The federal election, started June 21st, 2015

Conservatives' niqab ban shaped by Quebec's secular charter battleOn Parliament's last sitting day before the election, Tories move to ban niqabs at citizenship ceremonies

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/conservatives-niqab-ban-shaped-by-quebec...

Wake up Canadians. Is it criminal behavior for a prime minister to not protect its citizens?

Why Stephen Harper’s ‘trade’ deals are losing their cachet: Walkom

A new book helps explain why Stephen Harper's marquee free-trade deals are running into trouble abroad.

Sold down the Yangtze

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In particular, most are designed to protect foreign investors.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/06/19/why-stephen-harpers-trade-...

 When I saw the title sixth extinction and the walking dead, I thought it was an article about Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party.

 Tim Harper has an interesting column at the Star right now, better then most of what the stars serving up.

Close race, changing polls making for tentative summer campaign plansStrategists say parties’ summers will be spent watching opponents closely and calculating their next policy rollout or campaign event accordingly.

http://www.hilltimes.com/news/news/2015/06/22/close-race-changing-polls-...

Bingo!

Electoral revamp or Grit desperation?

http://www.saultthisweek.com/2015/06/18/electoral-revamp-or-grit-despera...

NorthReport wrote:

Wake up Canadians. Is it criminal behavior for a prime minister to not protect its citizens?

Why Stephen Harper’s ‘trade’ deals are losing their cachet: Walkom

A new book helps explain why Stephen Harper's marquee free-trade deals are running into trouble abroad.

Sold down the Yangtze

------------

In particular, most are designed to protect foreign investors.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/06/19/why-stephen-harpers-trade-...

Few so-called free-trade deals are about trade. Most, going back to the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, are really about investment.

In particular, most are designed to protect foreign investors.

Frame and bronze this.  And tell the media, who, willingly or unwittingly, go along with describing these deals as trade deals, and each side pro- or anti-trade.

This group must bev an offshoot of the right-wing Fraser Institute, a group I'm sure the Liberals must take direction from.

Oilpatch could lose $100B without new pipelines, researchers warnEnergy research firm suggests Western Canada producers won't receive full value for oil exports

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/oilpatch-could-lose-100b-without-new-pip...

Another reason why this motherfucker and his Reich have to go -- at any cost.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/tories-create-vehicle-to-raise-money-coun...

I wonder why these right-wing think tanks don't address the price of gasoline for the consumers.

Last year oil was over $100 a barrel and and the price at the pump in BC was over $1.50 a barrel in Vancouver.

Now oil is $60 a barrel and the price is $1.40.

Go figure. 

The oil cartels in Canada are not hurting.

Maybe a people-first government could address what is obviously a huge corporate rip-off. 

Federal Court orders Blaney, RCMP to hand over gun registry data

http://ipolitics.ca/2015/06/22/federal-court-orders-blaney-rcmp-to-hand-...

Here my current thoughts on election 2015:

I think we're into a change election, and as long as nothing happens to cause a Conservative surge, whichever opposition party is ahead in the polls going into the home strech (rougly the last 10 days before the election) will get a "band-wagon effect" as voters flock to it as the vehicle to dump the Conservatives.

The next point, and I cannot stress this enough, is that the NDP is not guaranteed to be out in front of the Liberals from here on in. Any number of very minor factors could nullify the NDP's lead over the Liberals, and from there any number of factors could put the Liberals out in front. Justin Trudeau is a weak campaigner, but he has much of the msm punditry in his corner, and the Liberals have more money than the NDP.

It's also possible that the polls will be divided on which opposition party has more support going into the final stretch. This is the bad scenario in which neither opposition party gets a "band-wagon effect", supporters of the opposition parties are less motivated to vote, and where some voters may flock back to the Conservatives because of the childcare checks, income splitting, and general low-tax rhetoric.

The other factor to add into the mix is the Conservatives structural advantages. The Conservatives have a higher number of incumbents, and we know that incumbents on average get 9-11% more votes than a non-incumbent running for the same party would in the riding. Plus the tougher voting rules that will mostly disenfranchise NDP voters, which will be a factor even if the childcare checks and income splitting don't work in Harper's favor.

