Lowdark

Looks like Shymale and Ottguy will be battling it it out for first. Good luck guys.

Perhaps it was that aspect of him that kept voters from really bonding with him. The truth of it is the Liberals had no chance in this election becuase of Ignatieff's unpopularity, although I don't anyione saw a collapse of this magnitude coming. And it doesn't matter how much money you spend on ads or what strategy you use, if voters just don't like you, you can't change most of their minds.

Happy Belated Birthday! Hpe it was a good one!

I was working on my computer when Gilles Duceppe made his concession/resignation speech, and I gernerally tune out his voice whenever I hear ita anyway, but the last sentence of his speech grabbed my attention as he took a swipe at the rest of Canada. He said something along the lines that the Bloc wouldn't rest until Quebec was its own country. I scanned the crowd of his (few) supporters and noticed a lot of young, twenty something faces. Hopefully, the remaining parties can cannibalize what's left of the Bloc over the next few years and reduce it to a fringe movement. But unfortunately, we can never presume that seperatism is dead. Additional Comments: I was working on my computer when Gilles Duceppe made his concession/resignation speech, and I gernerally tune out his voice whenever I hear ita anyway, but the last sentence of his speech grabbed my attention as he took a swipe at the rest of Canada. He said something along the lines that the Bloc wouldn't rest until Quebec was its own country. I scanned the crowd of his (few) supporters and noticed a lot of young, twenty something faces. Hopefully, the remaining parties can cannibalize what's left of the Bloc over the next few years and reduce it to a fringe movement. But unfortunately, we can never presume that seperatism is dead.

While I think we all expected the Conservatives to form the next government, I think most of us were expecting them to form yet another Minority one, with the Liberals and NDP spliting the Opposition. But I doubt too many of us were expecting such a drastic final result at the end of such an unremarkable campaign. The strength of the Conservative victory, the historic finish of the NDP and the historic collapse of the Liberals and the near destruction of the Bloc. There will be a lot of disappointed people in the following weeks, and a lot of happy ones as well, but what we all must do in the months and years following is watch and protect our hard won liberties and freedoms, and that should be the case no matter who wins. While I have never subsribed to the theory that any party has a "hidden" or secret agenda, as citizens', our job doesn't end after an election, but our responsibility is to always remain vigilant. Apathy and disinterest are greater evils than ignorance and discord. It doesn't matter who you voted for or who you support, we must always be responsible for portecting and preserving the ideals of our society. That is the true price of of living in a great and civilized democracy.

Happy Birthday Megan! Hope you had a good one.

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that if the strategy behind this "breaking news" was to derail the NDP's momentum, it's highly flawed. If this election has proven anything, it's that most voters are unconcerned with ethical issues this time around. The Conservatives were not only the first governemnt in Canada to be found in contempt of Parliament, but the first in the entire Commonwealth, yet polling indicates they will likely form another minority government. And the NDP's biggest supporters seem to be mostly young and first time voters, who also support things like more liberal sex laws. So this story would have little affect on them. So what, exactly, is the strategy behind this. Anyone else have any thoughts?

It doesn't change my opinion of him or his policies, but if Sun Media tries to claim that their timing wasn't deliberately aimed at hurting the NDP and supporting the Conservatives, they will be one step closer to earning the unofficial title Fox News North.

Happy Easter Cerb. Hope everyone has a good Easter Sunday. Relax and enjoy.

One thing that may cause an interesting twist. If the NDP's recent popularity gains are for real (particulalrly in Quebec), that could make for a very interesting landscape for our next Parliament. The NDP becoming the official Opposition is still a very, very long shot, but perhaps the cleaning out of the Liberal party's stale leadership that would result from such a scenario might be good in the long run. Worth watching.

That was definitely an out loud Awwwwww . . . . . . .moment

Can't really add to what some of the prior posts have said about the quality of most of the ladies here, but I can steadfastly agree.

I actually didn't think it was a pro Liberal post, but since the Liberals are the Conservatives primary opponents, I thought that it was quite probable that you would see a list of their past offences to balance the flaws of Harper and the Conservatives. As I said, I've seen it happen on a number of other news and political boards where someone will post a complaint about one of the two bigger parties and supporters of the other side will present a laundry list of their opponent's failures.

Congrats and Keep 'em Coming!

It's too bad we can't vote for Sheila Fraser.

You should probably prepare yourself for more than a few posts citing sins and wrongs committed by the Liberals during their years in power. Right from childhood, a person's first argument to defend themself or what they like is "Yeah but they did this!" We also tell our children that two wrongs don't make a right. Pity adults don't heed any of their own lessons. On other boards I have even seen users post long laundry lists of one party's errors and scandals to counter accussations against their party of choice. It's an interesting commentary that they don't try and defend the party in question against the accussations, merely list the other team's losses.

