Vancouver Secrets

It’s Official - BC Is Conservative

photo credit: M-J Milloy

Nearly half of B.C. voters - 46 per cent - cast their ballots for Conservative candidates, up from 37.3 per cent in 2006. If you take Vancouver out of the equation, (where the Conservatives won), the other half of BC voters overwhelmingly voted Conservative.

Overall, 61% of all seats went Conservative - remove Vancouver and you have 86% of seats going to Harper.

It’s time this reality is taken into account in BC - the people aren’t as radically left as they have you believe.

Let’s hope this translates into the local political scene.

The NDP Discovers A New Angle In Vancouver

The headline reads:

Queers win BC by-elections

Jenn McGinn is now believed to be the first out lesbian to win a seat in the BC legislature. She was one of two queer NDP candidates to win seats in a pair of Vancouver by-elections held Wednesday.

More…

Meanwhile NDP Spencer Herbert, Vancouver’s gay parks commissioner, won in Vancouver-Burrard. The seat was previously held by gay Liberal Lorne Mayencourt who resigned to run unsuccessfully for the federal Conservatives in the Oct 14 federal election.

I guess sexual preference is now a deciding factor here in Vancouver. “Not that there’s anything wrong with it”.

The progressive nature of Vancouver means the other parties need to start attracting more gay candidates - especially when voter turnouts are in the 20% range. It works better than being green.

In other news… Vancouver to host Outgames a year after Winter Olympics.

photo credit: roland

Is The Media Really That Biased?

photo credit: ♥♥peppersmom♥♥

Welcome To The Harper Derangement Syndrome.

Search Google news for Stephen Harper and you’ll see exactly how biased the media is against him.

The top of the Goggle results start with this quote:

“Last night, Stephane, you panicked,” … “Your platform says we will spend billions of dollars we don’t have and go into deficit. (You) will raise taxes that will kill jobs”

Keep in  mind that most people don’t read the story - just the headlines…

The media is actively campaigning against the Conservatives and Harper - giving the equivalent of millions of dollars of advertising to the other parties.

I expect this in Vancouver where we have two newspapers owned by the same company… but you’d think that there would be one newspaper in Canada that isn’t far left.

Which leads me to question:

What are the papers in Canada so afraid of that they would compromise their integrity this way?

Isn’t the media supposed to balance coverage of the parties?

The papers are partisan hacks, and lack the balls to objectively look at what’s best for the country.

The NDP will crush the economy, the Liberals would return Canada to cronyism while holding us back through socialism, and the Green Party would take us back a century.

The Conservatives will move Canada forward globally, get government out of legislating behavior, and open Canada for business… I don’t see that as a bad thing.

Or, is it because Harper is from the west?

When Defeat Is Certain - Sue

photo credit: LordKhan

Democracy Watch, which said it’s a non-profit, non-partisan
group that advocates government accountability, filed suit today
in federal court in Ottawa. A hearing is scheduled for tomorrow
on the group’s request that a federal judge rule the Sept. 7
dissolution of parliament illegal.

According to most recent opinion polls, the Conservatives
are close to winning a majority of the seats in the Oct. 14 vote.

“Democracy Watch is filing this case not only to challenge
the calling of the current election, but also to win a ruling
that will prohibit future prime ministers from calling
elections” without having been forced to by a vote of non-
confidence in the legislature, the group said in a statement.

Too little, too late.

Why is it that there is no information on this group on the web, other than links to its site on a very far left web directory?

The suit sounds very suspicious - and comes when the Conservatives probably have a majority in the making.

You’d think with all the scandals the Liberal party has given Canada, they would have been more active in the past.

They may be for actual democracy - but their website makes me question their motives…

Any insight?

Funding The Green Party

photo credit: Lili Vieira de Carvalho

By Alina Abbot

One of the big obstacles that the Green Party will face in the next election is that of the strategic voters. Those people who share our values and agree with our policies, but who are swayed by the scare tactics of the big parties that claim “If you don’t vote for us, then THEY will get in!” as they point their fingers at the other big parties.

