What is this 'Canada' you speak of? from The Jawa Report
What's a 'Canada', anyway? INDCent Bill has the answer.*... [Read More]

Tracked on January 24, 2006 1:10 PM

Blogging Triumphalism: Canadian Edition from Outside The Beltway | OTB
Kate McMillan: But, for the record - Ed Morrissey did not “bring down the Canadian government”, as some have described it. His role was important, but […] it was NDP leader Jack Layton who “brought down” the Canadian go... [Read More]

Tracked on February 2, 2006 6:02 AM

Read the news before speaking from Dust my Broom
Clement Chartier of the Metis National Council opines in a news release: “The Aboriginal vote got out in record numbers this election and we demonstrated that we cannot be ignored by any party. For example, I firmly believe the combined Métis an... [Read More]

Tracked on February 10, 2006 8:12 PM

Bitter sweet is all I can say.

Very disappointed this morning, one consolation being we finally got rid of Dithers. How the hell did Ignatieff, Goodale, Stronach et al win? How incredibly stupid can people be?

Good morning, and welcome to a Conservative minority government.
At the time of this writing (08:40 MST), the liberal.ca website is not updated from January 23rd (what a bunch of jokers).
The Conservative website conservative.ca has Prime Minister Harper on it already.
Let's hope, for the sake of this country, that the the opposition parties can cooperate with the Conservatives, passing policy for the the good and benefit of ALL Canadians, not just the select few that Paul Martian pandered to.
I still cannot believe that as many Canadians voted for the Lieberals as they did.
At least that shrill, token Lieberal, Landslide Annie, was given the boot in Edmonton centre, and the Conservatives given a sweep, just to prove a point to the Lieberals, that we do not subscribe to PM's "vision.
the mad redneck (though, less mad than yesterday)

Harper will have to use every savvy bone in his body to thread this needle in the House.

If he manages to set the agenda and achieve a few of his promises, he will stand to gain seats if the remaining parties try to bring down his government within the next two years.

Interesting issue with the election coverage last night. For some reason, CBC Newsworld in Vancouver was showing the results for the Maritimes while the polls were still open on the coast. The regular CBC had the countdown show on but meanwhile I was watching Brison and Mackay doing their interviews and the results were all there.

No need to blog to get election results early with the CBC :)

Well, a win is a win, is a win. It would have been nice to see a bigger minority but we'll take what we have. Congratulations to Stephen Harper and all his consevative members of parliment.

In Manitoba, we have them down to two seat and oh joy of joys, Reg Alcock is not one of them. I Listened to him on CKY this morning saying he might have taken his riding a little two litely. since he ownly campaigned there two nights....DUHHHH, Really Reg...duhhhh youuuuuu thinkkkkkkkkk. That and your pompus, arrogant, self-rightous, holier then thou attitiude.

Harper made an excellent speech last night.
Looks like the Bloc have the balance of power. There is therefore hope that house cleaning will progress, and scandal investigations will continue to conclusion.
It will be nice to see children once again at 24 sussex dr.

Update: 08:49 MST

The Lieberals have updated their website, with former PM PM with his mug, in the past tense of his so-called leadership.
All I can say is, I'm glad he's done.

Kate, nothing like leaving the barn door open eh...fox and hen houses, etc ;-)

Yeah, how did Ignatieff, Goodale, Stronach get back in? Now I know where all those student votes went - kidding, but one wonders aloud if another Edmonton Centre type voter list is floating around.

I do hope Mr. Harper cleans house, but he'll have to tread lightly, Liberals are thin skinned and squeak a lot.

cheers
tom

This is good, we must take any victory with pride. We finally have a change in leadership. Prime Minister Harper and team will have their work cut out. If we look at how he ran his campaign, I believe that there will be nothing but positive changes. The people of Canada WILL get to see our man at work. It will be quite comical with BS & SB sitting once again in the opposition.

This result is almost as stable as a majority. The Liberal Party will be in no condition to go to the polls for quite some time. Aside from sorting things out between different factions and finding a new leader they'll need to deal with their creditors. Accordingly they should be relied upon to vote in whatever fashion required to prevent an election.

Having now calmed down, I'm feeling better about the modest Tory win.

Our society has been fed Liberalism for years by the usual suspects and the population feels fat, happy and unthreatened by external dark forces. In these circumstances, I believe Stephen Harper did what was necessary for the best possible result. He must now govern in such a way as to show the benefits of conservative leadership.

Coincidentally, current odds are that an external threat will appear shortly whereby Canadians will be grateful for Tory governance. Some combination of oil / terror / Iranian upheaval may provide a different focus and accelerate acceptance of the Conservatives. I say this because the Europeans will suddenly be in favour of a war over oil and the leftists will be shown for what they are.

"Bitter sweet is all I can say." Hey, that about sums it up for me too. Locally our incumbent Dave built up his lead over the NDP from 124 last time to 3,506 over the NDP this time. As John Gormley points out, NDP gets 24% of the popular vote here in Sask. with zero seats while the Libs get 22 % and 2 seats. That doesn't seem right. Maybe it's time to push for proportional representation versus first past the post,eh? And, 65% voter turnout is not good enough.

