....So, will most of our Canadian members be going to the polls today? If you are going then how do you plan to vote. Will you continue the current path of 13 yeas of liberal rule that has been dominated by corruption and scandal or will you choose the conservative party for a change. Is anyone buying into the propoganda by the left that the conservaties will overturn the gay marriage laws and abortion, etc. etc. That seems to a familiar scare tactic.

....So, will most of our Canadian members be going to the polls today? If you are going then how do you plan to vote. Will you continue the current path of 13 yeas of liberal rule that has been dominated by corruption and scandal or will you choose the conservative party for a change. Is anyone buying into the propoganda by the left that the conservaties will overturn the gay marriage laws and abortion, etc. etc. That seems to a familiar scare tactic.


............yes

The conservative party sucks just as much as the liberals. They're going to get in and break all their promises and their supporters are going to have to face reality for once. It's easy to be snide when you don't actually have to run the whole show.

Having said that I don't mind seeing the liberals out of there. Probably what's going to happen is the conservatives will get a minority, **** up bad somewhere along the way, and then a revamped liberal party will get back in.

In the meantime we'll have the most embarassing leader in the Western World in Stephen Harper. The dude is about as good in front of a camera as a 14-year old computer geek is in front of a cheerleader.

Oh, and yes, pbds, the scare tactics were bull****. There's some really social conservatives in there but I don't think anyone was buying that they'd start overturning all these old laws. The Liberals ran a ****ty campaign and deserve to go.

The conservative party sucks just as much as the liberals. They're going to get in and break all their promises and their supporters are going to have to face reality for once. It's easy to be snide when you don't actually have to run the whole show.

Having said that I don't mind seeing the liberals out of there. Probably what's going to happen is the conservatives will get a minority, **** up bad somewhere along the way, and then a revamped liberal party will get back in.

In the meantime we'll have the most embarassing leader in the Western World in Stephen Harper. The dude is about as good in front of a camera as a 14-year old computer geek is in front of a cheerleader.

Oh, and yes, pbds, the scare tactics were bull****. There's some really social conservatives in there but I don't think anyone was buying that they'd start overturning all these old laws. The Liberals ran a ****ty campaign and deserve to go.

....So you think the conservatives are going to win the election? Good info BTW Bombardier. It's always interesting to to find out what's happening politicaly in other countries.

I agree that the liberals time to go is now.

They have no backbone, and seem to change their policies on the fly, to whatever is going to get them voted in this week.

Even the NDP has more of a backbone then the libs.

I am going to vote in about 5 minutes, and I will be voting for Harper. Might not be great infront of a camera, (I was laughing my ass off during the debate everytime Harper made that stupid grin) but I think he's our best bet.

I still have a funny feeling a lot Canadians might lose their testicles at the last minute and vote liberal.

I agree that the liberals time to go is now.

They have no backbone, and seem to change their policies on the fly, to whatever is going to get them voted in this week.

Even the NDP has more of a backbone then the libs.

I am going to vote in about 5 minutes, and I will be voting for Harper. Might not be great infront of a camera, (I was laughing my ass off during the debate everytime Harper made that stupid grin) but I think he's our best bet.

I still have a funny feeling a lot Canadians might lose their testicles at the last minute and vote liberal.


....I didn't realize you were also Canadian. Props for going out to vote.

....So you think the conservatives are going to win the election? Good info BTW Bombardier. It's always interesting to to find out what's happening politicaly in other countries.

No problem. I'm glad you made this post actually. As always you're at the front of the pack when it comes to political knowledge...that's why I never bug you guys when you talk about "thong-wearing liberals" :) .

As for the election, it looks like the Conservatives will get a clear majority win, which means that they won't control parliament outright but will officially be in charge. In second place it will be a race between the liberals and the Quebec separatist Bloc Quebecois (who are far left-leaning politically, as well).

What will probably happen is the Conservatives will be able to pass the more moderate elements of their fiscal plans and will stay away from talking about social issues. We do have a lot of doomsayers here but I think things will work out all right...I wasn't looking forward to a socialzied child-care plan, to tell you the truth (which is what the Liberals were pushing for).

What does bug me (which is why I had that rant in my last post) is the way the Conservative supporters think that we're going to be in some kind of new Golden Age once they get elected. To tell you the truth it's probably similar to the way the Democrats act in the States. Like I was saying it's easy to complain when you're not in charge. The truth is that they'll be hit and miss, just like it is when anyone else is in charge. Though the Liberals were corrupt as hell as deserve to get the boot.

