My Democratic Duty Is Done
We voted tonight. After much deliberation I finally settled on the party I actually want to win, the one that I have voted for since I could vote. I voted Conservative.
I was thinking of voting Green mostly because I like what I read about their platform and some of it made sense and I was getting a little fed up with the main parties. However, I started listening to a few interviews and reading a few things in the papers and on the net and what I noticed is that the environment was pretty much all they talked about. There is more to running a country than the environment. So I stayed with the party I know and have supported in the past. I didn't think abandoning them now when they are finally so close would be wise.
I don't care if the Liberals are scared of Harper or are trying to convince Canadians to be scared of him. If I was in their position I'd probably be scared too.
Have you seen the Liberal attack ad where they quote Harper from some speeches in the US? It is the one where Harper says some inflammatory things about the shape of Canada? And then at the end Harper says "Wait until I become Prime Minister and see what it will look like" (or something close to that)? Watch it and ask yourself...isn't that actually an ad FOR the Conservatives?
12 comments:
Guess that means I can blame you. ;)
By the way, do you really wish Canada was in the quagmire in Iraq? If we'd had a Conservative government 3 years ago we would be, and now Iran is working hard to line itself up as the next candidate...
Do your really agree with all policies of the party you vote for?
Do you really believe that it was a good thing that the Liberals gave all that money to their friends in Quebec? Do you really believe that banning hand guns are going to stop crime in this country? Do you really believe Harper is going to put Canadian troops in Canadian cities, on our streets, with guns? I did not make this up!! :-) Do you really believe the bible tells you the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Then vote for what you believe and I'll vote for what I believe. I don't agree with everything that a party has to offer but I can take what I feel comfortable with the majority of a parties platform. Compare that to it's leader, I didn't see another option. Who knows, one day that can change and I will find out in about 4 years whether I, or anyone else has made the right decision.
Well, I really think banning handguns will reduce violent crime. No, really.
Banning knives would stop stabbings too!! But then buttering your toast would be a challenge that I am sure we could live with the new government regulated butter spreaders :-)
Banning ALL guns around the world would be the best solution but not realistic. If someone bought a handgun what are the chances that he/she is going to give it to the government? Pretty slim. The law abiding ones will because 'the government said so'. I find it funny(not really) that the gun registry was to reduce gun crimes. Did you know that handguns in Canada had to be registered way before the Liberals brought in the gun registry for long barrel guns? I learned that a number of years ago while reading on the UN website about the control of guns but never knew if before that. For information here is a government article that you may find interesting:
Firearms Regulation: Canada in the International Context
Canada probably has a pretty good record when it comes the control of 'legal' guns. Where the problem exists is in the 'illegal' guns, ones that are smuggled into Canada. The criminals are not going to register their guns and probably won't give their guns to the government.
I'm not trying to make light of your suggestion Cibby as it is valid in my eyes. It would take generations to get that done without martial law. My thinking lately is that our rights are being eroded more and more and taking away the right of someone to legally have a handgun I think is wrong. Taking them away for illegally having one is right. But that is just my opinion. :-)
Here are some more reads on the handgun issue.
Read the whole thing as it gives both sides of the debate:
Canadian Leader Pledges to Ban All Handguns
Here is a one sided view that I think is quite scary considering the source:
U.N. Wants Global Gun Ban
Here is a good one based on research done by someone at Ryerson about Canadian homicides and guns. I gave it a quick read and it looks like the percentage of homicides with guns remains around 30% even after the gun registry introduce in 1995:
Ryerson
Here is more info as noted in Wikipedia:
Canadian gun registry
Happy reading. This issue will be talked about for years before anything is done about it. I just hope they decide not to ban vehicles for the same reasons as it is a long walk to work and it gets cool sometimes.
You should check this link out regarding our right to keep and bear arms!
There are many sites like that out there and many groups behind them. I only posted one of those links in my list. The others are more informational. I also have links as to why paying taxes is illegal too and I know someone who takes that stand, and has been in court a few times too but he is out working. Let me know if you are interested by PM and I'll send you the links that he got me to read.
Sorry it's taken a while to get back into this conversation: I was away and had limited access.
Fair call, Lorne: you've made your decision on the totality of the platform, and it wasn't fair for me to diss it based on a single issue.
On the other hand, I'm not sure it's fair to make Adscam the criterion for whether or not to vote Liberal, because it seems to me more like crime on the part of a few and incompetence on the part of the many, rather than actual policy.
The gun thing is tainted because of how badly the long gun registry was handled, but is a reasonable idea on its face... this might be one of those east-west things, though: lots more gun violence in Toronto, lots more responsible gun owners in the west.
You're right, we'll see what the results are in 4 years time... and sadly, I've lost all confidence that any party will actually have led in a completely clean and positive manner...
Yes, and I want to amend my previous statement.
I think we have it pretty good in Canada. You can have a gun, but you'd better register for it, which is pretty intense, I hear.
I lived in Canada for 25 years and never held a gun, or saw someone other than a police officer with one. I think that says something positive about our country. If I wanted to, I could train at a firing range.
But concealable handguns are a little frightening.
I've owned guns before, 22's but that is all and I don't have one now. I have no use for one as I don't hunt. I don't know if it would be good to have one out here on the acreage but I have no plans to get one.
As for the election :-) Martin is doing his best fear mongering and I don't think it will work this time. Harper and his team did a great job of dispelling all that Martin said last time that the Tory's had no platform, and he had a hidden agenda, etc. Well, his agenda was spelled out right from the get go and Martin can't use that crutch this time. I think the loss last election, in hindsight of course, is the best thing that could have happened to the Tory's. They became better politicians...which for the record I don't care for but they had to do that to get the message out. Now that they have it out there, and provided they get the brass ring, they will have to prove that they belong there. Grit blood is pretty thick in Ontario so I can assure you the Tory's will be under scrutiny most of the time. I can only hope they can do what they say they would do. If not....
Yeah, and I think the Liberal attack ads are backfiring in a big way, which is a good thing for the state of political discussion in the country: any time fearmongering gets punished, I'm happy!
Certainly the polling right now looks pretty conclusive that we'll have a Conservative government - the remaining interest is in whether it will be majority or minority. I'm still pulling for a minority government... maybe it's less stable, but it helps to 'keep the bastards honest'.
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