An hour ago, the State of the Nation speeches by all four parties in Ottawa ended. Now, who had the best and most convincing speeches?



Note: As you may have seen and noticed, there was no French in Paul Martin's speech. Well, the fact was that the English networks got the English version of the speech and the French networks got the French version of the speech; both speeches were of course identical however the French speech was about a minute longer.




If you missed it, especially if you live in the west, videos of all four speeches (CBC):


PM's Address to the Nation (Real Video - 6:54) (http://www.cbc.ca/clips/ram-newsworld/martin_paul050421.ram)

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper responds to Paul Martin's address to the nation (Real Video - 6:22) (http://www.cbc.ca/clips/ram-newsworld/harper_stephen050421.ram)

BQ Leader Gilles Duceppe's response (Real Video - 5:59 (http://www.cbc.ca/clips/ram-newsworld/duceppe_gilles050421.ram)

NDP Leader Jack Layton's reaction (Real Video - 4:29) (http://www.cbc.ca/clips/ram-newsworld/layton_jack050421.ram)


and in text.....


PAUL MARTIN:

Good evening.

I want to talk to you directly tonight -- about the problems in the sponsorship program; about how I've responded to them as your prime minister, and about the timing of the next general election.

Let me speak plainly: What happened with the sponsorship file occurred on the watch of a Liberal government. Those who were in power are to be held responsible and that includes me.

I was the Minister of Finance. Knowing what I've learned this past year, I am sorry that we weren't more vigilant -- that I wasn't more vigilant. Public money was misdirected and misused. That's unacceptable. And that is why I apologized to the Canadian people a year ago.

But taking responsibility is about more than words. I want to tell you what I've done as prime minister to deal with the sponsorship scandal -- to make sure it does not happen again, to make sure that those who violated the public trust will be identified and will pay the consequences.

On December 12, 2003, I cancelled the sponsorship program. It was my very first act on my very first day in office.

When the Auditor General's report was publicly tabled, I acted immediately by ordering a fully independent commission of inquiry, under Mr. Justice John Gomery. Its mandate is to get to the bottom of what happened and to do it in full view of Canadians. It will report before the end of the year.

And I think you'll agree -- Judge Gomery is leaving no stone unturned.

In addition, I fired Alfonso Gagliano, the minister responsible for the sponsorship program, from his appointment as Ambassador to Denmark.

I put in strict new controls on spending within every single government department.

My government brought forward whistleblower legislation to ensure that when public servants and others come forward with evidence of wrongdoing, they are protected, not punished.

To recover taxpayers' money -- money that went to those who did not earn it -- I ordered my government to sue 19 people and companies for more than $40 million.

I committed to acting on the recommendations of Judge Gomery when he brings forth his final report. And I myself testified before his commission, answering any and all questions.

Finally, I ordered that the Liberal party bring in auditors to conduct a forensic examination of its books and call in the RCMP to investigate what took place during that period.

Let me emphasize that point: If so much as a dollar is found to have made its way into the Liberal party from ill-gotten gains, it will be repaid to the people of Canada. I want no part of that money.

As prime minister, I will never hesitate to describe what happened on the sponsorship file for what is was -- an unjustifiable mess. It's up to me to clean it up. That's my job. I am cleaning it up. And I am willing to be judged on my record of action.

In recent weeks, fallout from the sponsorship inquiry has led to speculation about an election, which in turn is consuming virtually all political discussion, at least here on Parliament Hill. Initiatives to improve health care, strengthen our economy and ensure for Canada a role of pride and influence in the world are being obscured by partisan jousting.

In short, the Parliament you sent to Ottawa less than a year ago is preoccupied with election talk and with political strategy -- not with the job you sent us here to do.

As people focus their attention on the commission's hearings, let's remember that the inquiry is being held in front of a judge for good reason.

There is conflicting testimony; only the judge is in a position to determine the truth. Only he can cut through the partisan politics. Only he can tell us what happened and who was responsible.

We've all heard that the opposition may defeat the government and take the country to the polls for the second time in a year.

I am prepared to face Canadians and have them judge my response to this serious test of leadership. I will be politically accountable. But I believe that before there is an election, you are entitled to answers -- to the answers that Judge Gomery is working toward. I believe that Canadians deserve a full and frank accounting of all the facts. Fairness and due process require nothing less.

