the past few years.

It's not uncommon here for third parties to become important players out of nowhere. Think of the ADQ in 2007, the Conservatives in 2006.

People are sick of the tradional parties (Namely, Liberals and PQ/Bloc) and are looking for a breath of fresh air.

It will be hilarious to see Duceppe try to attack them.

The NDP have no federal record to defend. No scandals to score easy points on. I doubt many people would care about mistakes made by provincials NDP governements elsewhere in Canada.

Plus, they defend the same leftist program than the Bloc does. Duceppe say all the time '' Harper doesnt represent Québec values'' equating Québec values with leftist values. Guess what Gilles? The NDP endorses the same leftist values than you do.

He could always try to remind people than Layton helped Martin survive longer back in the 38th parliament but considering the little coalition he was a part of a few years later I doubt that would have a lot of clout.

He could always bring up the constitutional differences but I think that would really backfire. Nobody wants to talk about that nowadays.

Gilles better hope than either the polls are wrong or than the NDP will do some kind of horrible mistake because I don't see how he can adequatly defend against them.

[winespius]

If your analysis is accurate God help us....a Conservative majority is essential...

[Soulforger]

If your analysis is accurate God help us....a Conservative majority is essential...

Under Harper it would turn Canada into a fear state where people are afraid to speak publicly about their distain for poor Con policy. I am not interested in watching my Country turn into what Harper has planned.

RCMP acting as bouncers is a disgrace…

When will the Cons have a real leadership debate. The last one was with Belinda which was poorly run and offered very little in terms of change due to her obvious Liberal leanings.

Now if we can kick Harper out and put in Danny Williams I would vote Cons. If there is a leadership race I may even get a Conservative membership again.

[Jean]

Anectodal evidence but still.. it shows why/how the NDP is gaining strenght in Québec.

Myself and 5 other guys (all aged 25-30, white/french) started talking politics tonight.

Liberal? No one trust them. Wayy too corrupt. **** them!

Bloc? All they think about is separation, so they're out. No one likes a whiner.

Conservative? Too american (4/6 guys said than Harper would be better suited as a president than as a PM). Harper is a smarter version of Bush. Too much religious.

NDP? Yeah, that's one a real good guy! He cares about people like us, he will help us should we need it.

[Brown envelope]

Conservative? Too american (4/6 guys said than Harper would be better suited as a president than as a PM). Harper is a smarter version of Bush. Too much religious.

You should have asked them for an example, that would have shut them up because they won't be able to come up with one. In the U.S. Harper would be a Democrat.

[styky]

Celebrities put in their two cents: Canada's politicians face the music


By Frank Appleyard, Postmedia News April 9, 2011

The federal election is receiving an injection of red carpet allure, as some prominent celebrities have joined the conversation about who should lead the country.

In a blog post on the band's website, Montreal's Arcade Fire encouraged Canadian voters to cast a ballot — but not for the Conservatives.

"Our current leader has championed some pretty destructive initiatives on everyone's behalf . . . it's really important to get out and vote on May 2nd," the post said.

The Grammy-winning band's post contained links to articles about Conservative leader Stephen Harper's comments on the Kyoto environmental accord, Alberta's oilsands and mass arrests at the G20 summit held last summer in Toronto.

The post was removed from the website on Friday evening, but not before several media outlets took note.

"When celebrities talk, people listen," said Robert Thompson, a popular culture professor at Syracuse University. "If a celebrity decides to say something in support of a certain candidate or issue, people with cameras and microphones will pay attention."

Read more: http://www.canada.com/Celebrities+their ... z1JBOkbuzA

[RedDog]

Now if we can kick Harper out and put in Danny Williams I would vote Cons.

He's probably not available and in the USA receiving health care services.

[styky]

Locality vs. 'celebrity': Candidates face uphill battle against incumbents


By Rebecca Lindell, Postmedia News April 13, 2011
Liberal candidate Anita Vandenbeld started shaking hands in her Ottawa riding months before an election was called, knowing she would face an uphill battle against Conservative incumbent John Baird.

"I've been working on this campaign full-time since I got nominated in November. I've been going door-to-door almost every day and what I am finding is that a lot of people are saying that John Baird may have a high profile, but he hasn't been present in the riding," she said.

Still, history suggests that candidates running for re-election, like Tory heavyweight Baird, have the upper hand.

