Canadian Election

[thedon]

there is a federal election on october 14th...our parties are a little different then the states

Conservative Candidate- Stephan Harper (current Prime Minister)
New Democratic Party Candidate- Jack Layton
Green Party- Elizabeth May
Bloc Québécois- Gilles Duceppe

right now i believe the Harper will win.....by default. all the other partys really have no platform and the amount of attack ads that have ran in the past two weeks make me sick to my stomach...Harper has already lowered the government tax, GST, from 7 to 5% so i dont mind....i'm not that naive to think we arent paying for it somewhere else but he actually did what he said he was going to do.....don't know if any of you guys have heard are knew there was an election up here but just thought i would get it out there if anyone would like to discuss

 

[thedon]

opps...left out a Candidate

Liberal Party Candidate-Stephane Dion

 

[Ironslave]

Harper is going to win. I'm not voting, because I think all candidates are shit. Canada itself is much more liberal than America, and Layton/Dion's ads about the dangers of privatizing health care, carbon taxes, taxing high earning companies and such really bothers me.

 

[thedon]

ya i'm not voting either...none of the candidates have done anything to deserve my vote.....

 

[El Freako]

I don't get this system where you don't have to vote...

Its like you're letting the government or at least the ruling party and their supporters control you because you can't be bothered to step up and have your say. I have rarely ever liked a candidate for the federal election when I've voted in Oz but the fact that its a compulsory vote has at least made me think about who is going to be in power and what its going to mean to me, and if the party I voted for doesn't get in then at least there's the chance someone with a similar stance on issues important to me is going to get into the senate. Its "keeping the bastards honest" to quote the Australian Democrats (slightly out of context as I am inferring the need to keep them honest as well).

Sure if you don't want your vote to count you can do a donkey vote or vote for the "Free Marijuana" Party or the "I Fish and I Vote Party" but for the most part I think people take their vote seriously.

Why, if they have the right to vote, do so many people waste it?

Nevermind replying here... I'm making another thread on it.

 

[Samoan-Z]

LOL statistically only 35% of americans vote... we are at war to spread democracy but a majority of us do not practice it... kinda mind fucks you doesn't. But thats why we are America and our exuberant amount of rights.

 

[El Freako]

A little off-topic...

 

[thedon]

A little off-topic...

so true...this holiday celebrates nothing, yet rememberance day ( like your veterans day and memorial day) is just another day...ass backwards

 

[Skeptic]

you think im slow ey... im from canada.

 

[Kanav]

I dont like any of em either.

There are some definite things I like about some parties, but downright stupid shit which prevents me from actually voting for them

 

[Kanav]

That would be the green party.

 

[El Freako]

That would be the green party.

Apparently they're actually 2 separate entities... The head QLD candidate is actually a big pot dealer in Brisbane. I've met him, he's a bit of a fuckwit actually. He only wants to make it legal so he can a)sell more and b)because its great advertising for his "business".

 

[Kanav]

Apparently they're actually 2 separate entities... The head QLD candidate is actually a big pot dealer in Brisbane. I've met him, he's a bit of a fuckwit actually. He only wants to make it legal so he can a)sell more and b)because its great advertising for his "business".

LMAO are you serious?!

I dont know I was reading on the green parties website that they want to legalize it

 

[El Freako]

The Green party are for regulated use of Cannabis for medical purposes.

The Marijuana Party are apparently now de-registered... from wikipedia:

The Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) Party is an Australian political party which advocates the legalisation of cannabis.

The group was founded in 1993 by Nigel Quinlan, who ran as a candidate under the name Nigel Freemarijuana. In 2001, Freemarijuana's name was assessed by the Australian Electoral Commission as to whether it was suitable to be added to the electoral roll – the Commission found that it was, meaning Freemarijuana could run as an electoral candidate under the name.[1]

HEMP is based in Nimbin, New South Wales, the centre of Australia's cannabis culture. HEMP has unsuccessfully stood candidates in several federal and state elections, but has struggled to maintain the membership and regulatory requirements for party registration in Australia.[2]

In 2007, prior to the 2007 federal election, the group was de-registered as a political party by the Australian Electoral Commission after a random audit of its membership received only seven responses.

Fuck, could this thread be anymore off-topic now? Sorry guys.

 

[Beefcake]

Apparently they're actually 2 separate entities... The head QLD candidate is actually a big pot dealer in Brisbane. I've met him, he's a bit of a fuckwit actually. He only wants to make it legal so he can a)sell more and b)because its great advertising for his "business".

There's only one reason why pot should be legal: so crime rates will go down. U.S. and Canada don't realize that while it's 'legal' to have a medical card, people are still going to smoke regardless. I can almost gaurentee that pot related crime rates would drop dramatically if Cannabis was legalized and made out to be more for medicinal purposes rather than stoners. I mean, I've had friends get busted for having like, 2 grams on them. What a fucking waste of tax dollars. War on drugs? Fuck that, it's a war on a plant.

