Liberal or Conservative?

[jswift872]

where do you guys come up with this stuff?

They like pretending they're special.

300 million... ha ha... that would pay for their ammunition... maybe.

doubt that, lol


anyway, i like the conservatives Mr. harper seems to be willing to put his money where his mouth is, and BTW, did you guys know that stephen harper wrote a letter or apology to the Americans stating that he is sorry we didn't go to Iraq, sorry, no link, watched it on the debate.....i will post a link if i can find one

 

[100235067]

Liberal or conservative? I would have to say conservative, This Liberal gov't was the one who neglected the armend forces in the first place. By nature a conservative style party, i.e PC/Alliance and now the new conservatives have always had a view that we need a larger armed forces and supported more defence spending. Yes, all politicians are liars, but i think that the conservatives will for sure be better than the Liberals regarding the military.

As for the links posted above, are those figures accurate? Says the budget is only 7.6 billion, when it is almost double that according to the federal budget.

 

[AlphaCharlie]

In all honestly, I like Mr. Harper's plans for military spending and all that he's promised, but i'm still left wondering where he's going to get this extra money?

 

[Infanteer]

As for the links posted above, are those figures accurate? Says the budget is only 7.6 billion, when it is almost double that according to the federal budget.

The figures are given in US dollars.

 

[100235067]

my bad, sorry

 

[Sheerin]

just checked the CIA world factbook and it listed Canada as having 9.8 billion USD for defense. 

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ca.html

 

[Infanteer]

Probably a little more accurate, the CDI figures I gave a oudated by a year or two.

 

[1feral1]

If I was back living in Canada under the skies of sunny Saskatchewan, I would vote Conservative, if I was an American, I would vote Republican, and in this yrs election here in Australia, I will most likely vote Liberal (here a Lib is Conseravtive and the Labor party is the liberals).

For me, its the party who is doing the right thing which gets my vote, as I am what is known here a swing voter. Its the views of the right wing which attract my attn such as, pro-defence, a party for stronger and better justice systems and sentancing, pro-gun ownership, anti-illegal immigration, etc. Thats the stuff I like. Here with the exception of the gunownership issue is the best one can get.

Cheers,

Wes.

 

[tabernac]

Its the Liberals vs the Labor here, and here Libs are the conservatives, and Labor is liberal.

Our right is your left, and your right if our left? Well your toilets do flow backwards...

 

[1feral1]

That indeed is a true fact! Our toilets also half flush too (to conserve h2o). But we drive on the RIGHT (literally) ;D side of the road here. 

Yes I will have trouble adjusting to the driving in Canada. The last time I was there 4 yrs ago, I made a few wide left turns :-X

cheers,

Wes

 

[tabernac]

Our toilets also half flush too (to conserve h2o)

But they still flush the wong way.
Remember, NEVER drift into the LEFT lane. :dontpanic: :evil:

 

[Cdn Blackshirt]

In all honestly, I like Mr. Harper's plans for military spending and all that he's promised, but
i'm still left wondering where he's going to get this extra money?

I think it's unsaid, but I believe he will gut a lot of the top-down bureaucracy in Ottawa.

As an example I think it was Duceppe who pointed out there were 10,000 people working for Health Canada
in Ottawa that didn't actually provide any services to patients.

Additionally, I would lay bets:
1)   The CBC will likely get a good-sized haircut.  
2)   Via, Canada Post and the other Crown Corporations get a subsidy trim as he extends the Auditor General's
pervue to include all of their activities.   (Of note, they are the only party even looking at this....)
3)   Say goodbye the Heritage Canada Department and see the remainder melded to Tourism Canada.
4)   Bye, bye Gun Registry  
5)   Reduced Corporate Subsidization across the board including the sweetheart deals in Quebec and some
of the nonsense with ACOA.

In short, he'll trim some fat, and then try to reduce duplication of services between the Federal Government
and Provincial Government except where absolutely necessary.    (Example: A National Centre for Disease
Control makes sense)



Matthew.  