Baird has held the riding of Ottawa West-Nepean since 2006 and, along with it, high-ranking positions in the Harper government, including government House leader, transport minister and environment minister. He was a member of Ontario's provincial parliament for a decade before that.

Eighty-eight per cent of the incumbents who ran in 2008 kept their seats — a statistic that was 86 per cent in 2006 and 83 per cent in 2004.

It had jumped to 91 per cent in 2000.

Vandenbeld won't be the only parliamentary hopeful up against an incumbent: While Elections Canada won't have an official candidate list ready until mid-April, so far only 20 of 308 ridings will be incumbent-free in 2011.

"Where you've got an MP who's been around for any number of years, certainly they have an advantage in that their name is out there," said Munroe Eagles, a Canadian professor of political science at the State University of New York. "They are like local celebrities."

But he added that the local campaign, while important, is only part of a national one.

That national campaign has a bigger impact on local voting patterns than incumbency or a specific candidate, according to Barry Kay, of the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy.

"Incumbency isn't the reason why we are seeing so many incumbents re-elected," he said. "I think what we are seeing are voting patterns that aren't switching much from the year before."

Kay said only five per cent of the vote comes down to local factors; For that reason, political futures aren't defined by individual candidates as much as they are by parties.

"The way most Canadians vote has nothing to do with their local candidate. They vote because they like Harper or they don't like Harper. They like Ignatieff or they don't."

That hypothesis explains why only 90 of 219 incumbents were re-elected in the 1993 election that saw the Conservatives obliterated by Jean Chretien's Liberal party.

Liberal candidate Allan Wise is using his party's national campaign to hammer out a victory locally in Winnipeg Centre.

Wise is attempting to unseat New Democrat incumbent Pat Martin, who was first elected in 1997.

"This is about getting rid of Mr. Harper," he said. "We are going to take that message home and make (voters) understand in order to get rid of Harper you have to vote Liberal."

But while unseating an incumbent is difficult, it is not impossible.

In 2008, New Democrat Linda Duncan beat sitting Conservative Rahim Jaffer in Edmonton-Strathcona, a seat Jaffer had held since 1997. And Liberal Anne McLellan, who served as deputy prime minister to Paul Martin, lost her seat in Edmonton Northwest to Conservative Laurie Hawn in 2006. The defeat came after McLellan won four elections by narrow margins.

"There aren't many safe seats in Canada. Many of them can move and many of them do move," Eagles said.

In Vancouver Centre, Adriane Carr is attempting to move one of those seats into the Green party camp.

Carr is on her second attempt to oust high-profile Liberal MP Hedy Fry, who was elected in 1993.

"No incumbent is immune from a best-before date," she said. "There are times when a riding decides there is a change in the tenor of politics and incumbents go."

Carr placed fourth in 2008 behind the Liberals, Conservatives and the NDP.

But with the Conservatives and New Democrats introducing new, relatively unknown candidates, Carr said she believes 2011 will be different.

"We've got two candidates in the Conservatives and the New Democrats who really haven't spent their time living, breathing and working in the community," she said. "That leaves the field to two contenders, Hedy and I."

The Green party is counting on upsetting an incumbent in at least one riding — Saanich-Gulf Islands — where party leader Elizabeth May is trying to unseat Conservative Gary Lunn.

Success for newcomers locally comes when a strong national campaign supports a high-profile, qualified candidate in the local riding, said Leslie Noble, a political consultant at Strategy Corp. "If you take a look at where there have big shifts in public opinion in an election, there's a lot to be said for coattails."

But incumbents shouldn't get too comfortable, warns Noble. They have to defend their record.

"If they haven't done a good job for their constituents over the four years they've been elected, that's going to be a problem," she said.

It's going to be a problem in Winnipeg Centre, according to Wise.

"All (Pat Martin) has done is brought forth a series of private members bills that have not made it anywhere, none of which have had any positive impact on the lives of Winnipeg Centre residents."

http://www.canada.com/news/Locality+cel ... story.html

[styky]

Here's a thought.......what would happen if a party leader failed to retain his seat?????

[Freedom Onion]

Here's a thought.......what would happen if a party leader failed to retain his seat?????

[free_life2]

Now wouldn't it be something if all the party leaders failed to win their ridings.