Politics in 2016

[jmt18325]

So the 61% of Canadians who didn't vote for him?

His approval rating is near 60%, according to the latest poll by Forum research.

 

[jmt18325]

So the 61% of Canadians who didn't vote for him? I could comment on how his 39% represents a clear mandate to implement a change to the political system, doctor assisted suicide, and legalized marijuana while the 39% vote for the conservative was an attack on democracy, but that's another discussion for another day.

First - doctor assisted suicide has to be handled somehow, by court order (the Conservatives didn't bother).  Second, I wasn't one of the people who made that argument.

First off, I voted Liberal this election... BUT... his reactions to the Paris attacks,

I would say his reaction there wasn't the best.  It was right after he started the job.

Brussels attacks,

But in this case, he made all the right offers of support and help.

and the Fort Mac situation

And in this case, he was on top of things from day one. 

He was able to meet Prince Harry for a photo op with wounded vets (though didn't go to the actual games) and a photo op with Alex Trebek while the Fort Mac situation was on.

Right - he is, after all, the Prime Minister of Canada, not Fort McMurray.  Life went on everywhere else. He also made a Toronto Subway announcement.  He took about two minutes to meet with Trebek following a large donation to the University of Ottawa, and it would be poor form for the head of government to not meet part of Canada's royal family when they come here.

Than his wife complained how she needed more taxpayer funded help for whatever it is she thinks her job is

That's actually not what happened, but it's irrelevant to what he was doing.

while her husband was off talking to people who had lost their houses. Trudeau even had an awkward smile and treated his speech in Fort Mac like it was a campaign stop by focusing on the hypothetical of what the conservatives would have done.

If that's what you got from the speech, I can't help you.  He also met with evacuees without the media in toe.  Prime Minister's are not perfect.  They are people.

Finally... they promised deficits of no more than $10 billion and delivered closer to $30 billion in deficits with no clear way back. For you to state that the NDP and conservatives would have been similar is silly since we'll never know what either did.

That's a convenient defence.

We (since I voted Liberal) won the election, now it's time to own it and stop blaming the past government for everything and treating everything like a campaign stop.

I must be watching different news.

Trudeau's new to the job, and to be honest, seems awkward at actual governing and more at home with campaigning... people ought to give him a bit of a break on this, but he and his supporters have to own some too.

There's really nothing to own when it comes to Fort McMurray, other than a successful support operation in support of Alberta.

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

His approval rating is near 60%, according to the latest poll by Forum research.

ok. 39% still voted for him, not 60%. You seem to want to cherry pick your facts

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

First - doctor assisted suicide has to be handled somehow, by court order (the Conservatives didn't bother).  Second, I wasn't one of the people who made that argument.

I would say his reaction there wasn't the best.  It was right after he started the job.

But in this case, he made all the right offers of support and help.

And in this case, he was on top of things from day one. 

Right - he is, after all, the Prime Minister of Canada, not Fort McMurray.  Life went on everywhere else. He also made a Toronto Subway announcement.  He took about two minutes to meet with Trebek following a large donation to the University of Ottawa, and it would be poor form for the head of government to not meet part of Canada's royal family when they come here.

That's actually not what happened, but it's irrelevant to what he was doing.

If that's what you got from the speech, I can't help you.  He also met with evacuees without the media in toe.  Prime Minister's are not perfect.  They are people.

That's a convenient defence.

I must be watching different news.

There's really nothing to own when it comes to Fort McMurray, other than a successful support operation in support of Alberta.

Wow..... you're full on irrational love fest. Once again, I voted for the government, but you cannot sincerely believe that everything he's done has been this amazing?

 

[Eye In The Sky]

So, first of all, we now know that the deficit won't be that bing (though Fort McMurray will certainly make it less small that it would have been). Many experts are now calling for a deficit in the $20B range. 

Second, the Liberals actually added less spending than they promised during the campaign.  Their infrastructure plan is smaller.  Their child benefit plan is smaller.  Many promises were deferred, etc.  That tells us that all 3 leaders were wrong with their projections.  It tells us that, taking out the Liberals ~$9 - 10B, that Harper would have been staring down a deficit in the ~$10B range, as would Mulcair.

Only $20 billion....or, in more accurate words...double the election promise? 

Try all you like, you can't paint a log of shit yellow, tell me in a banana and convince me its okay to take a bite....

 

[Jarnhamar]

I'll hold your hand on this one.

Thank Allah, I was worried you'd try and hold my wallet. You know to make up for that extra 19 BILLION  dollars.

When I say the deficits are larger than they said it would be, fine, I was conceding the point to Eye in the sky.

