Pros:
- Harper is a good leader.
- They have finally brought Canada a stable majority government, representing Canadians across the country.
- During the 2011 election, the Conservatives showed that they were proud to be Canadian.
- I really like their promise to forgive a portion of student loans for doctors and nurses in under-served rural communities.
- They have brought our country out of a recession and strengthened the Canadian dollar (It's hard to do both).
- They have withdrawn from our combat role in Afghanistan and emphasized the defence of our own country instead.
- During the 2011 election, the Conservatives showed that they were proud to be Canadian.
- I really like their promise to forgive a portion of student loans for doctors and nurses in under-served rural communities.
- They have brought our country out of a recession and strengthened the Canadian dollar (It's hard to do both).
- They have withdrawn from our combat role in Afghanistan and emphasized the defence of our own country instead.
Cons:
- They want to get rid of the per-vote party subsidy, which helps gives individual votes more impact.
- They want to abolish the useful long gun registry, which keeps gun owners accountable for their weapons. (For more information, see my post The Long Gun Registry)
- Update: I am worried by the extensive spending cuts introduced in the 2012 federal budget, which will inevitably result in less effective government services. Less government is not always better!
- They want to abolish the useful long gun registry, which keeps gun owners accountable for their weapons. (For more information, see my post The Long Gun Registry)
- Update: I am worried by the extensive spending cuts introduced in the 2012 federal budget, which will inevitably result in less effective government services. Less government is not always better!
New Democratic Party (NDP) - Thomas Mulcair
Pros:
- During the 2011 election, they made a special effort to show they were proud to be Canadian.
- They want to keep the long gun registry and per-vote subsidies.
- They want to keep the long gun registry and per-vote subsidies.
Cons:
- With over half of their MPs now from Quebec, they are stuck having to serve that province's interests.
- With over half of their MPs now from Quebec, they are stuck having to serve that province's interests.
- They are anti-oilsands, even though the oilsands are a very important part of Canada's economy.
- They support the flawed "Proportional Representation" electoral reform.
- They would increase funding for abortion. The party also vigorously opposes any debate related to the criminalization of abortion.
Liberals - Bob Rae (interim leader)
Pros:
- They also promised loan forgiveness and benefits for doctors and nurses going to rural communities.
- The party wants to keep the long gun registry and per-vote subsidies.
- Update: They recently decided to endorse the legalization of marijuana (probably in an attempt to regain support from young Canadians). Of course, this move could be a "pro" or "con" depending on your view of marijuana.
- The party wants to keep the long gun registry and per-vote subsidies.
- Update: They recently decided to endorse the legalization of marijuana (probably in an attempt to regain support from young Canadians). Of course, this move could be a "pro" or "con" depending on your view of marijuana.
Cons:
- Their leadership problem is very serious. The party has been plagued with unpopular leadership lately, and it appears that they still are unable to find a good leader. They need someone who can re-establish the identity of the party and inspire people to support them after Canada rejected them in the 2011 election.
Bloc Québécois - Daniel Paillé
Pros: Um... I can't think of any.
Cons:
- They are anti-Canadian and want Quebec to separate.
- They only run in the province of Quebec and only support that province's interests.
- They seem to be against multiculturalism.
- The Bloc was decimated in the 2011 election and lost their strong leader Duceppe. Their future looks bleak.
- The Bloc was decimated in the 2011 election and lost their strong leader Duceppe. Their future looks bleak.
Green Party - Elizabeth May
Pros:
- Elizabeth May claims she wants to make Canadian politics less partisan and more respectful.
- The party wants to legalise marijuana (again, this could be a good or bad thing depending on whether or not you think the drug should be legal).
- The party wants to legalise marijuana (again, this could be a good or bad thing depending on whether or not you think the drug should be legal).
Cons:
- They are strongly anti-oilsands.
- They want a carbon tax, which is highly impractical.
- They promote global warming alarmism. I quote from their website:
"It is estimated that climate change now claims the lives of over 315,000 people annually and is expected to create 700 million environmental refugees by mid-century."
"It’s important that we all pitch in to avert a climate catastrophe."
(Note: The average global temperature has changed less than one degree in the last hundred years. The estimates quoted are mere speculation on what would happen if the temperature changed dramatically, which is why I call it alarmism.)