For that reason, I commit to you tonight that I will call a general election within 30 days of the publication of the commission's final report and recommendations. Let Judge Gomery do his work. Let the facts come out. And then the people of Canada will have their say.

If the opposition forces an election before then, that is their choice. But I believe we can do better. I believe we can -- and we should -- use the coming months to pursue the public's business. To act on the issues that matter most to you and make a difference in your life.

If we are to have an election, one that will be at least in part about the work of Judge Gomery, surely that election should occur only when we have the work of Judge Gomery.

In closing, let me say this: there are people who think I was wrong to call this inquiry, wrong to expose my government to the political cost of the scrutiny that has ensued. They warn we will pay a price in the next election. And perhaps we will.

But I trust your judgment. And I will not dishonour this office by trying to conceal or diminish such offensive wrongdoing. I have too much respect for this place.

When I was young, I practically lived here in the Parliament Buildings. My father was a cabinet minister in four Liberal governments. He taught me that those who serve in public office have a duty to protect the integrity of government.

My pledge to you tonight is that I will live up to that ideal. I went into public life because I believe in the good that government can do. And I will do my all as prime minister to make sure that your government is worthy of your respect.

The final judgment on whether I have done that will be yours.

Thank you. And good night.





STEPHEN HARPER:

My fellow Canadians.

We have all just witnessed a sad spectacle -- a prime minister so burdened with corruption in his own party that he is unable to do his job and lead the country, a party leader playing for time, begging for another chance.

This is not how a prime minister should act.

A prime minister should not be addressing the population on this partisan issue, but rather on the concerns and challenges with which we are confronted: the health-care system, international trade, agriculture, the fiscal imbalance, safer communities, stronger families and a cleaner environment.

In the last election, Canadians elected a minority Parliament.

Over the past year, we Conservatives have worked productively with the other parties, particularly the other opposition parties, to make this Parliament effective.

Even last night, after months of resistance on the part of the government, we adopted a motion to ensure full compensation to all victims of hepatitis C through tainted blood.

If this Parliament is not working today, it is because the government has not made it work, because the government has no vision for the nation, because Mr. Martin is consumed by the image of corruption, crippled by dithering instead of deciding.

But we have now a more serious problem.

Mr. Martin received his mandate by holding an election before any of the facts of the sponsorship scandal were known. Last May, it was Mr. Martin's decision to shut down the public accounts committee in its attempt to get to the truth. It was Mr. Martin's decision to call an election last year before a single witness had been heard by Justice Gomery. And it was Mr. Martin's decision to turn a blind eye to it all when he was minister of finance.

Do Canadians really believe that the No. 2 man in a government now under a cloud of corruption, is the person to clean up that mess today?

Do Canadians really believe that the Gomery inquiry would be operating if the Liberals had won a majority?

And do you really believe that the Liberals will ultimately prosecute themselves and hold their own to account?

I don't believe that. I don't think you believe that.

All of this creates a great deal of difficulty for us as the official Opposition. The two other parties, the Bloc Quebecois and the New Democratic Party, have already voted to defeat this government several weeks ago. The Conservative Party has tried to work with the government on issues where we can support its initiatives.

But how can we continue -- politically, ethically, or morally -- to prop up a government that is under criminal investigation and accusation of criminal conspiracy? That's the real hard question that our caucus will address as they travel across the country the next week. Let's be under no illusion.

However, the partisan politics of the next election play out, the Liberal Party of Canada has done tremendous damage to this country's institutions, particularly in Quebec.

Never forget that the sponsorship scandal is not a Quebec scandal.

It is a Liberal scandal that took place in Quebec, a Liberal scandal that took place in Quebec in the name of Canada and in the name of national unity.

The Liberal Party has turned federal politics in Quebec into a choice between separation and corruption.

And one thing is now clear -- the Liberal Party can no longer speak for federalism in Quebec. It is tarnished beyond redemption, because Quebecers know it is beyond redemption. Federalism must be rebuilt in Quebec by democratic options, founded on principles.

We are going to offer a democratic Conservative option.

We want Quebecers to choose Canada.

And, given an honest choice, Quebecers will always choose Canada. But we must realize that what Quebecers will not do is choose corruption. They will not choose the Liberal Party.

