So we're having an election or something

[Noroldis]

Right apparently there have been some delays due to construction in the Arctic being a pain but things are still underway. My link

Hmm, delays on a government project... I have the gloomy feeling that, as with the F-35, this is going to end up costing us a lot more than initial estimates. Ah, well. At least at 100 million, it's less expensive than a single F-35. ;)

Claiming the Northwest passage is international and claiming Arctic resources are two different things.

True, but one could lead to the other through momentum. If a competing country can browbeat us into abandoning our claim to the Northwest passage, it might feel emboldened enough to then try to do the same concerning our territorial claims.

[Joanna vander Poele]

My first federal election! I'm really... sorta... maybe, okay, vaguely excited. Torn between Lib and NDP, as I think a lot of people are. Will try to be a good Canuck and follow as much of the news as I can when I get back home in two weeks :thumbsup:

[RWHamel]

Nanisivik - what a crappy place. Is this where they are going to hide the crappy submarines?

[The Iceman of the North]

True, but one could lead to the other through momentum. If a competing country can browbeat us into abandoning our claim to the Northwest passage, it might feel emboldened enough to then try to do the same concerning our territorial claims.

Your claim there were spurious to begin with anyway.

[Salome the Persian Witch]

Actually, SunTV is still going online.

Woops. Even though your link is almost a month old... ;)

Turns out I was misinformed about the application retraction. It will be an interesting exercise to see how this network flies. I truly hope we can keep civility, honesty, and intelligence in our media.

Oh my word, I just realized to what extent I now associate the "right wing" with Fox News - which is admittedly not necessarily fair. Although, considering Harper's tactics lately....

[Noroldis]

Oh my word, I just realized to what extent I now associate the "right wing" with Fox News - which is admittedly not necessarily fair. Although, considering Harper's tactics lately....

IMO there's nothing wrong or unfair at associating our local right wing political party with Fox News. FN is little more than a Republican mouthpiece that serves the dual roles of attack dog against any and all opposition, and of comforting the Republican base in its idiotic beliefs/biases so it'll consistently keep voting against its own best interests. Here in Canada, Harper's electoral strategy consists mainly of "attack, attack, attack!" and making some transparent attempts to buy votes so as to convince Canadians to once again vote against their own best interests.

And the sad thing is, it seems to be working. :(

[haLobEnder]

I hope' date=' but I doubt it'll be any other way. Who knows, if the NDP were elected in they could just wash out as the Government (see their stint provincially in Ontario), or take us down some other trail worse than the status quo. Really, really hard to get excited over this one. Ignorance is bliss.[/quote']

Short of some big zeitgeist changing movement or event, I don't think you have to worry about the NDP forming the federal government and screwing things up any time soon. The reason to vote NDP is to keep the big players -- the Liberals and Tories respectively-- accountable on stuff like social issues, the environment and funding cuts.

Frankly, I don't even think the NDP create their platforms with the idea that those would be their governing policies, they know it's not going to happen as much as anyone else.

[Jaxtile]

Watching CPAC today. This conservative stooge was saying "our international partners agree with us" on the fighter planes.

Liberal duder: "oh do you mean the Austrailian government's decision to not order them because of performance issues, or the Pentagon's audit saying these will cost more then double the price quoted?"

[snake]

Watching CPAC today. This conservative stooge was saying "our international partners agree with us" on the fighter planes.

Liberal duder: "oh do you mean the Austrailian government's decision to not order them because of performance issues, or the Pentagon's audit saying these will cost more then double the price quoted?"

:lmao:

That's pretty damn funny.

[Ser Reptitious]

Wow!

From the article:

Awish Aslam, a second-year political science student at the University of Western Ontario, told CBC News she and a friend were trying to attend a Sunday rally with Harper when they were asked to leave by an RCMP officer.

Aslam said they were led to the lobby where the officer told them they were no longer welcome because they had ties to the Liberal party. Aslam said the only explanation was her Facebook profile photo showing her posing for a picture with Ignatieff at a recent Liberal rally in London.