I've never understood the concept that "she stole my boyfriend/husband/man." And I've observed over and over that many women consider other women to be threats to their relationships. As the old saying goes, it takes two to tango. A man can't be "stolen," for whatever reason he strays. His straying either speaks to the stability of the relationship or his character.

This is not the first time a government has found itself in a minority, yet the first time it has ever been found in Contempt of Parliament. If Contempt was a political maneuver, why had it never been used in any of those other situations before? Not just in Canada, but in the history of the entire Commonwealth? And as others have pointed out, Milligen is a straight shooter who has sided with the governement on past issues. He is widely respected by both sides of the aisle. Just finished reading the story on the G-8 and G-20 reading as well. But I have to wonder, if they did indeed lie to Parliament about this (hopefully the whole report comes out soon), will staunch Conservative suporters care? The Contempt issue sems to be largely ignored and met with a shrug. I glanced quickly at Sun Media's coverage of the G-8 issue and they gave it a mere three paragraphs (with quotations around the word wasteful). Will this make a difference? I hope so (and no, I'm not a Liberal supporter-I vote based on the issues). And if it doesn't, what will?

Sound advice. Thanks for sharing isabella.

There was an interesting article in the Citizen this past weekend indicating that so far, the campaigns have done little to change voters' minds. Some of the polls taken before the election was called have barely budged. The thing is that there has been no galvanizing issue in this election for the parties to rally around. Few Canadians seem to feel the recent moral and ethical charges against the Conservatives warrant a change and it seems that Ignatieff is still too "unliked" by most voters. Right or wrong, no advertising campaign will change that. The corruption charges aren't getting the attention they deserve (no fault of the opposition, they've been hammering at them on the campaign trail since day one). Even if they were though, there doesn't seem to be anyone among the other party leaders Canandians are willing to trust with the keys to 24 Sussex. the real issue of this election, I think, is the lack of inspirational, impassioned leaders. Additional Comments: I just read something (and commented about it on another thread) that seems to be the defining idea of this election. The Conservatives now face allegations that they mislead Parliament about spending on the G-8 and G-20 economic conferences last year. That the money they requested became a slush fund for Tony Clement's riding (before rushing to any conclusions, this story was based on a chapter of the report that was leaked by an alleged Liberal supporter; the report was suppossed to be introduced this month but was shelved until after the election and even the Conservatives are requesting the full report now be released). I read about it first on Yahoo News where one of the first respondants to it passed it off, calling it Liberal propaganda and called the media communist pinkos trying to overthrow Harper. The problem we face is how can people make educated votes when they so easily dismiss facts when they oppose their philosophy? Getting people to be engaged and informed is no small chore itself (gossip about the Kardashians and the latest results of Dancing with the Stars will always rule that particular arena), but when people dismiss information because they don't like it? Yes, much of the media in Canada has a political leaning, but facts don't. And granted, we don't know all the facts on this yet, but if it is determined that the Conservatives did lie to Parliament about this, how many people will dismiss that or disbelieve it? Can we then blame our leaders for voter disinterest and delusion? Or are we the ones truly to blame?

Interesting. Count me in, but a question or two-can it be any 10 players, regardless of position? Can goalies be drafted? If so, what stats are important and how do their numbers measure up against those of the skaters?

Absolutely no class or respect at all. He was a total waste (and that`s being generous). I have a story from the flip side. One day a lady I had met through CERB (but no longer is a member) came into where I worked. I recognized her and breathed a small sign when she walked right past me. But to my surprise, she stopped, turned around and came right over, thanking me for the help I had given her on her purchase. I quickly thanked her but explained that it wasn`t me who had helped (which was the truth). The she looked at me with narrow eyes and asked if I wasn`t the one who had helped her, why did I look familiar. I told her I got that a lot and she left. Either she remembered or she bought it, but it was a touch uncomfortable.

I missed it during the Olympics. Thanks for posting this RG. An excellent piece of work. It should be mandatory viewing for everyone on both sides of the border. It reminds us why we are all so blessed to live here; depite it`s flaws and imperfections, Canada is one of the best places on the planet to call home.

Happy Birthday and all the Best!

This is probably the biggest point. What guarantee would services exchanged have? Especially if the lady's lack of satisfaction comes after the exchange. Physical goods can be guaranteed (and can even have a tangible value attached to them), but services are another story altogether. I'd be inclined to think that bartering services for the privilege of an SPs time would get way too complicated way too quickly and would backfire more times than not.