Here are some arguments to help persuade the strategic voters to cast their vote with the Greens:

1. Casting a vote for one of the big parties tells them that you approve of their policies and political games. You get one valuable vote, something that people around the world are willing to die for. When you use it to support a party you don’t really believe in, they still will make the assumption that you used your valuable vote to support what you believe. “Canadians have spoken!” was the cry heard from many Conservatives after the last election, even though 63.7% of Canadian voters chose someone other than the Conservatives. Every vote cast for the Green Party sends a message that Green values and policies are important. Every vote cast for the Green Party will cause the big parties to raise their eyebrows and think “Hmm, maybe Canadians really DO want something other than our policies!”

2. The parties that receive over 2% of the national vote get $1.75 per vote cast from taxpayers. When you cast a vote for a party, you are not only saying that you approve of their values, but you give them your $1.75 to support their policies and future campaigns. This translated into about $9.4 M for the Conservatives in the last election, and only about $1M for the Green Party. If you support Green values, why not also support them with your tax dollars? Your funding will be available to lobby the government in power to support Green policies, even if your Green Party candidate does not win the seat.

3. The electoral districts (ridings) that receive 10% or more of their local vote receive 50% of their campaign spending back from the taxpayers. This means that your vote not only counts for the present election, but also puts support behind that party for the NEXT election! The Green Party did make it past 10% in some ridings, but most ridings fell short. If the strategic voters had cast their votes with the Greens in the last election, then there would be more funding available in many ridings to get out the all-important message that the Green Party has values that are worth supporting.

4. With the rise of the Green Party in the polls, and the increasing interest in environmental and economic sustainability, it is highly probable that the Green Party will edge out the other parties in a number of ridings in the next election. For some ridings, it will be the choices made by the strategic voters that tip the balance for or against the Greens. For those Canadians who really want to see change in the next election, the best strategy will be to vote Green.

Perhaps the next election will have the big parties waving their fingers at the Green Party candidates, exclaiming, “Vote for us, or else THEY’LL get in!” Hopefully, Canadian voters will hear this, and say, “Really? Then I’M voting GREEN!”

Alina Abbott
Candidate nominee
Chatham-Kent-Essex

Confirms that they know they can’t win, but need to target ridings they can get more than 10% of the vote.

This may explain their non-compete with the Liberals.

Another Lie: Funding Cuts To The Arts

photo credit: kk+

The issue of the day, brought to you by the NDP and Liberals, that’s an outright lie.

From the National Post:

For the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2009, Parliament has voted to spend more than $4 billion on cultural programs, including the CBC, the Canada Arts Council, the National Gallery of Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage. That amount is $660 million or 19.7 per cent more than was spent in fiscal 2006, the last year when the Liberals controlled the purse strings.

Overall program spending during that same period is up 18.6 per cent. In other words, Conservatives have boosted spending on arts programs faster than they have boosted overall government spending.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, for example, will receive $1.1 billion from the Tories this year, an increase of $133 million or 13.5 per cent compared to the last year under the Liberals.

Kory Teneycke, the top spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, explains:

“The public reaction out there - you’d think we’d shut down the arts. That’s not the case,” said Teneycke. “This was not about less money for the arts. It about having government programs that are meeting their objectives. We’re committed to cancelling programs that are boondoggles.”

Now that the issue has been brought to the voter’s attention, it’s about time someone looked into the funding of groups that are questionable at best - and maybe question why arts funding has increased.

Does BC Matter?

photo credit: Locator

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Polls today show that the Conservatives are starting to pull away. In fact it’s looking like a majority.

BC may actually be the deciding factor in delivering Harper a winning majority.

My theory is that as the economic news gets worse (which it will) the threat of more taxes will cause a shift away from the left wing parties. It’s every man for himself when it comes to the wallet.

In Vancouver, the silent majority usually stays silent - we don’t want to ruffle the feathers of the overly vocal left out here. This election will see this group show up in large numbers - translating into a Conservative win.

