Okay, there are some bright points..

This new conservative party managed to get 20 more seats in Ontario htis election. It lost soe in BC, though, which surprised me. Could be because BC continues to be infected with easterners...

They won 100 seats, the Liberals 135.

Minority governments last about 18 months.

You need 155 seats to control the house. Between the Libs and NDP, they only have 154. Plus, they have to appoint a speaker. I suppose they copuld appoint a COnservative, but it will probaly be a liberal, so thier vote count goes down to 153.

They fdon't have alot of room to manouver...

A conservative majortiy is what we all wanted, but this is not as bleak as a lib majority.

It's a good start for a new party...

but it still sucks.

Liberal minority!

I can't believe how many idiots we have in this country...

Yeah, it looks like Ontario is putting the liberals back in again, 106 seats so far, what is wrong with these people? Man, it's time to get the old Republic of Alberta going again. - Dan

Happy Election Day, my ass! Once again we can thank the voters of Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada for shoving another Liberal gov.t down our throats. Western Canada has a right to be pissed off. Rural Canada has a right to be pissed off. Once again we will be ruled by the East and by the urban centers.
When Quebec holds their next referendum it should be stipulated that they are free to go as long as they take Ontario and the Maritimes with them. I'm really sick of this shit! We've been looking over property in Idaho. I think we'll start looking harder.
If there is a bright side to any of this please point it out. I can see only negatives so far. Right now I feel strongly supportive of Western separation although I would like to see a plan that cuts Vancouver loose. Maybe we could offer incentives for Vancouver Liberals to trade places with some Ontario conservatives or something.
This really sucks! Regards, Bill.

The coutry of Canada and the Federal govt. are in a "breech of contract" situation here in BC. There were certain stipulations to BC's joining confederation and the feds have breeched that contract. It is my understanding that only 2 Provinces have this capability. Now if only we had someone in Victoria with some balls! derf

Well, things look a tiny bit beter this morning, but, the TROLLS still run the country.
I am resolute, I will fight on, I will never surrender.
Torontonians still decided this election, and the Liberal/NDP alliance will never change that. Now that Layton is in power, they will feed that city tax money like a golden fire hose.

I heard Christie Blatchford of the Globe and Mail on the radio this morning.

She said "The only way for an Ontario Liberal to lose their job is to get caught mid-stroke sodomizing a child on Parliament Hill!"

Damn, I can't believe people are so fucking stupid!!!! I have NEVER been so upset about an election as I am about this one. Maybe it's time to seriously think about moving west, or south!!

Bill, I completely agree! What is really depressing about this situation is that if Harper couldn't break through this time with all the documented liberal scandals, waste, corruption and incompetence, he likely never will. There is apparently nothing that the libs can do or screw up to lose the leftwing urban and/or ethnic "numbskull" vote! I'm not so sure there is safe haven to the south either, considering Kerry maybe poised in their upcoming election, to also ruin the USA in similar liberal tradition!

As to what happened to the conservatives in the last couple of weeks, I think there were three incidents which received an inordinate amount of play in the largely left wing press and possibly influenced the result.
First was the ill timed remarks by Alberta Premier Ralph (Pour me Another)Klien. His loose lipped vow to bring forth changes to the Alberta health care system after the election gave the Liberals much needed ammunition. He should be rewarded with a senate seat.
Next, Randy White's remarks regarding abortion and same sex marriages were skewed and presented as radically right wing by the press. As well, his views were proclaimed to be indicative of the whole party. In reality, he was simply giving an honest answer to questions but honesty is a frightening concept to liberal supporters.
On the last day before the election Stephen Harper made the mistake of saying something to the effect that the power in this country would finally be centered in the West. You don't want to say this where an easterner might hear it. Since they have been stealing from us since the beginning of confederation they get mighty nervous when they think the tap might get turned off.
The issues which were given the greatest weight by the left side of things were; Health care, gay rights, and womens rights (re abortion).
The present health care system is an example of how a fine system can fall apart due to greed, mismanagement and top heavy administration. When governments refuse to hire hostpital staff due to money shortages yet give raises of up to 30% to health board execs it's no wonder the health care system is in trouble.
I don't think many people give a rat's ass whether or not gays and lesbians perform all the ceremonies they want and anounce their intention to live together forever but there is absolutely no reason for such a practice to be legitimized in law. It should be a total non-issue.
There are times when abortion is not only acceptable but advisable but only the real feminist leftists think it should be available as a means of birth control. Unfortunately it becomes one of those issues where there is little middle ground only two diametrically opposed camps of slavering extremists.
Those who watched the capaigning leading up to the election would have seen that the Conservatives were always portrayed as being extremists on these issues while the leftist views were simply not mentioned to any great extent.
This is largely due to the leftwing bias of the Canadian press (mostly eastern and all urban based). For this reason the conservatives will always have an uphill battle on their hands.
By the way, we often hear comments about low voter turnout and how those who didn't vote have no right to complain. The truth is if your constituency elects a liberal by a large margin, your vote means squat. Really it's the same thing if a conservative is elected. I have no idea what the turnout was in this area but Conservative MP Jim Abbot routinely gets about 68 to 70% of the vote. Now, if more voters turned out and he got 80% it would still only be one seat.The extra votes would mean nothing at all. In a riding like that of Ugly Annie MacClellan it's a different matter. There, the vote was close and has been every time. Perhaps a few more conservatives could have voted there and thrown the evil hellcow out!
Americans often see the same sort of thing down there where most of the country (geographically speaking)votes one way but the electoral college goes the other. This was seen in the last election where a mao showed most of the country to be solidly behind Bush but the ones with the electoral clout favored Gore. In Canada, the House of Commons is essentially the electoral college for the purposes of the election (a bit of a simplification). The big difference is that, up here, the electors go on to be the legislators as well. In other words, the electoral college becomes Congress (another simplification).
I'm not quite as depressed today but I still don't feel good about it! Regards, Bill.

What we need is a party that can represent the majority of Canadians. I think the Conservatives are that party, but they need some work and some time. Quebec will never come around, but I think Harper can win over a majority with time and effort. Too many Ontarians are scared Harper is just another ultra-right-wing Byfield type. If he takes a moderate approach to the more controversial right-wing issues (abortion, gays, etc), the Conservatives could still draw a lot of Liberal votes.

A party that sat right about the middle, would probably win a landslide. Most of us on the middle right to far right would compromise on a middle of the road party just to have a change from the leftists.

Canuck

Good post Bill
The house is devided pretty equally with the Liberals and NDP equal to the Bloc and Conservatives. So, let the deals commence. if they elect a Liberal Speaker, the Liberal minority gets even smaller.
Think we can squeek some stuff in? Would they toss the registry, if the right deal were struck?

Rick Teal pointed out on another forum, that the Liberal Lead in the house, had developed before the Ontario Polls closed.
Sorry, this time, the blame goes further east, or at least it's shared.

If, there were not as many N.D.P. M.P.s, I would bet that Paul Martin would gladly chuck the registry, but, the hardened fembo-fag constituency of the No Democracy Pinkos would never agree to that. They hate guns because guns symbolize individualism, responsibility, freedom and primarily male power; these are anathema to the true believers......

You do not have the "right" to own a gun in Canada, but, you have the "right" to kill an unborn human whose existance is a bit inconvenient. I wish there were another continent to settle as my ancestors and their peers did this one.....maybe a planet with NO Liberals.....is that called Heaven?

Martin only promised to reforn Bill 68 couple of weeks before the election,with a minority goverment he needs a push.In this case it is up to the Tories.

Any minority goverment that shows the lest little bit of arragance is toast,just ask Joe Something.

They will need the help of the Bloc,another left wing group. I don't see the Bloc voting with the Liberals because of their separtist views but do foresee a large number of Bloc MPs beibg absent or refraining from voting. you know the old " But we didn't support them" line.
The only hope we had to get the registration of long guns canned was a Conservative majority. none of the other parties would support this.
The same game was played here in our provincial election. The ruling NDP played the fear card on the Saskatchewan Party (former conservatives) telling people about a hidden agenda. It is very difficult for a party to defend against such a campaign. Here we got an NDP gov't back and they promptly broke all promises and raised taxes to boot. Some people are just to afraid to try a new party and new leaders. They are more comfortable with the old evil they know. What a sad state for what could be justa great country

My wife is a nurse in a nearby small hospital. The staff there always has a big percentage of Quebec, and Newfie nurses working, as do all the small hospitals around. The pay isnt great in our hospitals, but I guess it's much better then they get at home.
Being a farmer/logger myself i have contact with rural Quebec counterparts. They seem to have nothing in common with the Montreal/Quebec city clans. What are a handfull of rural folks going to amount to compared to the what? 3 1/2 million in Montreal? Going still further east, I've been to small towns on the coast that most of the population havent worked since the generation before them. They sure arent going to give up a free paycheck at this point and vote conservative.

Coyote Jack,
As far as I'm aware I, at no time, made any reference to Maritimers on welfare or drawing UI although this is obviously a senstive point. I only stated that the Maritimes voted primarily Liberal. It's pretty hard to argue with this. I'm well aware that in New Brunswick there are people who are farmers, loggers and sawmill workers just like we used to have out here! I'm also aware that it is primarily the English rural people who do work who are most likely to have supported the conservative party. You should work at not being so sensitive and don't read into my posts things I didn't say!
In many ways it is indeed difficult to fault any people for taking what is offered but you have to understand that the perception is that there are two systems in place. One for the West and a more liberal one for the East. It is disappointing to us out here that the maritimes, although they are a much less urban based society than most Liberal country, still support the Liberals come election time.
Also, don't for a minute think that we in BC are not pretty embarrassed and ashamed to be saddled with Greater Vancouver and Victoria. These places really should be annexed by California ( let me take this opportunity to apologize in advance to those fine and, sadly outnumbered, conservative supporters who live in and around Vancouver!) Regards, Bill.

Hey Bill, our riding in Langley went Conservative!
On a more serious note, howmany people noticed the airing of "Arrow" which depicted the destruction of our aircraft industry by those evil Conservatives after the generous and noble Lieberals had worked so hard to create the industry and employment. I DO NOT believe that the airing of this show at this time was accidental. derf

The conservatives lost because they are untrusted, and are seen by the majority of eastereners as a western canada party who might shut off the tap. Urban easterners are comfortable with big government and would rather live under the blanket of a mommy type government. The early polls showed the frustration of these voters with the dishonesty of the present government, but when it came to voting time they were really not prepared to take the leap.

I agree with Bill Leeper and his assesment of maritimers and their reliance on federal handouts. As a born and raised maritimer who left for greener pastures I can assure you that there is a mentality back there among a good portion of the population that they have a right to draw off of every program that the federal government will hand them. I don't mean to offend guys like Coyote Jack because there are a lot of hard working maritimers back there who will find a job and make ends meet and be successful, and a lot of them come west rather than stay there and rely on handouts and are some of the finest workers you can get, but there is a large percentage of maritimers who see it as their god given right to work as little as possible to qualify for one program or another and sit around doing nothing for the rest of the year for their entire life. It kinda reminds me of the native reserve mentality of sitting around on the reserve claiming there is no work, they were born there so they should have the right to stay there and be looked after. Just an excuse to justify a basic lack of work ethic. I'm sick and tired of listening to old friends on the phone who persist in staying there, whining that they only have x-number of weeks of UI left and that they will have to go back to work somewhere for a while before they can requalify. These people will never vote against a government who is willing to supply them with this lifestyle. This mentality needs to be rearranged. Half the people I know back there are feeding at the government trough in one way or the other. Here in Alberta I don't know anyone who is on these programs and they are very difficult to access if you are the least bit able bodied you are expected to pay your own way.

It annoys me to no end to listen to all the arguments about why we shouldn't have private health care system. It is excactly what we have now. The wealthy people in this country have access to the finest health care they can buy and have immediate service. Something the average canadian will never have available to them. It just happens that the private clinics they use are across the border. It is amazing to me to see our politicians use said private health care for their families when they need it and avoid our own Canadian care facilities because they don't want to die waiting in Canadian lineups. Then they turn around and say this private abomination will never happen in Canada. Simply blows my mind. Our health care has been kept at such a low standard because of the lack of competition and the innovation private clinics could bring to the market along with the brain drain of our best health care professionals moving to the US. If our system of health care is so great why is this happening. We have just ensured that this will not change and we will continue to suffer and die in lineups waiting for the "health care that is the envy of the world" bullshit. I don't see a problem with a system of health care that is kept to a legislated standard available to all with no descrimination. I don't care who provides it. We're paying for it already but most of the money is wasted on beaurocracy while people die waiting.

Anne McLellan survived another election and I'm not surprised, since taking pre-election polls showed she may not win but the poll also showed where liberal support might be found in the urban Edmonton Center riding should they added a few primarily urban liberal neighbourhoods and go shmooze the artsie craftsy crowd who lives there, she might win. So they did. It upsets me to no end the way things are manipulated.

I seriously doubt that the "bogeyman" concerns regarding Stephen Harper that the Liberals tried to flummox the electorate with were a factor in the outcome. The Liberals own the Maritimes, bought and paid for with our tax dollars for decades and they effectively control most urban ridings due to their shameless manipulation of the ethnic bloc vote.

The media attacks on Harper were typical of the spoiled, self-centered, irresponsible attitudes that have come to dominate Canadian politics since the decadent decade of the '60s. Harper is a decent, principled man who would make the best Prime Minister since WWII, as would have the late Bob Stanfield, but, most Canadians prefer sloppy Liberalism, smoking dope, encouraging perversion and sexual irresponsibility and banning guns to keep our streets "safe".

The media feeds on this in order to make money and the Liberals take advantage of a nation deliberately fractured along regional and ethnic lines; this was the policy and is the legacy of Trudeau, the Stalinist-Maoist commie, fag, draft-dodger who ruined Canada. This country is finished and it is time to set up a republic in the west and go our own way as a non-aligned, neutral, free nation, somewhat similar to Switzerland.

I am not in the least religious, but, I respect the moral decency of people like the Byfields; we could use more of this in Canada today.

kutenaymtnboy:

I call it Dominion Day as well. Quebecers would say something like "Quebec and Canada" whereas in the rest of the provinces it would be something like "Ontario and REST of Canada". This seems to be a francophone thing - as if Canada is someplace else - somewhere outside of Quebec. Its not surprising that a French PM would rename the national day to something Quebecers would understand as being a celebration in this "other place" - this "Canada" they don't consider themselves to be part of.

I recall in my youth seeing a lot of "broken" men who had given up their youth, and (though they lived in body) their lives as well, in both wars to preserve our freedom and way of life. There's nothing we could do that would come close to giving them (and those who died) the thanks they deserve. It rots my socks as well, when I discover our youth hasn't been given the proper appreciation for what these men did, and I would react much like you did if I heard someone demeaning what they gave.

I had a grandfather who died 9 months before I was born (I'm named for him) from the effects of mustard gas, and an uncle who died before his time because of the effects of the chlorine gas at Ypres.

Rick

Yup, I was brought up by both WWI and WWII vets and this is one of the reasons why I am a hardline Canadian patriot, even when it is "not cool". I can vividly remember, more than 50 yrs. ago, asking my mother why Mr. So&So walked funny, in my loud, shrill, little boy's voice.....Mr. So& So quite calmly informed me that he had forgotten one of his legs....at Vimy Ridge.

Every single man in my family who was between 18 and 40 volunteered for active service overseas; not long ago, I had an immigrant from a Middle Eastern country actually sneer at Remembrance Day, something I cannot understand. This same fellow and a number of others in the shopping center where I was employed insisted that it was "Canada Day" not "Dominion Day" as they did not like the latter, all of them were of non-traditional, immigrant backgrounds.

I was almost fired from my position as a Security Supervisor when I told some of these guys that it was "Dominion Day", and it was not their place to tell Canadians what to call our national day. I also offered to kick the ass of the guy concerning Remembrance Day, but, he declined the experience and remained inside his store.

When I was a kid, a slur on Remembrance Day would have resulted in a severe beating for the person who made it, but, now that Trudopea reigns supreme, honour, dignity, integrity and respect are mere memories and foreigners can cast aspersions on Canada with impunity. It is ironic that the very people who do this are those who support the liberals and want to ban guns.....but, insist on their "rights" in this country.

Joe Who?

sitting here on the border I've been following the elections too, I'm stunned to say the least with the outcome. I figured a conservative minority for sure. What changed it from all the polls and expectations? Not showing up to vote could account for some, but not the differance shown in the final tally.

Ontario is full of people who don't share traditional Canadian values. The liberals discourage them from adopting our heritage by changing our society to not "offend" them and by funding the re-creation of their homeland here through massive expenditures on multiculturism. I have seen 2nd and 3rd generation Italians (most common but certainly not the only ones) boo the Canadian flag when Italy plays Canada in soccer matches. Many of these people have parents and grandparents who have been in Canada since the 50"s and still don't or won't speak english. The Italians are almost always liberals as the candidates names and demographic voting results confirm. We all agree about the problem in Ontario, Quebec and the maritimes but also remember Albertans re-elected that stunned bovine in Edmonton Center. There is some blame everywhere, particularly with Klein musing about breaking the Canada Health Act with his ill-timed reforms announcement which hurt Harper big time in the East. Stupid comments from many conservative sources scared off many wavering Ontario voters, paticularly when "hyped up" by the left wing media such as, the unfortunately influential, "bird cage liner" Toronto Star.