 

[Hypocrisy86]

There's only one reason why pot should be legal: so crime rates will go down. U.S. and Canada don't realize that while it's 'legal' to have a medical card, people are still going to smoke regardless. I can almost gaurentee that pot related crime rates would drop dramatically if Cannabis was legalized and made out to be more for medicinal purposes rather than stoners. I mean, I've had friends get busted for having like, 2 grams on them. What a fucking waste of tax dollars. War on drugs? Fuck that, it's a war on a plant.

Make it legal, tax it, make an limit of how much to sell (per pack, to person, etc) no 20 carton things etc, set up a law for underage sell (maybe worse than underage cigs?)
this is a good idea, besides taxing more on another item or "thing"
get something new out to tax, and keep everything balanced.
even if its legalized though, i still won't smoke it.

 

[Ryeland]

ya i'm not voting either...none of the candidates have done anything to deserve my vote.....

You and Ironslave, especially for people who are politically vocal, are being quite childish about this. None of the candidates may be your first choice, but it is your responsibility to research and vote for your best choice. I agree that choosing between the lesser of all evils is a crappy way to do it, but if you have the opportunity to vote. You don't need to look at it as voting for the prime minister, vote on the basis of who is representing your riding. Thats how i do it. I pick the best candidate for my riding, that way i can pick someone who will be up on local issues.

 

[Ironslave]

You and Ironslave, especially for people who are politically vocal, are being quite childish about this. None of the candidates may be your first choice, but it is your responsibility to research and vote for your best choice. I agree that choosing between the lesser of all evils is a crappy way to do it, but if you have the opportunity to vote. You don't need to look at it as voting for the prime minister, vote on the basis of who is representing your riding. Thats how i do it. I pick the best candidate for my riding, that way i can pick someone who will be up on local issues.

Why? None of them are saying the things that I'd like to hear. Everyone talks about why can do the most, I'm looking for the person who does the least, and talks about opening up health care to a two tier system, lowering taxes so I don't pay 50% of what I earn every year, problems with central banking, and so on. My most important issue is wars, and we're not really doing much as far as those, so it's not like I can ignore those other issues in order to vote to bring the troops back from Afghanistan. I don't support any of the federal party heads at all.... I wish there was an option like Jesse Ventura advocated, where you can vote "none of the above".

 

[Ryeland]

Why? None of them are saying the things that I'd like to hear. Everyone talks about why can do the most, I'm looking for the person who does the least, and talks about opening up health care to a two tier system, lowering taxes so I don't pay 50% of what I earn every year, problems with central banking, and so on. My most important issue is wars, and we're not really doing much as far as those, so it's not like I can ignore those other issues in order to vote to bring the troops back from Afghanistan. I don't support any of the federal party heads at all.... I wish there was an option like Jesse Ventura advocated, where you can vote "none of the above".

Because not having your voice heard reinforces the idea that young people don't vote and don't care. While we may not vote, we certainly care. Again you may not like any of the party leaders, but that's not who you vote for. This is not the American system. You vote for your local representative. And there are a great many issues on the table. Two tier health care may not be a huge concern right now, but Free Trade Agreements are. War may not be a huge issue now, but voting in a more "hesitant" party may prevent jumping into a war in the future.

The system isn't perfect, not by a long shot. This year, voting sucks, but I am going to do it. I completely understand your apathy here, I really do. No one is talking about education, health-care or anything important. All they are doing is slandering the crap out of each other. I hate having to choose between these morons, but its the only choice I have. Picking the lesser of the evils is something you should do. Pick the candidate from your local area that best represents you.

My stance is, if you don't vote (when you have the opportunity to do so) you have no right to complain when you don't like the system.

 

[Ironslave]

Because not having your voice heard reinforces the idea that young people don't vote and don't care. While we may not vote, we certainly care. Again you may not like any of the party leaders, but that's not who you vote for. This is not the American system. You vote for your local representative. And there are a great many issues on the table. Two tier health care may not be a huge concern right now, but Free Trade Agreements are. War may not be a huge issue now, but voting in a more "hesitant" party may prevent jumping into a war in the future.

The system isn't perfect, not by a long shot. This year, voting sucks, but I am going to do it. I completely understand your apathy here, I really do. No one is talking about education, health-care or anything important. All they are doing is slandering the crap out of each other. I hate having to choose between these morons, but its the only choice I have. Picking the lesser of the evils is something you should do. Pick the candidate from your local area that best represents you.

My stance is, if you don't vote (when you have the opportunity to do so) you have no right to complain when you don't like the system.

I know where you're coming from, but again, none of the candidates running has near the same views that I do and would like to see, so whoever I vote for would be a vote for a candidate I don't support. If I was to vote for the local conservative or liberal, it'd effectively be a vote for Harper or Dion, which is a stupid way to have the system. It's not like America where they could vote for a Chuck Baldwin or something from a very small party (Constitution party, in this case).

I can still complain, because it's not like I'm not voting out of apathy or laziness, it's because no matter who I vote for, I won't like their position.