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| Canada Votes 2011 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 10 2011, 11:49 AM (1,320 Views) | |
| shure | Apr 10 2011, 11:49 AM Post #1 |
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Canada Votes 2011 - General Election on May 2, 2011 Elections Canada - http://www.elections.ca/home.aspx CBC coverage - http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/ CTV coverage - http://www.ctv.ca/mini/election2011/index.html Edited by shure, Apr 10 2011, 12:10 PM.
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| shure | Apr 10 2011, 12:04 PM Post #2 |
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Election day set for May 2 Party leaders begin campaigns after writ drops CBC News Last Updated: Mar 26, 2011 1:56 PM ET http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/03/26/cv-election-writ.html ![]() Canada's 41st federal election campaign began Saturday morning after Prime Minister Stephen Harper emerged from a meeting with the Governor General, who agreed to dissolve Parliament and send Canadians to the polls on May 2. Referring to the "disappointing" events of a day earlier, when his government was defeated by a motion of non-confidence, Harper thanked Canadians "for the confidence and trust" they have given him for the last five years. "It has been a privilege and an honour to serve as prime minister, especially prime minister of the best country in the world, as together we have faced the most difficult days of the global economic recession," he said. He went on to say that the global economic recovery remains fragile and that armed conflicts, political chaos, humanitarian disasters and other threats are posing risks to that recovery, and now, so is an election. The opposition parties are forcing an election that Canadians don't want and the economy doesn't need, said Harper, in his remarks outside the front doors of Rideau Hall. The campaign now underway is blocking the Conservatives from implementing the economic plan presented in its budget on March 22, that was immediately rejected by all three opposition parties. "To my fellow Canadians I say this: the opposition parties have made their choice. Now we Canadians get to make ours," he said, announcing that May 2 will be election day. Voters will pick between "a stable, national government" that will keep taxes low and create jobs, and, "a reckless coalition," that will kill jobs, halt the economic recovery and put families back. Ahead of Harper's appearance, Ignatieff released a statement insisting he won't try to form a coalition with any other party. But the Liberal leader defended coalitions as a "legitimate constitutional option" in Canada's parliamentary system. Despite Ignatieff's statement, Harper was adamant his Liberal rival would try to form a coalition government with the NDP and Bloc Québécois. The only thing those parties would be able to agree on is spending more money and raising taxes, said Harper, who repeatedly pushed the economy and the coalition messages throughout his remarks and responses to questions from reporters. Asked how he interpreted the vote of non-confidence that brought his government down Friday, Harper said Canadians don't care about the wording of motions and political manoeuvres, they care about their economic well-being and the standing of Canada in the world. "That's what that vote was about and that's what this election is going to be about," said Harper. The Conservative leader, who represents a Calgary riding, is kicking off his campaign Saturday afternoon in Quebec City. Soon after the writ was dropped, Ignatieff spoke to reporters on Parliament Hill and later in the day will hold a rally in downtown Ottawa. He will later travel to Montreal, where Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe is spending Saturday. Meanwhile, NDP Leader Jack Layton kicked off his campaign with a rally at a hotel steps away from Parliament Hill and a few hours later was heading for Edmonton. Campaign 'a moment of contrast': Ignatieff ![]() Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff stands with candidates as he launches his campaign in front of Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday. Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press It's starting to become clear just what script each party will follow. The Conservatives are hitting hard on the election being unnecessary and irresponsible, and can build a campaign around the hold-steady style of budget they presented earlier this week. They are painting the opposition parties as a threat to the economy and arguing a coalition is inevitable if voters don't choose the Conservatives. The opposition parties say the issue is one of ethics and respect for democracy, which they say are lacking in the Conservative Party. Speaking on Saturday outside Parliament, Ignatieff called the coming campaign "a moment of contrast" between the Harper government, which he said has shown "contempt for the fundamentals of democracy," and the Liberal alternative. "We will be offering Canadians a government of the people, a government devoted to the people," he said, flanked by a group of Liberal MPs. The Liberals are expected to focus on recent scandals hitting the Conservatives, including charges of electoral fraud for two senators, allegations staff interfered with access to information requests and an accusation a former senior advisor to the prime minister