The fact is Harper never believed in red toryism and said it was essentially watered-down conservatism. I think the merger was all about giving blue tories the main keys to the party and red tories are not given a voice at all. there needs to be a new party between the liberals and conservatives for business liberals and blue liberals, red tories or moderate conservatives and old progressive conservatives and there needs to be a place for the purple tories who believe in small government, some privatization while at the same time wanting to keep the social order. that is the direction a new party should offer. also a new party between the liberals and conservatives must try to win over the people i have listed but try to form policies on a strong law and order policy. therefore, the party must liberal conservative in nature to win over liberals and conservatives and make sure it governs at the centre to centre-right to gain the people in the spectrum who want strong economic policies, social progressive policies, and social conservative policies but not abolishing gay marriage or abortion and law and order policies that are truly balanced. if a party used these policies then i feel people would turn away. also in the most recent election atlantic canadians and quebeckers are not being given a voice since harper just wanted to win ontario and the west so they would not be given a major voice. i think we need a moderate conservative voice for those in eastern canada with no voice in this government.
ReplyDeleteThis has to be a future or the Conservatives will dominate Canada forever so there needs to be a party of business liberals and red tories with a compassionate sense of government or the Conservatives will do what they please without any checks and balances.
Therefore a party replacing the old PC party is needed to bring balance to the system.
Therefore what is needed is a new party that is centre to centre-right to bring business liberals and red tories and purple tories to unite and create a strong moderate conservative party to make sure the Conservatives don't dominate Canada forever. It would be called the Moderate Party of Canada and be between the Liberals and Conservative parties. It would also try to bring balance because there is no party in that part of the spectrum. I feel if this party was created it would be good for our political spectrum at the federal level so then we would finally have a party to represent and be positive for all Canadians.
The Liberals are a very central party now. Perhaps taking an even more central, moderate position is the way for the Liberal Party to go.
ReplyDeleteBetween the Liberals and the NDP I think the Conservatives will have a run for their money in the next election, and won't be dominating Canadian politics "forever".
Btw, we already have 5 parties in Parliament. Don't you think another party would just split votes even more and give the Conservatives even more seats in future elections?
Until two years ago or so when I road-tripped across Canada, I was very ignorant to Canadian politics and I still am but I find it fascinating especially the whole Québec deal. So does the Bloc Québécois have any support outside the province of Québec or does it exclusively guard the interests of that province on a national level? Has there been any talk in the last decade of another sovereignty referendum? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteThanks for leaving a comment! It's cool to find an American interested in Canadian politics :D
DeleteThe Bloc has virtually no support outside of Quebec. Even if they did, it wouldn't matter because they never run any candidates outside of the province. They call themselves "the only defender of Quebec's interest in Ottawa" and say that "the only way of the future for Quebec is sovereignty" (http://www.blocquebecois.org/fichiers_public/blq-depsyntese-anglo.pdf).
As for a sovereignty referendum... the Conservatives will make sure that never happens, as long as they're in power (http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/04/17/cv-election-leaders-bc.html). The sovereignty movement was severely weakened after the BQ won only three seats in the election last year. I don't expect to see a sovereignty referendum anytime in the next decade or so.
"The average global temperature has changed less than one degree in the last hundred years. The estimates quoted are mere speculation on what would happen if the temperature changed dramatically, which is why I call it alarmism."
ReplyDeleteNice play on words but in contrast, the warming we are observing is consistent with the warming properties of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases that we are adding to the atmosphere.
Changing the average global temperature by even a degree or two can lead to serious consequences around the globe. For about every 2°F of warming, we can expect to see
5—15% reductions in the yields of crops as currently grown
3—10% increases in the amount of rain falling during the heaviest precipitation events, which can increase flooding risks
5—10% decreases in stream flow in some river basins, including the Arkansas and the Rio Grande
200%—400% increases in the area burned by wildfire in parts of the western United States
Global average temperatures have increased more than 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the last 100 years. Many of the extreme precipitation and heat events that we have seen in recent years are consistent with what we would expect given this amount of warming. Scientists project that Earth's average temperatures will rise between 2 and 12 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100...So it is getting warmer.