Aslam said she wanted to hear directly from all the main party leaders and had also attended a rally with NDP Leader Jack Layton.

She said she had to pre-register for the Conservative event Sunday, which is how the party had her name.

[Shryke]

Not the first we've seen of this:

Conservative Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney walked into The Korea Times office in January and admonished the publisher for being Liberal-friendly.

It suddenly made sense to Lawrence Kim why his staff at the daily newspaper was not given the chance to go with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to South Korea late last year while reporters from Korean weekly newspapers on the west coast got to go.

The message was clear — play ball with the Conservatives and there are rewards.

“We were not offered an opportunity (to go to Korea) ... he came and told me that they thought we are against the (Conservatives) and pro-Liberal but I told him that I am not pro or con,” said Kim, publisher of the Toronto daily.

It’s this kind of alleged bully tactic that makes the Liberals’ multicultural critic MP Rob Oliphant determined to win back ethnic support for his party.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/952895--rob-oliphant-takes-on-king-multiculturalism?bn=1

[Stone-Made-Soft]

A record low for voter turnout is expected this election. I'm completely disenfranchised with our first-past-the-post system so I might just stay home and brace for the Conservative majority. :(

[Shryke]

Or you could actually do something and go to the polls and vote for ... well, either whoever has a chance of beating the conservatives in your riding or whichever party you like best.

Every vote is money for the party you support.

[Insert Edit]

Every vote is money for the party you support.

For now.

[Stone-Made-Soft]

Or you could actually do something and go to the polls and vote for ... well, either whoever has a chance of beating the conservatives in your riding or whichever party you like best.

Every vote is money for the party you support.

It's impossible for the Conservatives to lose in my riding. Maybe I'll vote for the Green Party. They probably need the $1.50.

edit: It's actually a $1.95, my bad.

[Stone-Made-Soft]

For now.

Scrapping the vote subsidy would be so damn petty. Harper is such an ass.

[Shryke]

Wow!

From the article:

And yet more of this bullshit, this time from Guelph:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/970185--guelph-student-says-she-was-unfit-to-enter-conservative-party-rally?bn=1

The 21-year-old environmental science student at the University of Guelph immediately went online to the local Conservative candidate’s website and signed up to attend the event.

All she had to do was provide her name, address and email address. Everything looked in order.

But when she arrived Monday at the Delta Guelph Hotel and Conference Centre where Harper was scheduled to speak, her registration in hand, MacDonald was informed she was not welcome.

Why? An unidentified Conservative Party official told her that her name had been “flagged.”

When she pressed officials further, she was asked if she had ever been involved with any on-campus clubs. When MacDonald replied that she had been involved with various environmental groups — including one advocating for the removal of bottled water from the university grounds — she said the official responded, saying: “Well, that’s probably why.”

The only way party officials would have known about what clubs she was associated with, MacDonald said, is if they had searched her name on Google and looked into her background.

Oddly, MacDonald’s friend, Gill Buckle, who is also involved in similar environmental causes, was allowed entry.

The tightly-controlled rallies, in which Harper seldom interacts with regular members of the public who aren’t already vetted by his handlers, have made the Conservatives the target of criticism from the public and other party leaders.

[Shryke]

But hey, no worries:

The RCMP has admitted it helped remove unregistered attendees from Conservative events in southwestern Ontario this week, but says it's not the force's job to help political party organizers limit access to political events.

In a statement Wednesday, the RCMP said it is responsible only for the protection of the party leaders, and that officers have now been reminded of their duties.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/04/06/cv-election-rcmp-rallies.html

Translation: "Ooops, we got caught"

[Aemon Stark]

The officers involved should be charged with... well, something. They acted outside the bounds of their authority and should be formally reprimanded and *identified* in the media as failing to maintain the public trust.

[TrueMetis]

The officers involved should be charged with... well, something. They acted outside the bounds of their authority and should be formally reprimanded and *identified* in the media as failing to maintain the public trust.

I think that would be a low level assault.