tried to use his influence to promote his girlfriend's business. Struggling families 'left behind': Layton ![]() NDP Leader Jack Layton at his campaign launch in Ottawa on March 26, 2011. The NDP, meanwhile, say they're the real alternative to the Conservatives because in many ridings their candidates run second to the Tories who won seats. NDP leader Jack Layton asked Canadians to help him defeat Harper's Conservatives and elect him prime minister instead on May 2. In delivering his first speech of the campaign, Layton vowed to bring "Canadian leadership" to the job and to fix what he says is broken in Ottawa. "I'm asking for a mandate to lead the next government," Layton said with a boisterous crowd surrounding him at a downtown Ottawa hotel. Layton laid out the broad strokes of his campaign, saying the NDP will present concrete proposals to help the struggling families that Harper has "left behind." His party will introduce "affordable" measures to improve the country's pension system, put forward a plan to ensure families have access to child care and education, and will improve health care. Layton said if a minority government is elected on May 2, he can be counted on to reach out to the other parties and work with them either on a case-by-case basis, or, in "more stable arrangements." "I will work with the mandate you give me," Layton said. The Bloc say they're the only party who can defend Quebec's interests. Non-confidence The opposition Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois came together Friday afternoon in a historic vote to say they no longer have confidence in the Conservative government. The motion says the House agrees with a committee report tabled earlier this week that found the government in contempt of Parliament, "which is unprecedented in Canadian parliamentary history, and consequently the House has lost confidence in the Government." Earlier this week, the procedure and House affairs committee tabled a report that said the government is in contempt of parliament for refusing to supply enough information on the cost of the F-35 fighter jets, their justice system reforms and their projections for corporate profits and tax rates. |
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| shure | Apr 10 2011, 12:06 PM Post #3 |
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![]() Over the weekend of May 15th -18th, the annual gathering of the Bilderberg group was held at the Trianon Hotel, near Versailles, France. Steven Harper and the Bilderbergers Secret Meeting by Harper Fan, thunderbay.indymedia.org Friday, Jun. 06, 2003 at 1:35 PM http://statismwatch.ca/2003/06/06/steven-harper-and-the-bilderbergers-secret-meeting/ |
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| shure | Apr 10 2011, 12:09 PM Post #4 |
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![]() Michael Grant Ignatieff PC MP (pronounced /ɪɡˈnæti.əf/; born May 12, 1947) is the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition in Canada. In the 2006 federal election, Ignatieff was elected to the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Etobicoke—Lakeshore. That same year, he ran for the leadership of the Liberal Party, ultimately conceding to Stéphane Dion after the fourth and final ballot. He served as the party's deputy leader under Dion, and held his seat in the 2008 federal election. On November 14, 2008, Ignatieff announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Liberal Party[1] to succeed Dion. On December 10, he was formally declared the interim leader in a caucus meeting after all other candidates withdrew and backed his bid; his succession as leader was ratified at the party's May 2009 convention. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ignatieff ![]()
Except for you eh Iggy! Michael Ignatieff - Canada's Globalist Puppet http://s1.zetaboards.com/pumpitout/topic/3585962/1/ |
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| shure | Apr 11 2011, 11:31 AM Post #5 |
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Iggy caught double-talking Liberal leader needs to come clean on voting record By BRIAN LILLEY, Parliamentary Bureau http://www.ottawasun.com/news/decision2011/2011/04/11/17944626.html ![]() Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff Michael Ignatieff has some 'splainin' to do. As the Liberal leader scoots across the country asking for your vote, it seems he has forgotten where he has voted in the past. Ignatieff now claims he has never voted in a foreign country, but quotations from his past suggest he voted Labour in Britain and would vote Democrat in the U.S. "I am an American Democrat. I will vote for Kerry in November," Ignatieff told The Glasgow Herald in 2004. Ignatieff, a professor at Harvard at the time, was defending his record as a human rights advocate against charges that he had become a neo-conservative who backed then-president George W. Bush in the Iraq war. Ignatieff and some other left-leaning intellectuals supported Bush in the early days of the war. Despite the statement that he would vote for Kerry, Ignatieff now says he has never voted outside of Canada. "Mr. Ignatieff is and always has been a Canadian citizen, period. He has never held any other citizenship and as such, has never voted in a foreign election," Ignatieff spokesman Michel Liboiron told QMI Agency. Asked to clarify why Ignatieff once said he would vote for Kerry and why he says now that he has never voted outside of