Canada Going Down

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

We're all fucked. Time for us liberals to just go away I guess. We're not wanted anywhere.

[NYC Liberal]

1. 79-72-21-14, Conservatives now

It's on CSPAN

[journalist3072]

2. Is Paul Martin officially out of a job? Did Steven Harper win?

[CottonBear]

3. What is happening I just got home. Are the conservatives leading? n/t

[Nutmegger]

4. That sucks...

hang in there guys. It ain't over till it's over right?

[Armstead]

5. No us Liberals are at least half the US....

Canada seems more like a rejection of te Liberal Party politicians than an endorsement of the Conservatives.

As for the US, we have to stop thinking like a perecuted minority. What we lack is cohesion. But numerically and on many issues, people who hild views from center to left are at least half of the US -- probably more.

[NYC Liberal]

8. Michael Moore put it best -

http://michaelmoore.com/books-films/dudewheresmycountry/freechapter/06.php

So let's not get hung up on the terms. Most Americans don't approach the world with labels, but with common sense. To the majority of Americans it just makes sense that the air and water should not be trashed, that the government has no business poking around an adult's bedroom or genitals, that it isn't right to deny people a chance simply because of the pigmentation of their skin. Americans don't define these as political issues, but as basic logic. While this attitude may actually be a textbook definition of "liberal," why don't we start to look at it and define this cultural shift in an entirely different light?

Let's start saying the following: A new Common Sense Majority rules the land. Is it common sense to have 75 million people go without health insurance for most, if not all, of the past two years? Of course it isn't; that makes no sense. Is it common sense to let just five companies own all the major sources of information and news in America? Absolutely not. Is it common sense to see that every person has a job and makes a livable wage? You bet-that makes good sense.

What decent-thinking person wouldn't be for these things? We need to set the common-sense agenda and start calling the shots. The small group of right-wingers who now control most facets of our lives are the No Sense-or nonsense-Minority. They do not represent the vast bulk of this country.

[AndyTiedye]

10. Liberals Are A Persecuted Majority

[Cha]

12. Aren't Canadian politics like

the English..in that if they don't like the ruling party they can have an election and get rid of them?

So, if the conservatives win in Canada they better do a damn good job or they're out on their collective ass.

[Lisa]

14. yes -- a "non-confidence motion"

Minority governments (like the new Conservative one) are especially vulnerable. Governments can be called on this kind of thing for dishonesty, or just because people don't agree with a policy they've tabled (like a budget).

It's even possible to win a non-confidence motion on a technicality -- say, if the vote is suddenly called on Friday, after many of the ruling party reps (MPs) have already left for their ridings.

[Cha]

16. Thank you, Lisa!

I was hoping I remembered correctly that it was something like that. One thing I've counted on was Canada and I don't want them to go down the tubes, too.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. 98-85-41-20-1 now

[Teaser]

7. Oh Please....

do you follow Canadian politics? Have you watched the disintegration of the liveral political machine there? The Liberals have run that country for years, and it stands to reason they would lose now...after a coninuing litany of scandals and problems...

Canada is not moving to the right, it has simply rejected a very tired party...

[leesa]

13. Seems more like they have had a taste of the GOP propaganda machine

How many of those scandals were overblown nothingness pumped up by the right wing. They have probably just had their first bath in the evil that is the right wing media machine

[yvr girl]

17. You are wrong

Canada isn't going conservative. The Liberal Party has basically been without a viable opposition since Mulroney was turfed (over a decade ago.) They got caught in some scandals - that old absolute power corrupting adage.

People wanted a change, but not a change in direction. The Conservatives have a minority gov't with a capital M. They can't pass anything controversial without getting support from the other parties.

[enigmatic]

22. zero

The Liberals have had real scandals that have been dumped into Paul Martin's lap; the sponsorship scandal is not a fake scandal by any means.

Canada is not the US; please remember that.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

9. A Canadian I met told me that there was funding

.... of Canadian right wing groups, by the GOP. He also told me that the western provinces of Canada are too influenced by the strong presence of right wing Americans there. Is any of this true?

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

11. They're Fucking Everywhere.

I can't believe the sons of bitches got control of Canada too.

[High Plains]

15. Canada is perfectly capable of growing its own conservatives

and yes, they grow quite a few on the Western prairies.

[Geek_Girl]

18. There goes My Plan B

I think Canadians are going to regret their choice when they find themselves waring with Iran

[JeffR]

19. Not so fast! Check out this thread:

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=190x11399>

Canada's still in much better shape than you think, even with Harper as PM.

[Fire Walk With Me]

20. Did Canada use Diebold machines?

Feeling that CIA touch (bad touch).

[enigmatic]

23. no

paper ballots.

[enigmatic]

21. This is getting ridiculous

Folks, I'm an expat that's been living up here 5 years, and I say this as a political junkie that's followed Canadian Politics for 20 some years:

This is a Pyhrric victory for the Conservatives.

They have a weak minority government that can't do anything but maintain the status quo because the Liberals and NDP (and The Bloc, to a lesser degree)are not going to play ball w/ them under any circumstances. It's not going to happen.

And has explained many times, Parliament can call a no-confidence vote at any time; they have they votes to call a new election. This will be at best, a 12-18 months on CPC government that will have to run as moderates; if they lurch to the right, Parliament will call for a new election.

Relax, please. There isn't going to be a neo-con takeover of Canada; it's not going to happen.

[RSchewe]

24. Sorry to disagree but this issue is waaaay overblown and characterized

incorrectly.

This election outcome was a vote of no confidence in the Liberal party to clean house. This minority power by the Conservatives will not last 2 years. The reason it was even this close was the gravitation of voters towards the other parties.

This is very short term and the minority power Conservatives will not have the power to do anything significant. If they try anything like what is done in the US by Conservatives, they will get stomped out by the combined center-left and left majority.

I think people are paranoid that Canada will all of the sudden be overcome like has in recent years in the US by the right wing. Won't happen.