Like a 2-4 of stubbies, here's your daily fix (of Canadian punditry).
Since everyone likes to use it as such, this is also an open thread for discussing Canadian politics. Congrats for everyone who said the TSX < 9500.
Josee Legault:
Whether the next government is a Conservative or a Liberal minority, chances are that historians will register this campaign as the most ideologically-driven in this country's modern history.
Beyond the strategies, tactics, pooping puffins, powder-blue sweaters or invisible Conservative candidates, this campaign has been marked by a confrontation between the Tories' neoconservative vision and the more centrist or left-of-centre policies of the Liberals, the NDP, the Bloc Québécois and the Green Party.
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On the other hand, this ideological narrative confirmed how divided the non-conservative parties were at the onset and how united the neocons remain. But now, with a possible second Tory minority, or perhaps even a Liberal one, one of two things could happen.
Harper and his mentor, Tom Flanagan, could get their wish of seeing the non-conservative votes remain hopelessly fragmented among four parties. Or, with the sovereignty issue out of the way at this time, and without getting into a formal coalition, Dion, Duceppe, Jack Layton and Elizabeth May could cut some productive issue-by-issue deals in the next Parliament.
Hicks on Six:
With the financial world in turmoil, be aware of up coming forced mergers.
Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush and W. R. Grace Co. will merge to become Hale, Mary, Fuller, Grace.
3M will merge with Goodyear and become MMMGood.
Zippo, Audi, Dofasco, and Dacro will be known as ZipAudiDoDa.
FedEx and competitor UPS will unite as FedUP.
Grey Poupon and Docker Pants are expected to become PouponPants.
Victoria's Secret and Smith & Wesson will merge. The new name? TittyTittyBangBang.
John Ivison: Oh noes! Everyone in the country has fallen under Dion-mania. So, I must parrot out the same old Conservative talking points everyone has heard time and again about how since Dion is a Liberal he must be planning to increase taxes. That should scare everyone back in line.
The Toronto Star:
And many Conservative candidates have been missing in action. The Star assigned reporters to do profiles on all 47 ridings in the Greater Toronto Area. These reporters say that many Conservative candidates were hard to reach, dodging interviews and failing to return calls. There have also been reports of Conservative candidates boycotting all-candidates meetings. And all but one Conservative candidate in Ontario refused to reply to Premier Dalton McGuinty's letter seeking their views on fair treatment of this province.
This overly controlled style of campaigning, with virtually all the messages emanating from one man, Harper, is a perversion of parliamentary democracy. Yes, Harper is the party leader and ought to be the main messenger. But other Conservative candidates – the successful ones, anyway – will also sit in Parliament and take part in debates and committee hearings. Restricting access to them during the campaign reflects poorly on Harper and his team.
Michael Den Tandt:
The irony? Harper is right. Canada is in relatively good shape. What he doesn't mention: Whatever cushion we might have had in the Paul Martin era is gone. Jim Flaherty gave that away when he cut the GST by two percentage points, at a cost of $60 billion to the treasury over five years. Have you noticed your GST savings? Likely not.
Will you notice the consequences of the deficits that begin to pile up next year if the global economy slips into a deep recession, as it likely will? Yes.
Jeffrey Simpson: I don't think Dion has really turned this election around. This was just the Liberal brand standing on its own, compounded with Harper making some unfathomable mistakes. [Ed Note: I'd have to say this is the most level-headed discussion of the last few days of excitement.]
Lorne Gunter: I cannot believe that Stephane Dion and Jack Layton are using the public's fear of losing their life savings to try and garner votes by promising to help them out during a recession. The economy isn't that bad in Canada, ignoring the 2000 point drop in the TSX over the last week. The fundamentals of our economy are strong, right?
Tom Brodbeck: I came up with a cute story including a demographic for whom the carbon tax will have no noticeable effect. Therefore, I conclude the carbon tax won't reduce reductions whatsoever. A small family paying heating bills won't reduce their reductions to save money, thus corporations won't bother either to try and save money. Isn't that how this works?
Sinclair Stevens: It's up to Canadian voters to block a Harper majority.
Harper entered politics with a mission. He wanted to transform Canada into a loose confederation of autonomous provinces with the federal government limited to foreign affairs, defence and an arbitration role among the provinces.
He felt it could be done without a constitutional change. "Just a willing federal government," he said. He even suggested there should be a firewall around Alberta, his province of choice.
To execute his plans, he needed a majority in Parliament.
Steven Patten, associate professor of political science at the University of Alberta, states in a new book, The Harper Record: "He hasn't wandered far from the ideological beliefs that first motivated him to engage in politics. He surrounds himself with conservatives who share his strong ideological beliefs and when he compromises on policy or the membership of his team, it is typically a strategic move designed to bring him closer to winning a majority government."
Greg Weston would like everyone to try to ignore their fears of a Harper majority (a real possibility), and instead concentrate on their fears of a Dion minority (an incredibly improbable outcome.)
Bruce Hallsor:
At some point, if our democracy is to truly reflect the will of Canadians, we will have to decide whether our party system should change, or our voting system should change. In the meantime, political leaders of all stripes are asking voters to patch over this problem through something called strategic voting. Strategic voting asks people to pretend there are only two parties, even when there are four or more on the ballot.
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If you go to the polls next Tuesday contemplating a vote for somebody you do not like, just to stop someone who you believe is worse, please take a moment to think how much better our democracy could be.
Make this the last election where your choice will be ruled by negatives, instead of by a positive choice.