Canada, Ignatieff's spokesman dodged the questions. "Mr. Ignatieff has simply confirmed what we already know — that he is a progressive, compassionate liberal. Always has been, always will be," Liboiron said in an e-mail. American law states that only citizens can vote. Ignatieff was living in Cambridge, Mass., at the time. Voting without being a citizen is considered a crime punishable by up to five years in prison and/or fines of up to $10,000. Illegally registering to vote carries the same penalty. While the public record only shows Ignatieff said he would vote for the Democrats, his record in Britain shows he did vote. In a 1998 book, Ignatieff says he voted Labour in 1997 to oust the ruling Conservatives. The Conservatives had been in power since 1979, first under Margaret Thatcher and then under John Major. "Why did I vote Labour? I wanted the rascals out," Ignatieff said in Identity and Politics: A Discussion with Michael Ignatieff and Sean Neeson. Identity and Politics is a record of an Ignatieff speech and a question and answer session at the Liberal-Democrat conference in Brighton, England, in 1998. A copy of the short book is kept at the Library of Parliament. The Liberal-Democrats are a left-of-centre party that used to place third in British politics but recently became part of a coalition government with the Conservative Party under Prime Minister David Cameron. In Britain, it would have been completely legal for Ignatieff to vote. British law allows citizens of Commonwealth nations living in Britain to cast ballots. Residents aren't automatically registered to vote and are required to sign up to get their name on the voters list. According to online records, Ignatieff was registered to vote in Britain as recently as 2002. |
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| shure | Apr 22 2011, 04:13 PM Post #6 |
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Poll: Surging NDP moves into tie with Liberals BARRIE McKENNA Globe and Mail Update Last updated Friday, Apr. 22, 2011 4:25PM EDT http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/poll-surging-ndp-moves-into-tie-with-liberals/article1995725/ ![]() The surging NDP are now in a statistical tie with the Liberals as they battle to block Stephen Harper’s Conservatives from securing a coveted majority, according to the latest Nanos Research numbers. With slightly more than a week to go before the May 2 election, the Conservatives are still holding down a 12 percentage point lead nationally at 37.8 per cent support, ahead of the Liberals at 26.1 per cent and the NDP at 23.7 per cent, according to overnight polling data Thursday. The gap between the Liberals and NDP is within the poll's margin of error, meaning it's a statistical tie. “At this particular level, it’s much more difficult for the Conservatives to form a majority government,” pollster Nik Nanos told The Globe Friday. Conservative support is down slightly from Wednesday when it stood at 39 per cent -- almost exactly where it stood at the opening of the campaign. “It’s going to take a few more days to see what happens,” he said. It’s still unclear whether Conservative support is weakening. But Mr. Nanos pointed out that the Conservatives must be careful to contain fallout from reports about where Mr. Harper and his MPs stand on abortion, as well as allegations of political interference at the Port of Montreal. “The Conservatives have to watch out on issues such as ethics, accountability and abortion in the last few days of the campaign,” Mr. Nanos explained. “It’s going to be very important for the Conservatives to manage that.” The Conservatives lead in every region of the country, except Quebec. The party is at 36.5 per cent in Atlantic Canada, 42.6 per cent in Ontario, 47.6 per cent in the Prairies and 47.8 per cent in B.C. Mr. Layton is also gaining on Mr. Harper on some key leadership measures, according to the Nanos leadership index. Based on responses collected Thursday, Mr. Harper leads at 88.1 points. Mr. Layton is gaining at 72.9 points. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is a distant third at 44.4 points. The leadership index is a compilation of peoples’ perceptions of the leaders’ trust, vision and competence. Mr. Harper still leads on competence, but he’s now tied with Mr. Layton on trust and vision. “This shows just how popular Jack Layton is in terms of his personal brand,” Mr. Nanos said. Mr. Nanos pointed out that health care has emerged as the top issue for voters, displacing the economy and jobs -- a trend that favours the NDP and undermines the Conservative’s greatest strength. The big story continues to the surprisingly strong showing of Jack Layton’s NDP, which is now in a statistical tie with the Liberals for second in Atlantic Canada (31.2 per cent for the NDP vs. 32.6 per cent for the Liberals), and with the Bloc Quebecois for the lead in Quebec (26.3 per cent for the NDP vs. 31.8 per cent for the Bloc). The margin of error in the poll is 3.1 per cent nationally, and higher for regional numbers. The NDP is doing a good job of playing up the Jack Layton “brand,” capitalizing on his strong showing in the English and French-language debates earlier this month. According to results of the poll conducted for CTV and The Globe and Mail, more than half of voters continue to rank party platform as their top deciding factor. That far outstrips those whose decision is based on the party leader (21.2 per cent), local candidate (14.8 per cent) or traditional support for a particular party (8.8 per cent). The results are based on a random, national telephone sample of 995 decided Canadians conducted between April 19-21. The margin of error is plus-minus 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20. |
