Hamilton Votes 2008

[adam]

1 km of ice just broke off from an arctic ice shelf. This isn't opinion, its fact. Its not coming back any time soon. We are in deep shit here if we don't lower our carbon emissions. All the ice and snow at the poles reflects back 80% of the sun's heat, but once it melts, the water that is left will ABSORB 100% of the sun's heat and WE WILL ALL BECOME EXTINCT. This sounds crazy but it has been verified by many scientists. Of course the gas companies hire scientists to say the exact opposite (I wonder why?)

So I say stop being selfish and do what's best for your great grandchildren.

[MsMe]

Originally Posted by adam

1 km of ice just broke off from an arctic ice shelf. This isn't opinion, its fact. Its not coming back any time soon. We are in deep shit here if we don't lower our carbon emissions. All the ice and snow at the poles reflects back 80% of the sun's heat, but once it melts, the water that is left will ABSORB 100% of the sun's heat and WE WILL ALL BECOME EXTINCT. This sounds crazy but it has been verified by many scientists. Of course the gas companies hire scientists to say the exact opposite (I wonder why?)

So I say stop being selfish and do what's best for your great grandchildren.

I'm going to start a new thread on global warming under general.

[MsMe]

Liberals lose ground during first week of campaign: Poll

September 13, 2008
The Canadian Press, 2008
OTTAWA – The latest polling results suggest Stephane Dion's Liberals continued to lose ground during the opening week of the federal election campaign.

According to The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey, Liberal support slipped to 24 per cent, a full 17-points behind Stephen Harper's Conservatives at 41 per cent.

The NDP and Green party made modest gains at the Liberals' expense, ending the week at 16 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

The Liberals were ahead of the pack only in Atlantic Canada, with an eight-point lead over the Conservatives.

In Quebec, the Bloc Quebecois led with 36 per cent, followed closely by the Conservatives at 30 per cent, the Liberals at 16 per cent and the NDP at 10 per cent.

The telephone poll of 1,200 Canadians was conducted Sept. 9 through Sept. 12 and is considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.9 percentage points, 19 times in 20.

More information on the poll is available from www.harrisdecima.ca.

Respondents to the poll were asked: "If a federal election were held tomorrow, who do you think you would be voting for in your area?"

Today in Fredericton, Harper says Canadians have shifted to the right and made the country more conservative since he’s been in politics.

But Conservatives must govern in the interests of the broad majority of the population if they want to stay in power, he added.

”I don’t want to say the Canadian public is overwhelmingly conservative or that it is necessarily as conservative as everybody in our party,” he said in Fredericton at the start of a weekend swing through Atlantic Canada.

“And that means that our party has to make sure that it continues to govern in the interests of the broad majority of the population. That means not only that we want to pull Canadians towards conservatism, but Conservatives also have to move towards Canadians.”

Harper said when he entered politics, Canada was debating whether balanced budgets and trade were a good thing.

Since then, he says there’s been a ”tremendous” change among Canadians who have embraced many small-c conservative values.

The military has joined the CBC and medicare as a source of national pride, he said.

In terms of the economy, the Liberals and New Democrats are out of step with Canadians, Harper said.

Their policies take a ”pre-free trade, Cold War” approach to the economy that will hurt the country, he said.


http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/434847

[SteelTown]

Dion needs to campaign long and hard in Ontario. If he can keep the Maritimes and keep or make gains in Ontario he'll either keep Harper minority or he'll be on the minority government side. Paul Martin won by winning Ontario and the Maritimes.

[adam]

Whenever Dion appears on English speaking news it looks like he wants to say something important, but it gets lost somewhere in the translation. Chretien may have had an accent, but people understood what he was saying. Good luck to Dion in trying to win over Ontario.

[the dude]

'a proof is a proof. what kind of proof? it's a proof. a proof is a proof. and when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven.'

one of chretien's more eloquent moments on parliament hill.

[raisethehammer]

so, what...I just walk in, close my eyes and ask the lady at the booth to make sure that I make a mark beside a name??

[Millstone]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

so, what...I just walk in, close my eyes and ask the lady at the booth to make sure that I make a mark beside a name??

You walk in and go over to the booth and don't write anything. Then put it in the box.

[highwater]

I think you can also officially 'decline' a ballot. At least then your protest will be on record instead of just being part of the apathetic masses.

[ryan_mcgreal]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

so, what...I just walk in, close my eyes and ask the lady at the booth to make sure that I make a mark beside a name??

Same as always: Read the party platforms and vote for the party whose platform makes the most sense to you. Then, if they get elected, hold them accountable to keep their promises.

Originally Posted by adam

I'm curious... what is everyone's top 5 issues for this election?

1. Peak oil - We need a plan to reduce steadily our per capita energy consumption as the rate of energy production goes into permanent decline.
2. Climate change - We need a plan to reduce steadily GHG emissions (not just increase them more slowly).
3. Land use / transportation - Cities face a demographic double-whammy as both Boomers and young graduates try to move back downtown. We need a federal strategy to fund the infrastructure that will allow this transition to happen smoothly. This will also help reduce per capity energy consumption and GHG emissions.
4. Foreign policy - With global instability and a belligerent southern neighour, Canada needs the leadership not to get dragged along in imperial adventurism.
5. Intellectual property law - To be leaders in innovation, we need an IP framework that acknowledges how new technology transforms exchange markets, encourages sharing of ideas and protects open communications networks.