The challenge for people outside Quebec is to show that we are equally prepared to demand accountability; to hold Mr. Martin and his party responsible and to build a united Canada where Liberal corruption has no place whatsoever.

Fellow Canadians, we all have difficult decisions to make. Our party will make those decisions in our own way and in our own time, as we've done all along and we will do with your guidance.

Fellow Canadians, Mr. Martin's speech tonight was not about saving this country. It was about saving the Liberal Party. That's a question for the voters to decide, but let me assure you there's no need to save this country. There's only a need to move it forward.

The Conservative Party wants to give this country direction. We want, and we believe you want, to end corruption and restore honest financial management; to have a health-care system that Canadians can count on when they need it; to better use the talents and credentials of new Canadians; to fix the fiscal imbalance plaguing our provinces and municipalities; to act on a made-in-Canada plan for cleaner air, water and land; to help our hard-pressed agricultural community and resource sectors; to give tax relief for Canadian families; and safety and security for our streets and our communities.

I look forward to sharing all of this with you, and more, in the near future.

Thank you, and good night.






JACK LAYTON:

Good evening. I know you care deeply about your family, your community ... our environment. I share the hopes you have for them. I also share your disappointment.

The corruption scandal is not a national crisis. It's of deep concern, but it is a Liberal crisis, not a national one.

Also, Quebec people should know there are federalists who understand why they are angry.

Because instead of respecting your desires for a greener, more flexible and socially responsible society, Liberals put up a sign to build a better country instead of listening to you.

In every province and territory, problems face people and our environment. It is to the discredit of politics that we can only focus on one.

Across Canada, there are problems. It is to the discredit of politics that it focuses on only one.

This week, students will write exams and graduate with a debt too large. Others will look for training for a job they need without any luck.

This is a problem, one that leaves our economy ill-prepared and too many people behind.

This week, people suffered smog. This summer, forest fires may be fiercer. Our Arctic will melt a bit more.

This is a problem. One we have failed to address for 12 years, and can't fix with a Kyoto plan that doesn't keep the promise.

And this week, families are paying for child care, without the program you were promised 12 years ago.

That's a problem too _ one that leads to a crisis of faith in politics.

I don't blame you for being tired. And I don't blame you for thinking politicians work for themselves, not you.

This brings me to the corruption scandal.

As testimony shows, at the core of this scandal is a Liberal party that cannot distinguish between the public purse and its own. Tragically, it may have let federalism in Quebec be seen as corrupt, even criminal.

I believe people are tired of this corruption and tired of asking for respect but receiving none.

It pains me that many people in Quebec see federalism as corrupt when testimony says Liberals are. And I want to say to the people of Quebec that everywhere in Canada there are citizens who respect them and share their anger because we share the same goals and values and want the same things.

The notion that a Liberal problem is a Canadian problem is wrong, and compounded by the prime minister tonight.

At the same time, we have a Parliament teetering on the brink.

I accept you are inclined not to believe politicians. We share collective responsibility for that. All of us.

But in this Parliament, guided by Alexa McDonough, Ed Broadbent, Bill Blaikie and the NDP caucus, we've tried to work for you, as New Democrats did in minority Parliaments before that brought medicare and pensions.

We can't condone corruption, and are losing confidence in this prime minister.

But education, training for workers, and the environment are more important than this scandal.

We can't condone the prime minister's lack of respect for Parliament É a lack of respect that cost him Mr. Harper's support.

But this also provides a chance for the dithering to end and action to begin.

We want to help get a balanced budget passed. So I say to Paul Martin: bring the budget to a vote, take out the surprise corporate tax cuts and invest that money in things people want.

The NDP is in no rush to judge on the scandal. But we are in a rush to get something done through getting a better budget passedÉ to show politics can be about you.

Thank you, and good night.




GILLES DUCEPPE:

Good evening ladies and gentlemen.
The last time that a Canadian prime minister addressed you on television, it was in 1995 on the occasion of the referendum on sovereignty. Jean Chretien did it to save Canada. Paul Martin did it to save the Liberal Party of Canada.

Over the years, the Bloc Quebecois has acted in a responsible way. Just as the other opposition parties and the media, we have denounced the corruption in Ottawa. To force the government to create an independent commission of inquiry, we had to call for it 26 times in the House.

