Yes hell does appear to be freezing over

GratuitousApplesauce

You won't hear any from me.

blue sky

SHaCo may not have stolen a dime, but are they above being susceptible to corruption once in power ?

As for making the political system more democratic, will their version be similar
to their close friends to our south, which is not looking like a bastion of democracy these last few years ?

Let alone the purity of their elected Senate. One might say their Senate is a good
model of corruption.....

MacNutt

"Their" elected senate would actually be OUR elected senate. Unlike the current situation...where the sitting PM appoints whomever he wants to the senate...the new version would be elected by us. We, the voters, would decide who we want to watch over Ottawa. And they would answer ONLY to us.

This means that the elected senate would be able to initiate bills and even investigate the party in power if corruption were suspected. They would also have to pass all funding bills before they became law. The country's books would have to be open to them at all times. So any obvious mismanagement of our tax money would immediately raise some big red flags. (can you say "HRDC scandal"...can you say "billion-dollar gun registry"...can you say "sponsorship scandal"? Just to name a few.)

So to answer your first question last...how would this allow the sort of corruption that we have seen from the Liberals to even get started in the first place?

Even if...as you say...the new Conservatives turned out to "be just as bad" as the Liberals, how could they possibly pull it off with a sober second body looking over their shoulders? One that could actually remove them from power, if need be?

Anyone care to comment on this? Or will we keep on fear-mongering while making apologies for the current batch of known crooks?

MacDoc

To exercise power one has to BE in power..........next please..

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MacNutt

Right. And since the Liberals will be returned to power because "that's just the way it IS"...we shouldn't even be discussing the situation.

We probably shouldn't even be THINKING about replacing our beloved and misunderstood Liberals, really.

Shame on me....

PosterBoy

MacNutt, can't figure out an answer so you make up one of your own? Nice.

Are you on the Conservative payroll by chance? You'd make a good spin doctor for them.

The fact remains that both the Liberals and Conservatives are fear mongerers. It's sad, really, both sides seem to focus entirely on extolling the others sins, rather than their own virtues. Too bad we won't be able to make any real progress until they shut up and start doing their freaking jobs (isn't it even more sad that an independant was pretty much the only one doing that for the last big vote?).

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PosterBoy

No, the Liberals will be returned to power because the Conservatives are unable to convince enough people east of Saskatchewan that they are a better choice than the Liberals.

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MacNutt

According to all of the pollsters, the electorate in Ontario is particularly volatile these days. It's anyone's guess who will win in this upcoming election.

One thing seems pretty certain, though:

Quebec is NOT going to elect nearly as many Liberals as they have in the recent past. This will cut pretty deeply into what is now left of "Liberal Support" amongst Canadian voters. Expect Martin and Co to get even less seats than they did last time out.

Also expect to see them lose some of the closer contests in Ontario itself. There are a lot more people than last time who are totally pi**ed off at the Liberals in that area of the country.

The west? Don't make me laugh.

And Atlantic Canada will elect a member for each riding that looks most likely to be a member of the party in power. For obvious reasons.

During an election campaign...especially one that is held after the Gomery Inquiry report has become part of the public record...many things can change. And probably will.

Sure the Conservatives don't look like they have any sort of a decisive victory in the palms of their hands right now.

But the Federal Liberals have never looked more shaky or vulnerable than they do right now. Not in their whole history. And they are going from crisis to crisis these days. And they are NOT impressing anyone with how they handle it. (The mafia might be taking notes, though).

Without most of Quebec and at least some parts of Ontario online, the Liberals will be very lucky to get two thirds of the seats that gave them this current tiny minorty.

What then?

Think about it.

Brainstrained

OK, I thought about it, and I think a lot of Canadians have too, and that's why they don't want an election now or any time soon -- they just don't see an election changing the status quo.

Sure the Liberals look shaky, vulnerable and not very impressive.

Too bad the Conservatives don't even look that good.

While the poll seemed to indicate that Liberal support is a mile wide and an inch deep, at least it's a mile wide. Conservative support is little better than half that and it doesn't look any deeper, especially in Ontario.

If the Conservatives can't look like a government-in-waiting now, with the Liberals looking as bad as they do, six or seven months of more political shenanigans isn't going to change the situation much.

Even if your "optimistic" prediction of the Liberals losing a third of their seats comes true (something I find difficult to believe, especially as there aren't many seats left for them to lose in Que.), Canadians will be left with a Conservative government with as tiny or a tinier minority than the current Liberal administration.

And they will be dependent on parties to the left of themselves to survive. And that's if thing go well for the Conservatives.

So it really isn't a matter of the Liberals returning to power because "that's just the way it is," it's more a matter of the Liberals returning to power because the likelihood of something else happening is so small.

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MACSPECTRUM

i don't understand why CONs and Albertans are so in love with an elected senate

i say dismantle the senate and save the Canadian tax payer oodles of money
less gov't
shouldn't this be CON platform and not coming from someone like me who is left of centre?