[DC83]

^^ no parties are focusing on the issues either, it's all bash bash bash.

I was watching 3 'strategists' (one for each if the top 3 Parties) on CBC being interviewed by Suhana Marchand, and all they did was bash.
So Ms Marchand got so fed up (as she had asked them to stick to the questions) she pretty much gave them shit sayin, "If all you guys wanna do is bash eachother, I can't learn anything. We're supposed to be here to learn!"
Then the Liberal strategist says, "Ya but it's so fun!"

Top 5 priorities (in order):
-Environment (a Green Shift, not a green fad, MUST happen) -- we need a gov't serious aboout focusing on Green energy (windmills windmills windmills)
-Post Secondary Ed -- I liked Martin's 50% Gov't Paid idea from back in 06
-Economy
-Afghanistan: pull troops asap and replace as peace keeping/rebuilding roll -- rebuild our worldwide Peacekeeping-nation image
-Health Care: Same as above, just keep it Public!

[adam]

Net Neutrality is another issue I'd like to research with respect to the candidate parties..

[astroblaster]

in addition to health care, environment & economy, im also very concerned with copyright laws.

the harper government tried to push through new, american DMCA style copyright law.

here's some information:

http://www.faircopyrightforcanada.ca/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_C-...t,_2nd_Session)

something to consider if you are looking at voting conservative this year

[SteelTown]

For me....

Economy
Environment
Infrastructure
Research & Development

[BrianE]

The Economy, The Environment, Climate Change. These are not separate issues, each of them are based on our current method of generating Energy. Through the combustion of fossil fuels (don't forget about Natural Gas, and Coal!) our economy is powered, our environment suffers from particulate matter and smog and other toxins and in the larger picture dealing with the effects of climate change will take up huge amounts of money in the future.

So #1 Energy Policy.

If government has a solid understanding or what must be done to our energy infrastructure, the economy, environment and climate change will follow.

No. 2 Infrastructure.

I know this should be a municipal issue, but damnit... there's just not enough money through property taxes to handle this. The federal government must commit to funding Cities.

No. 3 Arctic Sovereignty

This one is not on anybody's radar, but I think it has the potential to be a huge issue as Russia starts coming out of their 15 year funk. I believe the term, "if you don't use it, you lose it" applies here. We need to settle firm boundaries with the other Arctic bordering nations and we need to set up a presence in the Arctic. The transition away from fossil fuels will take a long long time, and in the mean time we need to secure the resources within our borders.

I think Dion gets it, the Green Shift is a good start. It doesn't separate the three big issues, it realizes that they're all connected. I don't know where the Liberals stand on Infrastructure funding, but if the Ontario Libs are any indication, they would be supportive.

I don't know their possition on the Arctic, but I hope they firm up a plan to fund research teams and communities way up there. And yes, beef up the military presense as well... we have to be prepared.

[adam]

On the Conservatives website under the topic Sovreignty it only discusses the Arctic. It then goes on to condemn all other parties for not focusing solely on the Arctic. There is no mention of the Yukon border, fresh water, natural resources, economic solidarity, copyright laws... all sovreignty-based issues but not even mentioned...???

[adam]

Article on net neutrality

The Conservatives are not acknowledging this free speech issue. The NDP have spoken out to defend net neutrality as the article discusses.

[adam]

51st State

An ironic chronicle of the fight to maintain Freedom of Expression in Canada. 51st State is a clickable comic book. It links to 193 websites, blogs, films and papers and articles. For best viewing download to your hard drive and then click links.

http://www.digital-copyright.ca/51state


... the more i read the more i realize how important this election is...

[FairHamilton]

#1 - Economy. Because everything else depends on an economy in good shape. The government set by-elections in August for September, and then called an election, eliminating the need for by-elections. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but something funny is going on in the government. Perhaps the economy is on the verge of something worse then has reported.

#2 - Environment. http://thespec.com/article/423128, this is only news because it can be seen in an urban environment. Can you imagine what goes on that can't be seen. Need anything more need to be said.

#3 - Arts & Culture. Bill C-10 is just censorship by another name. Hey Conservative, Arts & Culture benefits society as a whole!! Sadly,

#4 - Education. When I went to university (Laurier) in the late 80's a full time tuition was $621/semester. You young guys read that right $621 for a full course load for one semster. We need to keep it affordable, because it contributes to our competitive advantage. I also thinks it heavily influences the #'s 1, 2, 3 & 5.

#5 - Healthcare - I think that it's a contributing factor to this http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/...ath-stats.html. The alternative is http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/06/11....ap/index.html, and I suspect 2 years is priceless when you are staring at the grim reaper. And I couldn't imagine Canada accepting something similar to this http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/80897.php

[SteelTown]

We still don't have a Liberal candiate in Hamilton Centre. I guess Dion will introduce the person when he makes a stop into Hamilton today.