All of which means that there is a scenario where the Conservatives can win the most seats on vote splits in Ontario and voter disenfranchisement. And one of the opposition parties is likely going to need a 5% lead in support to get more seats than the Conservatives. With a narrow 1-2% lead over the Conservatives, the number of voters who will be disenfranchised may be enough to allow the Conservatives to win the most seats.

Then there's the possibility that one of the parties could deliver a knock-out punch to one of the others, or that outside events and unforseen factors could tilt the election in one direction or the other, neither of which has happened yet.

In short, campaigns matter, and no party is out of the running at this juncture.

First Nations 'pulling a Chilcotin' in resource development battles across Canada

http://www.nationalobserver.com/2015/06/20/news/first-nations-pulling-ch...

NorthReport wrote:

The only reason the Liberals say they are interested in PR is that they would be the main beneficiaries. 

With majority out of reach, Liberals would benefit from electoral reformPolitical analysts said the options reflect underlying shifts in Canada’s political landscape and the prospect that majority governments may be out of reach for the Liberals under first past the post. 

http://www.hilltimes.com/news/news/2015/06/22/with-majority-out-of-reach...

I don't think PR would ever be gotten from the Liberals.  I suspect it would be preferential voting, which really is just a slightly modified FPTP.

Tory appointee to bridge corporation expensed liquor, zoo trips, toursDirectors of Blue Water Bridge Canada had wide latitude in travel expenses

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tory-appointee-to-bridge-corporation-exp...

A collection of party policies as compiled by The Star:  http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/06/23/federal-election-2015-what...

What are the NDP's plans for political financing? (like Alberta's Bill One)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_political_financing_in_Canada

Mulcair gets media under his tent, for a night

https://www.hilltimes.com/party-central/hill-life-people/2015/06/22/mulc...

..includes the song "harperman"

The movement against Stephen Harper

The movement to bring down the Harper government goes well beyond the opposition political parties. Canadians horrified by the authoritarian market fundamentalism of the Conservatives are trying in a number of ways to expand democracy to overcome the authoritarian grip that the Harperites hold on our national politics. Here is a compendium of a few such efforts and contact information.

https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/the-movement-against-stephen...

High risk that new navy supply ships won't get built: documents

NDP defence critic Jack Harris blasted the decision to bypass the usual bidding process, calling it a “blatant political activities with the public dollars.” The Quebec City region is one of the few places where the Conservatives have any seats in Quebec.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/high-risk-that-new-navy-supply-ships-won-...

Pierre, 

We need to restore some balance in our society. Multi-national corporations, lawyers (right-wing), police (right-wing), one percenters ( trust fund inheritors) already have way too much power over our society, so in my opinion the last thing we need is too many more of them in our governments.

True or untrue, Blair made those comments obviously because he is running into trouble in his campaign.  

It does indeed look like a full court press:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-magazine/bill-blai...

He's jumped it so many times, he must be getting tired by now.

I don't see why anyone here would oppose an end to a pointless perpetual war and improve relations with Iran..Seems to be a lot of Bibi fans here. I wonder how you'd react if Mulcair say that.

Oh wait,it was TRudeau,therefore very bad.Afterall , he's the Anti-Christ,right?

epaulo13 wrote:

..includes the song "harperman"

The movement against Stephen Harper

The movement to bring down the Harper government goes well beyond the opposition political parties. Canadians horrified by the authoritarian market fundamentalism of the Conservatives are trying in a number of ways to expand democracy to overcome the authoritarian grip that the Harperites hold on our national politics. Here is a compendium of a few such efforts and contact information.

https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/the-movement-against-stephen...

 

 

Thanks epaulo...This is what we all should be discussing. This election is a hell of a lot more important than any election I can remember. Canadian democracy hangs in the balance.

Tory ‘interference’ moved Victims of Communism Memorial to controversial site: NDP MP as he releases correspondence