I agree that the liberals time to go is now.

They have no backbone, and seem to change their policies on the fly, to whatever is going to get them voted in this week.

Even the NDP has more of a backbone then the libs.

I am going to vote in about 5 minutes, and I will be voting for Harper. Might not be great infront of a camera, (I was laughing my ass off during the debate everytime Harper made that stupid grin) but I think he's our best bet.

I still have a funny feeling a lot Canadians might lose their testicles at the last minute and vote liberal.

I think you're right, but I don't think it's going to stop the Conservatives from taking power this time.

I'm voting NDP, but before you call me a commie or something, I'm doing so because of the candidate we have in our riding. He mother was one of the best mayors we've ever had here and his family has done a lot for the city. Plus it's a race between him and the liberal and I don't want the liberal guy getting in.

I also think the NDPs under Layton have become a lot more realistic. I hope that they provide a good counterweight in gov't.

What riding are you in btw? I'm Ottawa-Centre.

I'm Mississauga/Brampton South.

Bombardier NDP eh? Not too bad of a choice this time around, but remember what happened when they actually got elected in BC? Ouch!
I think they have some good ideas, but the NDP in charge is like having a rookie quarterback in the superbowl, he might do really well, but no one will have the guts to put him in because of the lack of experience, and the risks involved.
Either way I respect your vote. I used to be a liberal voter but not anymore.

PBDS Thanks, man. You didn't notice my Location is T-DOT? :D

Off I go to elect Smiley for PM!

Bombardier NDP eh? Not too bad of a choice this time around, but remember what happened when they actually got elected in BC? Ouch!
I think they have some good ideas, but the NDP in charge is like having a rookie quarterback in the superbowl, he might do really well, but no one will have the guts to put him in because of the lack of experience, and the risks involved.
Either way I respect your vote. I used to be a liberal voter but not anymore.


Cool, I understand why you're voting Conservative, as well. Hard to vote Liberal this time around any way you look at it.

The NDPers ****ed up Ontario pretty bad as well :) . I don't think I want them in charge but even Layton at this point is more or less conceding that they'll be more of an opposition party. Like you say they're not quite ready for primetime, and they might never be at the federal level.

Remember though if smiley ****s up the country it's all on your shoulders :D . j/k man, have fun voting.

I would think it too cold up there right now for Canadians to worry about erections. :confused:

I would think it too cold up there right now for Canadians to worry about erections. :confused:


I know, I was thinking of growing a Mullet, knocking one of my front teeth out, not showering for few weeks, and moving to Kentucky.

I know, I was thinking of growing a Mullet, knocking one of my front teeth out, not showering for few weeks, and moving to Kentucky.


.....lol lol That was pretty damn good. And your retort BD?? :)

Too busy ****ing my sister to come up with one right now.....

Too busy ****ing my sister to come up with one right now.....


....lol lol Nice one!!!

Canada's Conservative Party wins election
Victory pushes Canada to the right for the first time in nearly 13 years
Canada's Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper celebrates his election win with his family in Calgary on Monday night.
Andy Clark / Reuters



Updated: 8:13 a.m. ET Jan. 24, 2006
CALGARY, Alberta - Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party won national elections Monday and ended 13 years of Liberal rule, giving Canada a leader who was expected to move the country to the right on social and economic issues and bolster ties with the United States.

The Conservatives’ winning margin was too narrow to avoid ruling with a minority government, a situation that will make it difficult to get legislation through a divided House of Commons.

The triumph for the Conservatives came with many Canadians weary of the broken promises and corruption scandals under the Liberal Party, making them willing to give Harper a chance to govern despite concerns that some of his social views are extreme.


“Tonight friends, our great country has voted for change, and Canadians have asked our party to take the lead in delivering that change,” Harper, a 46-year-old economist, told some 2,000 cheering supporters at his campaign headquarters in Calgary.

The longest cheer came when he spoke to Western Canada, which has long felt the country has been too dominated by Ontario and Quebec. “The West has wanted in. The West is now in. Canada will work for all of us,” said Harper, who calls Calgary, in Western Canada, his home.

Relations with the Bush administration would likely improve under a Harper government, as his ideology runs along the same lines of many U.S. Republicans.

