I'm sure there much joy in Conservative quarters these days. They have finally taken the lead in the polls.
I will leave it to the dedicated sheep entrail readers to determine the overall signficance of this turn of events, and instead zoom in on one aspect of the poll from which I draw much solace: Quebeckers are looking at the Conservatives as an option instead of turning automatically to the Bloc Quebecois.
In Quebec, where Harper has spent an unusual amount of time, the two parties are in almost a dead heat with the Liberals at 21.9 per cent and the Conservatives at 20.2. The Bloc Québécois is well ahead at 43.8, but the increased Tory support has come at the Bloc's expense. The shift shows Quebec voters are eyeing a federalist alternative other than the Liberals.*snip*
And in Quebec, the poll showed a startling rise in fortunes for Harper, who has been busily announcing a series of Quebec-friendly policies in recent weeks while playing down his opposition to same-sex marriage and to the Kyoto accord on climate change, both of which draw support in the province.
If the numbers hold, they would suggest that Bloc support is soft and that Harper is succeeding in convincing Quebecers his party is a worthwhile federalist alternative.
It is refreshing to see Quebeckers turn to another federalist party instead of to the Bloc, even if it is the Conservatives. This shows not a loss of faith in the country, but rather a need to send a strong signal to the Liberals that their votes are not be taken for granted. As much as I believe a Conservative government would be bad for the country, an entrenched Bloc Quebecois is infinitely worse. Their demise as a politcal force cannot come soon enough.
I agree with Tim 2 a degree. I really believe we need a change. Period! We have been ripped off for taxes for far 2 long. It is Liberal Policy to give u back money in your paycheck, and then try 2 figure ways and means of taking it back and then some. I recently got a raise of about 48 cents per hr. Over a 2 wk period I will Gain about $11.00. The liberal G ovts of ontario & the Feds will take the rest. My full Raise over 2 weeks was $38.46. Go figure THAT i m paying more than 66% to TAXES> Give Me a Frickin Break.
Gerry
The Conservative Party Needs A Good Look at>
We r constantly fooling ourselves by continuing to elect only one Party. Especially ONE that is as corrupt as this one appears to be.
Paul Martin REALLY SUCKS.
I M listening to him now on CPAC (Rogers 68)
Man o man the Guy is REALLY DESPERATE>
Paul Martin REALLY SUCKS.
I M listening to him now on CPAC (Rogers 68)
Man o man the Guy is REALLY DESPERATE>
You won't get any argument on Paul Martin from me, Gerry, but with all the promises Harper is making these days, I fail to see where his tax cuts are going to come from.
Tim says: "I fail to see where his tax cuts are going to come from."
That's easy, run a deficit just like Harper buddy George W.
Good point, Peter. I forgot that conservatives have lost their infatuation with balanced budgets.
It is that apparent willingness to return to deficit that is the single biggest non ethical issue I have with the CPC approach. I watched what we went through from 93 to the end of the 90s in slaying the deficit beast and to finally get our fiscal house in order. As painful as it was, it could have been much worse, and if instead of Canadians like Martin/Chretien doing this we had had the IMF it would have been far more brutal. I have absolutely no interest in seeing us going back down the deficit road, because then we would have to go through this again at some point, and this time the baby boomers would be retired and more of a drain on fiscal matters than a contributor.
I do not trust the CPC on economics, but I do trust (granted only to a limited extent) the Liberals on this score. I remember precious governments claim they would reduce/eliminate the deficit from Trudeau onwards, but it was this Liberal government that did so, whereas the last Conservative government that also promised to deal with the deficit and debt ended up doubling both in nine years. That is a big deal to me.
It is the economic record that keeps me having some support for the Liberals despite their clearly needing to be out of office for a bit, Well, that and what the only real alternative would be a Harper led government, and for reasons I have posted here and elsewhere I do not want to see that even if it means giving the Liberals one more time in office. Hopefully that will trigger a leadership race in the CPC and bring the PCPC wing more into the leadership of the party as opposed to the complete lock the Reform/CA wing holds on the party leadership both in caucus and out.
If memory serves, the GST introduced by the last conservative government was designed to eliminate our deficit. One of the liberal planks under Chretien was to eliminate the GST, which as we all know was not done.
The conservatives can some credit in eliminating the deficit, and now that it's done Harper is rightly reducing the GST.
Well, the deficit/debt was created by the Bank of Canada and moronetist economic policy makers.
The GST was put in to get extra revenues, by the same Conservatives who allowed John Crow his insane "zero inflation" battle. So little credit for them.
The debt, while bad, did not necessitate the cuts and austerity of the Chretien-Martin team.
Neither party deserves to be a viable political entity really.
As someone who values the presence of Quebec in Canada, I'm happy for the wider point of pogge's post.