It is now proven that the Liberal Party of Canada misappropriated public funds to its own ends, which stained democracy in Quebec as in Canada by breaking the law, and that it wanted to buy the conscience of Quebecers during the last referendum.

We should not be surprised that more and more Quebecers don't want to participate in a Canadian system, which, in the name of Canadian unity, violates its own laws.

Quebecers have been debating their future for a long time. Our undertaking, inspired by Rene Levesque, has always intentionally been irreproachable in the area of democracy. While, it has been proven that the Liberal Party's government violated the Quebec law during the 1995 referendum.

The Liberals therefore stained a move whose profoundly democratic character was saluted by the international community.

It is thus that Quebec's reputation has been unjustly sullied by the Liberal Party of Canada. As well, allow me these few words in English.

The Liberal Party said they wanted to promote federalism but in reality the Liberals tried to buy the soul of Quebecers. It's not a Quebec scandal, it's a Liberal scandal created in Ottawa. As you know, I'm not a promoter of Canadian federalism. But I respect Canadians, their institutions, I respect the rules and I'm willing to debate democratically about Quebec and Canada's future.

It has now been proven that the Liberal Party of Canada misappropriated public funds for its own purposes and committed acts of corruption which is profoundly anti-democratic.

Despite all his denials and all of his promises, despite his frenetic desire to save the Liberal ship from sinking, Paul Martin, as Prime Minister, must take responsibility for the worst political scandal in contemporary Canadian history.

He has been an MP of the Liberal Party of Canada's Quebec wing for more than 17 years. He was minister of finance so he is the one who turned over the sponsorship money. He was vice-president of the Treasury Board, so he was the one who was responsible for controlling the use of public funds.

Paul Martin could not have been unaware of what was happening, especially since his own behaviour was more than doubtful in the granting of contracts in his own department.

Regardless of what Paul Martin says, Parliament represents the majority will of the population and it works. It is not Parliament that is paralyzed, it is the Liberal government that is paralyzed.

This government refuses to respect the majority decisions of Parliament. It behaves with the same arrogance as when it was a majority and we know today what excesses this arrogance led to. To lead a country, a government needs to have the confidence of the population and of Parliament, above all if it is a minority. In acting as he has, Paul Martin has broken this bond of trust, which makes impossible the maintenance of his government in power.

Today, what is at stake is the moral capacity of this government to manage the affairs of state. In taking this extraordinary measure of address the population by television, the population had a right to expect Paul Martin to take just as extraordinary measures.

First, by offering an apology to the Quebec nation.

Second, by creating a trust fund and depositing the dirty sponsorship money.

Third, by allowing the population to pronounce itself.

Thank you for your attention and good evening.

I just loved this line from Harper: "The Liberal Party has turned federal politics in Quebec into a choice between separation and corruption. "

God damn. And everyone in Quebec was sure to be watching and heard that... and agree.



What the hell was layton going on about? That was silly...

I hate Harper so much.....go Martin!

But I trust your judgment. And I will not dishonour this office by trying to conceal or diminish such offensive wrongdoing. I have too much respect for this place.

:hilarious Martin is so full of shit...what a bastard

Smart move by Steve on that Quebec line.

And what do you know, miracles do happen. Jack made it through a whole speech without taking shots at the Conservatives.

Blah blah blah for everyone.
Yeah, Layton, the election hasn't been called yet....gently step down from the soap-box...

Wow. Harper is one conniving son of a bitch, going after the Quebec vote by making half of his statment in french and half in english.

Then he criticized Martin for calling an election last year?!? But Conservatives were criticizing Martin saying we can't have an unelected Prime Minister! Sort of a damned-if -you-do/damned-if-you-don't situation, wouldn't you say Mr. Harper?

Martin came out on top in my opinion, and I have not changed my views. In fact, both Mr. Martin's AND Mr. Harper's statments further cemented my beliefs.

Blah blah blah for everyone.
Yeah, Layton, the election hasn't been called yet....gently step down from the soap-box...

Um... I think he makes it pretty clear he doesn't want an election...

"We want to help get a balanced budget passed."

Um... I think he makes it pretty clear he doesn't want an election...

"We want to help get a balanced budget passed."

That was pure platform grandstanding he was doing there.

