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Dark Knight / Le Chevalier Noir
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I wish there was a test in place to qualify a person to vote.
I also would like voting to be compulsory - although I realize people could still render their vote spoiled or otherwise useless.
Make civics classes in school compulsory instead.
In Australia people are fined for not voting, but I think you have a 'None of the above' option on a ballot there. In Canada you can say out loud that you wish to decline your ballot and be recorded as such. No doubt pressure by some group(s) for having a 'None of the above' option in Canada was handled in practice this way (i.e. voters being forced to decline their ballots so as not to be counted as spoiled ballots) to suit the desires of the three major parties. That is, this is done to not-so-subtly intimidate voters into not declining their ballots in practice, so as to not be embarrased in front of neighbours/strangers at the polling station. It clearly suits the major parties in Canada to maintain the illusion that people spoil their ballots mainly by accident, rather than as a way to vote 'None of the above' as a way to reject the offered candidates explicitly.
A common opinion I've heard is that the NDP will lose (plenty of) seats to the Liberals. I believe it. Before Trudeau ran for the Liberal leadership, I thought the common wisdom was that the NDP would lose plenty of seats to the Bloc next time. I believed that too, and perhaps that may still happen, too.
... [The o]nly question may be whether Liberals get a minority (or Conservatives do) or Liberals even get a majority (if the country completely loses its mind, as was the case under Trudeau I). Charisma virtually always trumps substance in politics.... :(
With the latest Senate troubles facing Harper, I now think the Conservatives will have no chance of having even a minority government after the next election. The only question is whether Trudeau the son wins a majority or a minority. I now may hold my nose and vote NDP federally even if I have a fringe party to choose from in my riding (other than Green).
I wouldn't worry about the debt. I expect the Americans and Canadians to inflate their way out of the problem. Like around 1980.
The idea is to borrow money in today's hard dollars and pay it back in tomorrow's soft dollars.
In any case, Ontario will have a larger share of power as compared to Quebec. Here's the riding allocations for the next election. Ontario gets 15 new ridings and Quebec a mere 3. Looks like they are losing their influence.
Here's a summary of Quebec politics, which includes a brief description of the Anglophone exodus, which I imagine accounts partly for Quebec's current population:
While I haven't noticed if it's mentioned, there is the controversial recent PQ proposed charter of values, which would seem to be for one thing designed to drive away at least some Quebec Muslims if it actually became law, which is a little puzzling since the province's immigration policies result in taking many immigrants from certain French speaking countries that have largely Muslim populations (interesting what you learn sometimes if you listen to talk radio).
Last edited by Kevin Pacey; Wednesday, 16th October, 2013, 10:52 PM.
Reason: Grammar
I wouldn't worry about the debt. I expect the Americans and Canadians to inflate their way out of the problem. Like around 1980.
The idea is to borrow money in today's hard dollars and pay it back in tomorrow's soft dollars.
In any case, Ontario will have a larger share of power as compared to Quebec. Here's the riding allocations for the next election. Ontario gets 15 new ridings and Quebec a mere 3. Looks like they are losing their influence.
There's debate among the 'experts' whether the US, for example, can inflate it's way out of debt. A link to a doubter, followed by a link to a believer follow:
I wouldn't worry about the debt. I expect the Americans and Canadians to inflate their way out of the problem. Like around 1980.
The idea is to borrow money in today's hard dollars and pay it back in tomorrow's soft dollars.
In any case, Ontario will have a larger share of power as compared to Quebec. Here's the riding allocations for the next election. Ontario gets 15 new ridings and Quebec a mere 3. Looks like they are losing their influence.
[edit: like I wrote to Garland, some cuts may be fine, but all out austerity sure hasn't worked well, e.g. for Greece, so far, though they were forced to do it because of being in the EU. In Ontario we may not get all the ensuing riots and deaths the Greeks have suffered, but Dalton sure set things up so that any subsequent PC gov't that gets tough on the debt through mainly austerity would quickly get booted out of office. However just reversing many of the Liberal policies/corruption would put a big dent in the deficit, if not the debt. Hopefully if the PCs get a majority they won't download much of the debt onto municipalities, the way Chretien and Martin did to the provinces (who then scrooched the municipalities, at least in the case of Ontario).
I grant you that something at least resembling serious austerity may be necessary at some point. The US is so hosed by their debt alone that the sequester seems a necessary evil to me - at least thanks to the gridlock down there.]
Looks like the House in the US Congress is going to vote soon on a deal that the Senate has just cooked up. My guess is that the deal will be passed, thus kicking the can down the road yet again. A considerable minority of people are convinced it'd be good for the US to not raise the debt ceiling and go ahead and default, intending to start paying their bills. Maybe default and austerity are inevitable when the US debt is so large.
At least Ontario can get help from have-provinces, though Ontario can't print money like the US.
[edit: link including Canada's debt clock, comparison of Canada & US debt:
[edit: maybe someone can dig up that quote from some old movie where the wise old town sheriff says that 'some corruption is inevitable, but this has gotten way out of hand...']
Last edited by Kevin Pacey; Wednesday, 16th October, 2013, 12:03 AM.
Reason: Grammar
Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls
Quebec is where I seem to recall the place he went was (not sure though). If I do a websearch I may be able to come up with something eventually.
[edit: Here's link to CFRA podcasts of Lowell Green shows that would include those that discuss wait times - most recent was September 17, 2012, another was in 2011.
[edit: I need to correct my memory: Lowell stated he used an Ottawa Valley private clinic for his MRI. Part of the September 17, 2012 podcast also has Lowell stating that the wait times for MRIs in Eastern Ontario are something over 200 days on average, double the provincial average, according the Ontario gov'ts own stats]
Lowell Green is well known in Ottawa, at least, for his controversial views and often abrasive manner. He's also written quite a few best selling (to Canadians) books - there's a number listed in the link I gave about him earlier, though I don't recall him being credited for being the author.
[edit: CFRA radio station's description of Lowell Green:
He claims that his and CFRAs efforts to galvanize people back during the referendum in Chretien's period as PM, especially some sort of a rally in Montreal, I seem to recall, were what saved the Federal side. Lowell's latest book (not listed on the link I gave in my earlier post) is about his rethinking of the Quebec issue and coming to the conclusion that there are so many differences now that it is time to let the province leave if it wishes.
I think my post #196 was my second last post (on page 10 of this thread). In that I noted that I seem to recall now that Lowell Green would have otherwise needed to wait for an MRI (before he could have his surgery), which I think was why he used an out of province clinic (for the MRI).
I never heard of Green before you mentioned him here.
Re: Canada - Next Federal Gov't? - The Facts Behind Some Polls
I think my post #196 was my third last post (on page 10 of this thread). In that I noted that I seem to recall now that Lowell Green would have otherwise needed to wait for an MRI (before he could have his surgery), which I think was why he used an out of province clinic (for the MRI).
My post #190 addition (in my reply to Tom) was rather long, but the gist of it was that I accept that something resembling austerity measures for Ontario beyond some cuts may be required eventually, but that eliminating many of Dalton's policies/corruption would at least put a big dent in the defiicit, if not the debt.
Last edited by Kevin Pacey; Wednesday, 16th October, 2013, 12:13 AM.
Reason: Spelling
I went back and made a minor edit to my post #196, and a major addition to my reply to Tom (post #190).
I use hybrid mode so the message numbers are meaningless. If you're referring to a post to which I replied, my replies were to what you originally posted. I might not even be able to pick out changes you made even if I knew which posts.
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