Harper has said he would reconsider a U.S. missile defense scheme rejected by the current Liberal government of Martin. He also said he wanted to move beyond the Kyoto global warming debate by establishing different environmental controls, spend more on the Canadian military, expand its peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan and Haiti and tighten security along the border with the United States in an effort to prevent terrorists and guns from crossing the frontier.

With nearly all votes counted in the race for the 308-seat House, officials results showed Conservatives with 123 seats; Liberals with 103; Bloc Quebecois with 50, New Democratic Party with 28; and one seat to an Independent. Three seats still haven’t been determined.


Click for related content
Live Vote: Will U.S. ties change?
Canada’s next PM: moderate or conservative?



Shift to right
Prime Minister Paul Martin conceded defeat and said he would step down as head of the party, though remain in Parliament to represent the Montreal seat he won again. It was an unusual move to do both on the same night, but Martin appeared upbeat and eager to continue to fight the Conservatives from the opposition benches of the House.

“I have just called Stephen Harper and I’ve offered him my congratulations,” Martin told a subdued crowd at his headquarters in Montreal. “We differ on many things, but we all share a believe in the potential and the progress of Canada.”

The Conservative victory ended more than a decade of Liberal Party rule and shifted the traditionally liberal country to the right on socio-economic issues such as health care, taxation, abortion and gay marriage. Some Canadians have expressed reservations about Harpers’ views opposing abortion and gay marriage.

During the campaign, Harper pledged to cut the red tape in social welfare programs, lower the national sales tax from 7 percent to 5 percent and grant more autonomy and federal funding to Canada’s 13 provinces and territories.

The Liberals have angered Washington in recent years, condemning the war in Iraq, refusing to join the continental anti-ballistic missile plan and criticizing President Bush for rejecting the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions and enacting punitive Canadian lumber tariffs.

Martin, 67, had trumpeted eight consecutive budget surpluses and sought to paint Harper as a right-winger posing as a moderate to woo mainstream voters. He claimed Harper supports the war in Iraq, which most Canadians oppose, and would try to outlaw abortion and overturn gay marriage.


Harper denied those claims and said Sunday that Martin had failed to swing voters against him.

“Canadians can disagree, but it takes a lot to get Canadians to intensely hate something or hate somebody. And it usually involves hockey,” Harper quipped.

'Just a backlash against certain corruption'
Voters cast ballots at 60,000 polling stations amid unseasonably mild winter weather. Turnout from the country’s 22.7 million registered voters was expected to be better than the 60 percent of the June 2004 election, the lowest number since 1898.

William Azaroff, 35, voted for the left-of-center New Democratic Party but conceded a Conservative government was likely to win.

“I think it’s a shame,” said the business manager from Vancouver, British Columbia. “I think the last government was actually quite effective for Canadians. I think a Conservative government is just a backlash against certain corruption and the sense of entitlement.”

Martin’s government and the House were dissolved in November after New Democrats defected from the governing coalition to support the Conservatives in a no-confidence vote amid a corruption scandal involving the misuse of funds for a national unity program in Quebec.

An investigation absolved the prime minister of wrongdoing but accused senior Liberals of taking kickbacks and misspending tens of millions of dollars in public funds.

Just as campaigning hit full swing over the Christmas holidays, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced they were investigating a possible leak by Liberal government officials that appeared to have influenced the stock market.

When the 38th Parliament was dissolved, the Liberals had 133 seats, the Conservatives had 98, the Quebec separatist party Bloc Quebecois had 53 and the New Democrats had 18. There also were four Independents and two vacancies.

I can't stand Harper, the guy is honestly a moron and he has the same ****eyed look as Bush which makes me want to punch children. This is going to hurt the government more than anything due to the fact that no other party will work with them except for maybe the BLOC...

I can't stand Harper, the guy is honestly a moron and he has the same ****eyed look as Bush which makes me want to punch children. This is going to hurt the government more than anything due to the fact that no other party will work with them except for maybe the BLOC...


....That's not the way the other Canadians on this thread responded.

....That's not the way the other Canadians on this thread responded.

Other Canadians? I think I actually resent that.

Other Canadians? I think I actually resent that.


....I always thought you seemed more Canadian than American. No offense intended. Just a hunch I have always had.

....I always thought you seemed more Canadian than American. No offense intended. Just a hunch I have always had.