Other than a "scandal" to milk, it sounded like any other hollow speech to voters. I just can't listen to politicians like Harper talk about how he is going to improve the health system AND lower taxes at the same time. I can't figure out if I want to shoot him...or myself.





KGB

lol, Harper cracked me up too. He basically said he would improve everything while still lowering taxes...ya, good luck with that.

"stronger families"


What excactly are stronger families???

Sounds like more christian fundementalist double-speak to basically explain why we need to get rid of such devient behavior like homosexuals.







"to better use the talents and credentials of new Canadians"

In other words, to figure out how to limit those pesky immigrants to just those who might vote Conservative. LOL







"to help our hard-pressed agricultural community and resource sectors"


Goodbye arts funding...hello proping up more western wheat farmers and beef operations.






KGB

Good grief KGB, the Liberals have been the same thing for years concerning vote buying with immigrants yet you didn't seem to have a problem with it then.
And why do you just assume that the Conservatives are going to eliminate all arts funding? You have no real basis for that.
Stronger families? Well, maybe you're right about that. I don't know. On the other hand, it's not exactly a secret that the incidence of single parent families has been rising steadily for decades now.
And what have you got against farmers?

You read so much into things sometimes.

I look forward to sharing all of this with you, and more, in the near future.

Oh please don't!

He's such a hateful character.

... and Layton, WTF? Kyoto, smog, forest fires, the fucking Arctic?! Because that is so related to the scandal... :|

How are we to vote when these are our options?!

BTW, on the poll, it's not Jean Duceppe, it's Gilles. ;)

Harper kinda seems like an evil spawn of Satan (IMO)... not as evil, but just as bad.
Martin seems like he has a LOT of potential, but he's f*ing himself over with everything
Layton just seems like a nice young grandfather that should work for the City of Brandon Manitoba or something as a water utilities guy.
And the French dude is a psychopathic revolutionist like myself, but only in the corrupt crappy no good for anyone kinda way.

Harper kinda seems like an evil spawn of Satan (IMO)... not as evil, but just as bad.
Martin seems like he has a LOT of potential, but he's f*ing himself over with everything
Layton just seems like a nice young grandfather that should work for the City of Brandon Manitoba or something as a water utilities guy.
And the French dude is a psychopathic revolutionist like myself, but only in the corrupt crappy no good for anyone kinda way.


the EXACT same thoughts!

I especially hate Jack's attitude, style and look.



Tomato, Tomatoe. Jean, Gilles - deserves no respect.

Duceppe's speech has been added to my first post.

I must say we don't have any good choices out of the bunch. By the way I don't see the anti-immigrant stance that from the COnservatives that you have KGB. I don't think they have ever said we are again letting immigtants in to this country.

Now your comments KGB were this
"to better use the talents and credentials of new Canadians"

KGB - In other words, to figure out how to limit those pesky immigrants to just those who might vote Conservative.

My reading on this is that we need this. How many taxi drivers do we have that are educated professionals? A great deal of them are, but we do not allow them to work as such in Canada, yet the reason we allow them to immigrat is becasue of thier skills. Now if we did better integrate them and thier skills into the workforce would we as Canadians all not benefit? Seems that thinking fits in perfectly with guys who think about the cash situation. I must also say that is is someone who has never voted for the cons in his life. But I do not have a hate on for any party without actually listening to what they have to say for what it is not having such a hate on that I dismiss anything they say as evil. Hell if that were the case then not a single Canadian should ever vote for the Liberal Party again. They are the party that stole the money of Canadians.

My reading on this is that we need this. How many taxi drivers do we have that are educated professionals? A great deal of them are, but we do not allow them to work as such in Canada, yet the reason we allow them to immigrat is becasue of thier skills. Now if we did better integrate them and thier skills into the workforce would we as Canadians all not benefit? Seems that thinking fits in perfectly with guys who think about the cash situation. I must also say that is is someone who has never voted for the cons in his life. But I do not have a hate on for any party without actually listening to what they have to say for what it is not having such a hate on that I dismiss anything they say as evil. Hell if that were the case then not a single Canadian should ever vote for the Liberal Party again. They are the party that stole the money of Canadians.