 

[tabernac]

Bye, bye Gun Registry

But thats a good thing though. Isn't it? Cretien sunk so much money into that program.

 

[Pugnacious]

"1)   The CBC will likely get a good-sized haircut.   "

I remember back in 94 when I was in film and TV  the Vancouver CBC hallways being empty, and in the whole building there were more board security guards then TV people.  Mind you like everything esle the money is back East.

Also I'll be glad if the Gun registry goes bye bye.
The Criminals don't register their guns anyway.

Cheers!
P.

 

[Jascar]

People are quick to point out that it was the Liberals who began underfunding the military, but do remember that the Liberals came into power just as the Cold War was ending. Of course they spent less on the military, most western nations did because the major reason for spending was gone and public opinion shifted towards other priorities. Now we have the war on terror and public opinion is again shifting towards increased military spending.

The Conservatives say they're going to increase spending on the military and health care while significantly cutting taxes. I am left wondering where the money is going to come from. Other government programs are obviously going to be reduced or cut completely, and while this can be a good thing when the program in question is wasteful, don't kid yourself into thinking that the Conservatives are immune from creating wasteful projects and programs. Every type of government wastes tax dollars, no exceptions.

Another possibility is that the Conservatives won't spend as much as they're now promising on the military when crunch time comes. It always seems easier for an opposition party to make empty promises since they don't have to deal with putting the plan into action unless actually elected. The Conservative plan of increasing military spending arouses my suspicions since they haven't given any specifics. The Conservatives have just given a vague promise of 1.2 billion while the Liberals have promised funding for very specific projects like the Sea Kings. Plus, if anyone is in a position to know how much funding can be moved to defence and where it will come from, it's the guy who's been making the national budget for the last decade.

 

[Infanteer]

People are quick to point out that it was the Liberals who began underfunding the military, but do remember that the Liberals came into power just as the Cold War was ending. Of course they spent less on the military, most western nations did because the major reason for spending was gone and public opinion shifted towards other priorities. Now we have the war on terror and public opinion is again shifting towards increased military spending.

The Liberals had the unique positon of cutting funding to the military and letting our Forces stagnate while at the same time allowing a record amount of "peacetime" deployments to occur.  I can understand cutting the budget of an inactive department, but it was quite clear that they were more than happy to let the Forces struggle to do more with less.

 

[Cdn Blackshirt]

My father tells this great story about while at the University of Ottawa he used to work for the Art Gallery of Canada
and how he used to get paid to carry large pieces of art out so large numbers of Federally-paid art critics could give
their two cents.

Short Version:
1)   It took a long time as these guys were very long winded.
2)   Most of the art that they raved about was crap ('dog poop tribute to mussolini') while anything recognizable or with
an attractive colour pallette was considered junk
3)   There were more lisps that I can portray in a typed post.

Bottom Line:
There is a huge amount of federal waste spent on our "Cultural Arts", that could be better spent just about anywhere
else.   As an example, just one of these guy's salaries would pay for 2 or 3 one-year leases on new ULEV buses.

We need to be smarter with our money....



Matthew.  

 

[G3RM]

Conservative, liberals have screwed us enough.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Suppose the Conservatives win. How long before before someone digs up some "dirt" on the them? Like an unpaid parking ticket, Harper passing by a baby without kissing. Someone said something rude about the french in 1987. Someone looking at playboy on the internet. Someone tried to hire a clown for their little boys party and the clown turned out to be a ninja who had ties to the Kyoto (sp?) accord.

The shit never stops. I figure 3 days before some earth shaking story comes out and instead of trying to fix Canada's problems our friends will be at each others throat trying to discredit each other. I can't wait.

I've also heard that even if the Conservatives win, Paul martian can somehow remain the PM. Any truth to that?

 

[tabernac]

Paul martian can somehow remain the PM. Any truth to that?

I think the only way that would happen, would be in a coalition gov't. I don't see the Liberals siding with the Tories...