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| shure | Apr 22 2011, 04:14 PM Post #7 |
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![]() Video: Jack Layton on why he wants to be Canada's PM http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/video/video-jack-layton-on-why-he-wants-to-be-canadas-pm/article1994927/?from=1995725 |
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| shure | Apr 22 2011, 04:15 PM Post #8 |
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| shure | May 3 2011, 12:05 PM Post #9 |
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Harper: Majority win turns page on uncertainties Layton seizes Opposition; Duceppe, Ignatieff defeated as parties devastated By Mark Gollom and Andrew Davidson, CBC News Posted: May 2, 2011 9:19 PM ET http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/05/02/cv-election-main.html# ![]() Canadians can now "turn the page on the uncertainties and repeat elections of the past seven years," Stephen Harper said Monday night as voters delivered the Conservative leader his first majority government and brought a dramatic and unpredicted realignment to the country's political landscape. The re-elected prime minister told the country that government affairs will begin "as early as tomorrow" with a plan for creating jobs and growth without increasing taxes, immediate help for families and seniors and eliminating the deficit while maintaining health-care transfers to provinces and territories. "And friends I have to say it — a strong, stable, national Conservative majority government," Harper told a cheering crowd in Calgary, a reference to his oft-repeated refrain during the campaign. Meanwhile, NDP Leader Jack Layton will now become Official Opposition leader and replace Michael Ignatieff, who himself was defeated in his own Toronto riding. Ignatieff took responsibility for the Liberals' historic electoral loss. Ignatieff's Liberals — often touted as Canada's "natural governing party" — placed a distant third behind Layton's party. With 99 per cent of polls reporting, the Conservatives won 167 seats, followed by the NDP with 102, Liberals with 34 and the Bloc Québécois with four and the Green Party with one. A party needs to capture 155 seats to win a majority in the House of Commons. Despite his majority victory, Harper pledged to work with other parties and praised their efforts over five weeks. "We are intensely aware that we are and we must be the government of all Canadians, including those who did not vote for us," Harper said. The Conservatives gained 23 seats, mostly in Ontario, while the Liberals suffered a 43-seat drop. But the NDP, who nearly tripled their seat count, made a major breakthrough in Quebec, mostly at the expense of the Bloc, gaining 67 seats. The loss of 45 Bloc seats in the province prompted party leader Gilles Duceppe to announce he would resign in days. Following his victory, Layton bounded up the stairs to address a near ecstatic crowd in Toronto, brandishing the trademark cane given to him by a supporter on the campaign tour to help him with his recovery from hip surgery. "And let me tell you this: Spring is here, my friends, and a new chapter begins," Layton said, who was drowned out several times mid-speech. Layton garnered one of the largest reactions when referring to the largely young crowd present at the NDP supporter party and their role in the election results. The New Democrat leader said Canadians voted Monday to strengthen public health care, retirement security and help families make ends meet. "And you voted to end the same old debates and political games," he told the crowd. But he also vowed his party would oppose the Conservative government "with vigour if it is on the wrong path." Ignatieff accepts 'hard lessons' Ignatieff, who declined to say whether he would step down as party leader, said he still sees an "ongoing need for a party at the centre of Canadian life." "I will serve as long as the party wants me to serve and asks me to serve, and not a day longer," he told supporters. The Liberal leader scheduled a press conference for 10 a.m. ET Tuesday. In his concession speech, the Liberal leader offered "open-hearted" congratulations to Harper and Layton — "two opponents who have had the better of the night" — and accepted responsibility for the result. "Democracy teaches hard lessons and we have to learn them all," Ignatieff told supporters. It emerged shortly afterward that Ignatieff was beaten in his Toronto riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore, while several prominent Toronto Liberals lost or were behind NDP or Tory candidates as of midnight ET. Liberal front-bencher Bob Rae was asked Tuesday morning, before Ignatieff's resignation, if he might replace him as leader. "Well, there’s lots of time to figure that out," he said. Rae praised his old friend for a "very fine and very open" concession speech. "I think all Liberals — and all Canadians — who watched him realized this was a man of substance who hit a brick wall. And sometimes that happens, and there’s no explaining it. I think he’s handled himself with great dignity and determination, and I think he will continue