I understand that you were. The problem is thats 19 billion F-ing dollars. It should elicit more than just a "fine you're right".

 

[jmt18325]

ok. 39% still voted for him, not 60%. You seem to want to cherry pick your facts

I would imagine that the people who approve of his work so far (58%) would be less likely to find fault with what he's doing than the other 42%, regardless of whether or not they voted for him. 

 

[jmt18325]

Wow..... you're full on irrational love fest. Once again, I voted for the government, but you cannot sincerely believe that everything he's done has been this amazing?

I disagree with him on Iraq, the F-35 (mostly) and on the speaking for a fee he did before he became PM.  I also at one point thought he was an idiot. 

I'll also remind you that I voted Conservative in the two elections before this last one.

 

[jmt18325]

Only $20 billion....or, in more accurate words...double the election promise? 

Circumstances change.  Those same circumstances existed no matter who was in power.

 

[PuckChaser]

Circumstances change.  Those same circumstances existed no matter who was in power.

Circumstances like "Holy crap, our plan wasn't fully costed like we said, now we need to push these programs regardless of cost."? They over promised, under estimated cost, and got saddled with a $30B deficit.

 

[Altair]

Thank Allah, I was worried you'd try and hold my wallet. You know to make up for that extra 19 BILLION  dollars.
I understand that you were. The problem is thats 19 billion F-ing dollars. It should elicit more than just a "fine you're right".

I personally want to see how canada does economically  with this budget before I make a judgement on it.

 

[jmt18325]

Circumstances like "Holy crap, our plan wasn't fully costed like we said, now we need to push these programs regardless of cost."? They over promised, under estimated cost, and got saddled with a $30B deficit.

Actually, the Liberals in many areas spent less than they promised.  I wish they would have stuck to their guns, personally, but they wanted to keep it under $30B.  It's simply that growth isn't as healthy as predicted in Budget 2015.

 

[PuckChaser]

What's another $20B between friends right? You'll never have to pay it back, so who cares? Screw the next few generations. Liberals sure are great at spending other people's money.

 

[Altair]

What's another $20B between friends right? You'll never have to pay it back, so who cares? Screw the next few generations. Liberals sure are great at spending other people's money.

Conservatives never paid back their billions either, so what?

 

[PuckChaser]

At least they had a plan to do it, and were only forced into it by the largest economic crisis since the 30s. The Liberals went into deficit to throw money at every special interest group they promised it to, and had to cut short their hallmark infrastructure boost because they can't count. Fully costed = $20B over stated cap.

 

[jmt18325]

It's pretty disingenuous to claim that they've increased spending by $30B.  The deficit probably won't be that large (as much as $10B less), but, growth did stall after January so it's now a possibility given the oil sands slowdown.

Growth is slower than anticipated in budget 2015.  That means the balance line has changed no matter who is in power.

 

[George Wallace]

His approval rating is near 60%, according to the latest poll by Forum research.

The poll I heard this morning is 52%.  OH MY GOD!......His approval rating has dropped.  [

 

[jollyjacktar]

I would imagine that the people who approve of his work so far (58%) would be less likely to find fault with what he's doing than the other 42%, regardless of whether or not they voted for him.

Fools seldom differ.

 

[jmt18325]

The poll I heard this morning is 52%.  OH MY GOD!......His approval rating has dropped.  [

You're mistaken - his approval rating is 57%. 

The Liberal party is at 52%, about where it usually is:

http://m.ottawasun.com/2016/05/16/if-canadians-went-to-polls-today-liberals-would-get-supermajority-survey-says

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Now, all these polls mean absolutely nothing at this stage.

We are barely six months into a majority government that replaced the previous party in power, leading to both opposition parties being leaderless until they can be replaced. Until those replacement happen, any poll is really meaningless (Best proof of this is, those polls are always presented as "if an election was held today". In practice, if a majority government imposed a new election on Canadians six months into its mandate, while the opposition is officially leaderless, the Canadians would seriously punish such government for waisting their time and money that way, leading to the opposite result of the "poll").

Under those circumstances, anyone could have written the "approval ratings" figures on a piece of paper, sealed in an envelope before the poll and get it right. All they had to do was to take 100% minus the core voters figures for the three main opposition party and write the result on that piece of paper. Failing a world crisis of epic proportion that the new PM was seen by all to screw up (cue PM Chamberlain  ), that's the only possible figure.

BTW, the late Jean Lapierre used to say that a government with an approval rating of less than 50% in the year leading to an election was in trouble, and if below 40%, in deep trouble. The Liberals seem to be starting at 52% after six months. They need to go up - not down - by the time the next election comes up to avoid trouble.