During my daily speaking to many people I converse with many people throughout the world and my outlook on life seems to fall in line with 1: Aussies, 2: Canadians. I'd prefer to be thought of the first one if other than American but I don't mind Canada. And hell, I'm from Wisconsin... we're not that far off.

During my daily speaking to many people I converse with many people throughout the world and my outlook on life seems to fall in line with 1: Aussies, 2: Canadians. I'd prefer to be thought of the first one if other than American but I don't mind Canada. And hell, I'm from Wisconsin... we're not that far off.


....I have always thought that Australia would be a pretty cool place to live. At the very least I definitely want to visit there one day.

....I have always thought that Australia would be a pretty cool place to live. At the very least I definitely want to visit there one day.

Just food for thought, relative to population and % it's the gayest country on Earth.

It's interesting that the way TOPitbull and I voted was reflected across the country, with a Conservative win and an NDP protest block.

If Harper puts abortion or gay marriage to a free vote in parliament he is a fool. The Liberals, some of whom wavered on gay marriage before, will vote as one against him to make him look bad. That could end his reign quick.

In the meantime I'm certainly not going to complain about a 2% drop in the GST, as long as we don't start running deficits again (big if there). As for Iraq, well it's kind of pointless to say what Harper would have done in retrospect.

Here is the most bizarre story of the election:

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=32a31b37-486a-41e2-9995-795827203215&k=2127

Controversial radio host wins Quebec riding as independent

MONTREAL -- Former Quebec radio personality Andre Arthur is taking his vitriol to Ottawa after winning his Quebec riding as an Independent Monday night.

Arthur finished comfortably ahead of Bloc Quebecois incumbent Guy Cote in the Portneuf-Jacques-Cartier riding, north of Quebec City, beating Bloc Quebecois incumbent Guy Cote by more than 7,000 votes. Cote won easily in 2004 with 18,471 votes.

"The fun is over and now I have to get to work," Arthur, 62, said as he celebrated his victory in a restaurant.

Asked if he planned to moderate his combative style, Arthur replied: "At 62, you don't change."

Arthur, who spent more than 30 years behind the mike at Quebec City's top radio stations, cultivated the Roi Arthur persona, attacking the high and mighty in the establishment and often getting sued in the process.

His comments that African students at Universite Laval are the sons of African dictators and cannibals were among the reasons the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission stripped the radio station of its licence two years ago.

He has also been sued for defamation by former Quebec premiers Daniel Johnson and Lucien Bouchard.

The Portneuf riding has "crying needs," and Arthur warned, "If I have to convince someone, I'll do what I have to do. The reason they voted for me is that they have never been properly represented."

Arthur signed off on his final show before Christmas. The station's new owners changed the format and did not renew his contract.

He later criss-crossed the 7,000-square-kilometre riding, promising to bring his giant-killing style to the floor of the House of Commons.

Just food for thought, relative to population and % it's the gayest country on Earth.


...Lesbian gay or pole smokin/fudge packin gay? Two completely different images for sure. Actually, that surprises me a bit. I always figured the Aussie male to be hetero by and large. :)

Who won then? A moose?

Well, it looks like a quite a few Canadians did go running back to the libs on election day, compared to what the polls were telling us. Congrats to those who stuck to their guns and voted Conservative. Can't let the grits get away with their scams.

I hope the Tories can keep the country running fairly smoothly and get rid of the gun problems here in TO.

Well, it looks like a quite a few Canadians did go running back to the libs on election day, compared to what the polls were telling us. Congrats to those who stuck to their guns and voted Conservative. Can't let the grits get away with their scams.

I hope the Tories can keep the country running fairly smoothly and get rid of the gun problems here in TO.

It seems about the same as the polls to me. People were going back to the Liberals in the last week of the campaign. The Conservatives just wanted to pretend that this wasn't happening and plugged their ears, convinced they were going to get a majority. But except for the NDP results everything else is exactly what was to be expected.

It seems about the same as the polls to me. People were going back to the Liberals in the last week of the campaign. The Conservatives just wanted to pretend that this wasn't happening and plugged their ears, convinced they were going to get a majority. But except for the NDP results everything else is exactly what was to be expected.


...Yep, and it's pretty much what you said would happen. ****in Nostradomus. :)

...Yep, and it's pretty much what you said would happen. ****in Nostradomus. :)

Except when it comes to football picks, apparently :cool: .

Except when it comes to football picks, apparently :cool: .


...Yeah, but I have been worse when it comes to that.