to do that." May wins B.C. riding for Greens Duceppe, who himself lost to NDP candidate Hélène Laverdière in the riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie, told supporters after his loss it was clear Quebecers wanted to give a federalist party another chance and now expected recognition of the Quebec nation. "I am leaving, but others will follow until Quebec becomes a country," he said, as the crowd of supporters chanted his name. Meanwhile, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May earned her party's first elected seat in Canadian political history, defeating former Conservative cabinet minister Gary Lunn in the British Columbia riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands. "Today we proved that Canadians want change in politics," she told a crowd of jubilant supporters in her riding. Results in Quebec showed the Bloc Québécois plummeting from 47 of 75 seats in the province to only two. The NDP, who previously had only Thomas Mulcair's Outremont seat in Montreal, were leading or elected in 59 seats in the province. To amplify the Bloc's humiliation, the party lost the riding of Berthier-Maskinongé to NDP candidate Ruth Ellen Brosseau, a non-French-fluent assistant bar manager who admitted spending some of the campaign vacationing in Las Vegas. Cannon, Blackburn defeated in Quebec Some of the province's highest-profile Conservative politicians lost their seats. Despite overall Tory gains, Lawrence Cannon and Jean-Pierre Blackburn, who served as ministers in Harper's cabinet, were defeated in their Quebec ridings. In Ontario, Conservative Chris Alexander defeated Liberal incumbent Mark Holland in the coveted Greater Toronto Area riding of Ajax-Pickering. The Tories are also holding their existing seats and leading in some key Liberal-held ridings such as Brampton West and Brampton-Springdale. In Toronto, three high-profile Liberal candidates lost their Toronto-area seats, with Ken Dryden falling in York Centre, Gerard Kennedy losing in Parkdale-High Park and Joe Volpe defeated in Eglinton-Lawrence. Outside of the city core, Liberal Ruby Dhalla lost her seat in Brampton-Springdale to Conservative Parm Gill while Conservative Julian Fantino was re-elected in Vaughan, defeating Liberal Mario Ferri. The NDP was also holding its existing seats in the city, with Olivia Chow, Layton's wife, winning again in Trinity-Spadina. Incumbent Helena Guergis, who ran as an Independent in Simcoe-Grey after getting kicked out of the Conservative party, lost to candidate Kellie Leitch by a wide margin. Atlantic Canada leads change The Conservatives and NDP began the night making gains in Atlantic Canada at the expense of the Liberals, who have won the most seats in the region in every federal election since 1997. The Conservatives had 38 per cent of the vote, compared to 30 per cent for the NDP and 29 for the Liberals. In Labrador, the Conservatives won what was once considered a safe Liberal seat, with Peter Penashue defeating Liberal incumbent Todd Russell. The Tories had been shutout of the province following an "Anything but Conservative" campaign mounted in 2008 by former premier Danny Williams. Meanwhile, in St. John's South-Mount Pearl, NDP candidate Ryan Cleary defeated Liberal incumbent Siobhan Coady. In B.C., the NDP made gains, while Conservatives staved off the New Democrat "surge" that dominated media headlines for the last week of the campaign. In the bitterly contested riding of Vancouver South, Conservative Wai Young unseated incumbent Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh, who won by just 22 votes in 2008. Dosanjh, who has held the riding since 2004 and been active in B.C.'s political scene since the 1970s, said following the defeat he was quitting electoral politics Orange surge for real The results come as many analysts were caught off guard during the campaign after polls suggested a surge of support for the NDP, specifically in Quebec, following the leaders' debate in French. Layton took advantage of this apparent spike, saying that voters were tired of both the Conservatives and Liberals and that the "winds of change" were in the political air. The polls also forced Harper and Ignatieff to alter their strategy and focus more on the NDP leader. Harper returned again and again to one main theme, repeatedly stressing the need for a Conservative majority. He warned that Canada’s economic stability was at risk if the opposition parties had enough seats following the election to form a coalition or some other power sharing arrangement. His warnings prompted accusations of hypocrisy from Layton and Duceppe, who claimed Harper was prepared to seize power through a coalition agreement after coming second to Paul Martin's Liberals in 2004. But Harper rejected the charge. Although Harper had initially targeted a possible Ignatieff-led government, propped up by other parties, his focus in the later days of the campaign switched to the possibility of Layton in power. For his part, Ignatieff slammed Harper over his handling of the economy and accused the Conservative leader of disrespecting the institution of Parliament. He ran ads questioning if Harper could be trusted with "absolute power" and reminded voters that Harper shut down Parliament twice and had been held in contempt of Parliament. Ignatieff had said he would like to stay on as leader regardless of the outcome of the federal election. |
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