What we’ve learned is the green movement loves to tack on a large number of hidden taxes and fees on everything we buy. Disguised as well intentioned - a way to change behavior - these sneaky fees really add up. Any party promising to load us up on more won’t get votes. I have always believed that left-leaning folks become logical when it comes down to self preservation. Not that they will tell anyone, but there will be a shift to Harper when they enter into the election booth.

It’s a good thing the other parties all have a version of “The Green Shift”. It’s becoming clear that it’s a no-starter.

How many times in Canadian history has a new tax been introduced that lowers personal income tax?

Even the GST would have been initially accepted had they dropped income tax by the same amount. The only problem would be that everyone would then pay their fair share, which is another topic.

On a lighter note, we can now rest easy… The BBC is hedging it’s bet telling us that the next ten years will be cooler.

So all of this nonsense won’t matter anyway.

Sign Of Desperation - Vote Swapping

photo credit: ItzaFineDay

If you live in one of the provinces that doesn’t really matter in this election (anywhere outside of Ontario and Quebec), you probably don’t have much of a say in who will run Canada.

A group has formed on Facebook that is called the “Anti-Harper Vote Swap Canada“. It demonstrates the desperation among the left.

The idea according to their page:

This group is designed as a forum for those who oppose Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party. It is imperative that they do not obtain a majority in the 2008 federal election. To prevent this from happening, those on the broad left and those concerned about the environment must cooperate.

The concept of the vote swap is simple: in a completely legal fashion, it allows voters in different ridings to swap votes to best ensure the Conservatives don’t win. Let’s say your preferred candidate has no chance to win your riding. You can swap that vote out with someone else in the group so that you can vote for the party that has the best chance to stop the Conservatives from winning the seat. This allows you to vote for your party of preference (and thus keep smaller parties alive) while doing your best to keep the Tories out of power.

Not sure I agree that they will be able to do anything other than split the vote among the left wing parties - in an insignificant way - but it shows how important it is that you do get out to vote this year.

If you’re into it - here’s a site that does the same, but isn’t partisan… although it won’t really work.

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Will The West Matter? Canada’s Election

photo credit: JosephGilbert.org

Now that the election has been called, will we even matter in the west?

There isn’t much to vote for unless you’re French or a lifetime NDPer.

Ontario and Quebec hold the decision, as usual, and hopefully Harper will get traction in Ontario.

The choice seems obvious when you look at the candidates:

NDP - Jack Layton leads a hopeless party - but somehow they keep hanging in there. The NDP plays the role of spoiler, and will probably split the Liberal votes.

Liberals - Stephane Dion has lost it already with his promise to tax the bejesus out of us with that lovely carbon tax scheme. The party is where the conservtives were - and needs to re-invent itself.

Conservatives - Harper should be a shoe-in, but the separatists in Quebec will split the vote. Like Vancouver, the French will always vote in a way to cause themselves the most grief.

We need a majority government that can take on the challenges we will be facing soon - with a declining economy and soon-to-be crashing housing market, Canada can’t play around with higher taxes and incompetent leadership.

Holding an election in concert with the US is a smart plan - hopefully Canadians will see we both share the same issues.

Just Call The Election, Steve…

photo credit: kagey_b

Prime Minister Stephen Harper seemed almost certain to call a general election next week to decide who will guide Canada.

It’s a great idea.

Although the election and candidates will be about as exciting as watching lawn bowling, holding an election alongside of the US election would let Canadians in on the fun.

We might be able to get rid of Gilles Duceppe, leader of the separatist opposition Bloc Quebecois. I always wonder what would happen if a traitor ran in the US…

Jack Layton, leader of the leftist New Democratic Party, also needs to go. With no possible chance of ever getting elected, it’s a wonder how the NDP has survived all these years. Note that the Riders have only won a Grey Cup when Conservatives have been in power in Sask.

Liberal leader Stephane Dion has proposed a tax grab similar to the National Energy Program they blessed us with in the last economic collapse. This is good for at least 10% more votes for Harper.

It’s time for change - as Barack Hussein Obama would say.

Best of all, it’s time to trounce the Liberals before their wacky carbon tax plan can see the light of day.

Here’s a video for more information on how the election will be decided: