Fil Canadien D'Élection (Partie Trois)

[St Leo]

Well, Chretien's an obvious Quebecois, but Martin and Mulroney are pretty generic.

Are Joe Clark and Kim Campbell from Quebec?

[notyoueither]

Did Campbell win? How many PMs have won since Clark did? How long ago was that?

[Urban Ranger]

The title of this thread becomes totally blank when you view in UTF-8.

So that you know.

[Tingkai]

The point is that on average it doesn't matter where the candidate is from.

The majority of voters probably don't know where a candidate is from, and they probably don't care.

Is Martin from Montreal or Windsor?

Is Harper from Calgary or Toronto?

What's interesting about the poll is that for the minority who do care, being from the West will get more votes than being from Quebec. That challenges traditional beliefs.

[optimus2861]

Originally posted by Tingkai
Gays and lesbians should be allowed to get married.
Percentage who agree by region
West: 54%
Atlantic: 49%

Now that I didn't expect.

[Ben Kenobi]

You're already embarassing yourself with your avatar. You don't need my help.

You surely can come up with a far more embarrassing avatar...

[Ben Kenobi]

Two recounts could determine whether the Libs need the BQ. From the Globe:

"The key contest is in the British Columbia riding of New Westminster-Coquitlam. Incumbent Conservative MP Paul Forseth edged out NDP candidate Steve McClurg by 45 votes. The margin of victory is so narrow that a judicial recount is automatic.

If the recount reverses the result, the NDP would have the 20 seats required to give the Liberals a majority in the House, if it chooses.
...
In the riding of Edmonton-Beaumont, Liberal incumbent David Kilgour won by 32 votes, beating Conservative Tim Uppal.

As for the 11 ridings, history has shown that most of them will not be contested. The only ones that are likely to change are these two here.

Now, there are several options.

1. Liberal / NDP
2. Con / NDP
3. Liberal / Con
4. Con / Con.

There is only one that will ensure that the BQ support is not needed, which is the least likely of the options on the table.

They could end up in a situation where only a BQ / CON government could form a minority government, should both Conservatives win, giving them 101 seats with the BQ's 54.

[Ben Kenobi]

Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree or strongly disagree with the following statement:
Gays and lesbians should be allowed to get married.
Favour/agree: 57%
Oppose/disagree: 38%
Don't know: 4%

Hardly uncontroversial, even given the poll wording.

If you gave an intermediate option of retaining gay 'unions', I bet you'll see a majority opposing gay marriage.

As for the West vs. Atlantic results, it does not surprise me. The East is more conservative than the West, and Vansterdam. They just vote Liberal in federal elections...

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Tingkai


The point is that on average it doesn't matter where the candidate is from.

The majority of voters probably don't know where a candidate is from, and they probably don't care.

Is Martin from Montreal or Windsor?

Is Harper from Calgary or Toronto?

What's interesting about the poll is that for the minority who do care, being from the West will get more votes than being from Quebec. That challenges traditional beliefs.

Which is a better indicator of reality? Election results or a single poll?

[Ben Kenobi]

Flinx:

1) The Conservative party needs to have a policy convention before it will fight another election.

Which won't take 6 months.

2) The Bloc will never have it so good again.

Heck, if someone muzzled Landry we would have seen 65 Bloc seats.

3) Soft NDP supporters voted Liberal to prevent a conservative winning and ended up with a conservative in several ridings. The NDP needs to continue to improve its image and shore up support.

And continue splitting votes with the Liberals. Now you have the Greens receiving Federal funding, so they will have an even higher profile, and split the left even more.

4) Paul Martin needs to have the public commission into the sponsorship scandal exonerate him.

You really believe him innocent? What if the commission rules Martin as being at the front and centre? He was the Finance Minister, after all.

5) Except in Alberta, everyone is happy to live with the result for quite a while. Whichever party causes a premature election any time soon, is going to tank in the polls.

I'm not happy, and I don't live in Alberta, thank you very much. There are many people who do not want to see the return of deficits endorsed by a LIB / NDP coalition, who will quickly vote them out if that's the path they take.

6) The Liberals and Conservatives can agree on common policy on defence and border security etc., the Liberals, NDP and Bloc can agree on common policy like childcare, homecare, pharmacare, gay marriage, legal pot, etc. etc.

Actually Martin has waffled on both gay marriage, and has refused to legalise pot.

They disagree on the use of the military, and the role of NAFTA agreement.

The Conservatives have no desire to prop up a corrupt Liberal administration.

Unless Martin can get BQ support, he will fail on the very first bill.

[Ben Kenobi]

The new edition also updates the definition of marriage to "the legal or religious union of two people."

You can't fight the dictionary, Ben!

There are other dictionaries, so why trust such a lame dictionary that bothers to define the technical term-"goal-suck?"

All a lexicographer can do is track shifts in usage, which is indeed the case here. They do not comment on the legal definitions of the term.

In fact, a good dictionary will record the term, in it's legal and the slang usage.

[notyoueither]

What about civil marriages, Ben? Are they not married?

[Ben Kenobi]

What about civil marriages, Ben? Are they not married?

Legally? Yes.

In the religious sense? No.

[notyoueither]

So what's the problem with same sex marriages in the legal sense?

[Ben Kenobi]

Not all provinces have it.

Just BC, Ontario and Quebec.