The problem of recognition of foreign credentials, with maybe the exception of doctors, is it lies outside of the government's scope. If private industry won't hire foreign trained professionals (and when I look around my workplace, I disagree that this is happening), what is the government supposed to do?

Are these foreign professionals driving cabs because they wouldn't be hired or couldn't be hired? It's easy for a lot of them to say that they were highly respected in their home countries, but outside of providing some training on cultural differences on working in Canada I fail to see what the government can do. Maybe they were not good at their jobs. At my workplace in downtown Toronto, I'm the minority(and it's great!), and I'm white. I'm not only a minority ethnically, but in regards to being Canadian-born.

I wholly support immigration, multiculturalism, and diversity, but after a little help with language and understanding of customs and laws, they should get no more benefits than I do.

I can't vote for harper because he's too much of an idealogue and sellout. He went from a hard right politician who at least believed in what he stated to somebody obsessed with getting elected. Sounds like another liberal party.

I've stated in these forums already that I'm voting Green in the next election. If the Liberal party reorganized, I could possibly support them. Maybe if Scott Brison or Ujjal Dosanjh became their leader, I could speak more highly of them. These people were not part of the Liberal party until the last election. They have a clean slate to continue governing.

The liberal party has been in power so long that a good clearing of it's top-heavy structure would be a good thing. Sorry Paul, if you're innocent in all this, then life has dealt you a shit hand. It's time to move one and accept the lot of good you have done in slaying the deficit and reducing government spending. This will only happen if the Conservatives win, though. Hopefully it will be a smallish minority.

I am actually hoping for an election and we do get a conservative minority governemnt. It will clean things up for sure and give everyone a change in goverment which is very healthy in democracy. Then after a few years of them we could see a new government. Personally I am thinking of becoming a candidate for the Greens, but thats another story.

The problem of recognition of foreign credentials, with maybe the exception of doctors, is it lies outside of the government's scope. If private industry won't hire foreign trained professionals (and when I look around my workplace, I disagree that this is happening), what is the government supposed to do?
There are more professions than doctors that are affected by this. Lawyers, engineers, nurses, teachers, etc. are all groups who are regulated by the government or by professional organizations mandated by the government. Each group is probably unique in what is necessary to integrate immigrants (more training perhaps) but it should certainly be addressed.

The liberal party has been in power so long that a good clearing of it's top-heavy structure would be a good thing. Sorry Paul, if you're innocent in all this, then life has dealt you a shit hand. It's time to move one and accept the lot of good you have done in slaying the deficit and reducing government spending. This will only happen if the Conservatives win, though. Hopefully it will be a smallish minority.
I think this might be why some of Martin's own party members are doing such a good job releasing more and more allegations every week for Martin to deal with

As for the speaches I voted for Jack Layton. He's not my favourite leader, and I will never vote NDP in the forseable future, but he hit on something that I agree strongly with. Layton is the only one explaining to Canadians that in the last year with Martin as PM, he has accomplished very little. Other than giving out money, little concrete action has been taken. Layton mentioned many of the things that could have been addressed, but that Martin has ignored. If he was half the leader that he was being propped up to be before the last election, he would have come up with some concrete policy that would have traction with the Canadian people (so that the opposition would vote against it at their political peril).

Specifically about Martin's speach, he failed. I dont know how anyone could be convince to vote for him if they werent going to already. I think sk8rboiiii's positive reaction is pretty much the best-case scenario for Martin, because he probably solidified what support he had left. The only problem is that he is only polling at 20-25% so solidifying that will get him somewhere around half the seats he has now. All he has done for the rest of the country is appear desperate to stay in power, and killed his only good polling result which was that 75% or so of people dont want an election. I think this is mostly an indication of not wanting an election period rather than wanting to wait for Gomery's report, and Martin has torpedoed the one positive indication that people want him to stay as PM (at least for now).

12 years of one party rule is enough. Bring on the Conservatives.

The liberals and any one who votes for them in the next election belong in jail. Paul Martin was a joke last night. Harper is compleatly right why should they allow a bunch of criminals to remain in power for 8 more months just so they can waste time and steal more money from taxpayers. In the last election I didn't vote Liberal because I didnt like there policys and I knew of they were corrupt We now know of there record breaking corruption, this Liberal goverment will go down in history of being in the biggest scandel in Canadain history. I hate the Liberals and would tell them to "get the fuck of my property" if one of those basterds call came on to my property looking for my support (they way I feel about the BC-NDP).

Only a moron would vote for them in the next election, I hope the Bloc becomes the offical opposition.

I think the biggest scandal is that nobody in Quebec will say out loud
that the bloc is a racist party.
Only a racist or the truly ignorant would vote for the bloc.

The conservative party was the birthplace of many a slimily separatist.

Why do you guys think the Conservatives are "evil" or that Harper is the "spawn of Satan?" If anything, Jack Layton is evil. Why is it that Ontario loves the Liberals so much... is there anyone in that province that likes the Conservatives? Maybe it is the Toronto Star, pure Liberal (propaganda) bullshit.

Why do you guys think the Conservatives are "evil" or that Harper is the "spawn of Satan?" If anything, Jack Layton is evil. Why is it that Ontario loves the Liberals so much... is there anyone in that province that likes the Conservatives? Maybe it is the Toronto Star, pure Liberal (propaganda) bullshit.

I'm from the Toronto area, and I will be voting conservative. If an election is called, I think you will find the "905" ridings outside of Toronto will go conservative this time. The city of Toronto will stay Liberal and NDP.

"stronger families"

In two words Mr. Harper conveys what repels me from the current conservative party. Anyone who claims to be for 'stronger families' has a religious right agenda. My question is, what business does the government have to do with stronger families? To quote the ultimate liberal, "The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation." I'd rather my government be more concerned with equal rights than 'stronger families'.

What this country needs is a second Liberal party, because I can't see myself voting Conservative right now, and I know my NDP vote might as well go into the trash.

"Why do you guys think the Conservatives are "evil" or that Harper is the "spawn of Satan?"


Because of some fundamental ideology. It's only part of a political agenda...but hits deeply for many...and can't be overlooked because some other aspects look appealing. Let's face it...conservatives or right-wing people are simply less tolerant of the vast differences in society, and want to encourage theirs, and discourage others. Something as simple as thinking homosexuality is wrong or devient behavior...or just trying to prevent them from increasing their rights is just over-the-top for many people. So it doesn't matter how good their fiscal policies, etc are...you simply can't support them.








"If anything, Jack Layton is evil."


Well, you would have to explain the reasons why before I could comment on that. While I can't see myself voting NDP, because of some shortcomings on their policies, I definetely give them high marks for their convictions...they actually believe in and mean what they say....it's just not all politicing and saying whatever you think will get you votes...like most other politicians.







"Why is it that Ontario loves the Liberals so much."


The main reason is that Ontario is pretty affluent, and always has been. It can afford to vote it's ideological conscience, and not be totally driven by fiscal policies alone. It also contains a lot of the urban, immigrant, avante guarde, forward-thinking, and most tolerant population.






"is there anyone in that province that likes the Conservatives? "


Sure there is...but it tends to be the more selfish, less educated and less tolerant population in the more rural, smaller communities that aren't exposed to the kind of demographic that the big urban centres are.






"Maybe it is the Toronto Star, pure Liberal (propaganda) bullshit. "

Well, the Star is easily the least biased paper...not just because of it's credo...but in comparison to the other papers, which are blatently conservative biased...and make no bones about proving it. I mean come on...if you have a "liberal" outlook on things, it means you support people's rights to be who they are...I don't see that as "propoganda". If you are conservative, you support yours, and are at least suspect, if not downright against anything else....and it's that idea that requires "propoganda" to support that kind of ideology.









KGB

i didn't like Duceppe's comment about the poulation having confidence in the government especially if its a minority. Majority or minority shouldn't matter as far as I say.
I do happen to agree with Martin, I don't want another election. That will mean tyhe government will have been on cruise-control for two years. The country has too many pressing problems for that.
If there is an election, Harper could never get a majority. You cannot get a majority govt in power in this country without the PM being from Quebec or atleast being a staple at the Montreal/Toronto cocktail curcuit....disappointing but true.

They all sucked. Where's the integrity? What am I saying, it's politics! Integrity is the last thing that matters to them.

That being said, I liked Layton 'cuz he didn't bullshit about his lack of integrity but focussed on environmental issues and cutting a deal with Martin on the budget. He's playing Realpolitik without political rhetoric.

Go Layton!