The entire national media is insisting that the Conservatives are not an URBAN party, that they must pander to Toronto and Montreal. Well, on behalf of Edmonton, Calagary, Saskatoon, St. John's, Kelowna, Kamloops, Ottawa etc. etc., fuck you very much. The NDP and Libs were fucking decimated in Edmonton and Calgary, so maybe they should be the ones sucking up.

Toronto and Vancouver are the odd ones out, not in step with the rest of the country. They seem, to many across this country, a little EXTREME, or even SCARY.

Mr. C.J. is absolutely right. We'll have a de facto Conservative-Liberal coalition. Libs too broke, divided and leaderless to dare an election. I'm delighted (and I live in Toronto)

On Michael Coren's show last night, the panel spoke as if the Liberals would be almost eliminated, so not everyone in the GTO area thought the Liberals had much of a chance. At the end everyone seemed to be writing them off so the question is what happened?
Obviously the fear factor was the deciding factor, because it certainly wasn't a knowledge of the issues.
My friend - a 50 yr old man - rec'd a mass mailing from a young relative yesterday morning which listed the reasons for not voting Conservative. At the top of the list was 'abortion'.
God bless us! ..and Stephen.

The abortion angle did save the Liberals a lot of votes. Amazing that the public believed that nonsense. The Conservative movement is doomed in this backward country.

jhuck...they're talking about real cities, not crossroads nowhere. And I live in Kamloops.

As far as the election, Canadians embraced anti-corruption, not the Consevatives. Leftist parties have the biggest share of votes.

Quebec just saved Canada. Had the ten CPC seats in Quebec gone Liberal the final seat count would've been Lib 113 CPC 114 and you can bet your bottom dollar Martin would've tried to remain in power in that scenario.

Have faith in our boy Stevie, he's earned it. From graduate student to prime minister in twenty years; not too shabby.

JHuck, thanks for pointing that out! Calgary is actually a BIGGER city than Vancouver! The Greater Vancouver area is larger than Calgary, but lots of Conservatives got voted into the Greater Vancouver area, just not Vancouver proper. Calgary and Edmonton are major cities in Canada and the fact that they wiped Libs off the map barely gets mentioned. Then others try to point out that CPC didn't elect anyone in PEI and Libs didn't elect anyone in AB. Excuse me? There's more people in Southeast Calgary than there are in the whole PROVINCE of PEI. PEI is overrepresented with the number of seats they have. I love PEI, but trying to compare the 2 provinces is absolutely ridiculous. The Libs got wiped out of a major, powerful province. The CPC could afford to never set foot in PEI (if they wanted).

Libs too broke, divided and leaderless to dare an election.

Let's not forget the 30+ ongoing criminal investigations. They will haunt the Liberals for some time to come.

God bless Canada. And, last night, He sure did.

Some close calls....but Southern Ontario remains red. The new Government can either largely ignore Toronto and the GTA or suprise everyone by working with the city and surrounding municipalities and begin the process of converting Liberals & NDP'ers to a saner, better future..........rather like the Richard Nixon approach to China in the 1970's

first blush on the results

Big City folks in Van & Toronto shut out of gevernment/cabinet and POWER. This is a good thing.

Federalism is alive in Quebec and the Bloc took some really good body blows.

Best of all the Tories can get their hands on the books, can investigate where the $9 billion in "Off Book Foundations" funding really went. And the missing $40 million. And the $2Billion gun registry scam. And on and on

WE HAVE THE BOOKS NOW :)

The Tories can inflict a death by a thousand cuts while the Liberals fight their civil war.

And the Tories can fire the head of elections Canada " or as I call it Liberal Election Fraud Canada"

It is disapointing but there are some fun times ahead.

Go slow & steady, Stephen. Deliver the goods - honest, pragmatic government and find the lost money.

I agree too with Mr. Mullan. It seems the press is really touting this "unstable" situation, and if they had prefixed that with "it'll eventually be", they'd then be right.

It's going to take at least 6 months for the libs to vote in a new leader, quite possibly longer. They're also going to have to have a policy convention, and re-group, re-rally the troops. Plus there's the issue of the liberal debt -- given the $1.75 per vote, per year, it makes sense for them to wait a while.

That being said, Stephen Harper would do quite well for himself to push through the more contentious parts of his agenda first -- the first 6 months the libs won't be blocking anything, once they get a new leader, all bets are off.

Ohh, and apparently that independant from Quebec is a shock rock radio announcer. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.

-- Steve

The minority means the Tories will run the country but with training wheels on.Once the country sees that Harper can do the job, he will get to take them off.Did the Libs really gain seats in BC? Whats up with that?

My sentiments are with most of the above commenters. This should be interesting to see how things shape up. My advice to the CPC and PMSH is to move some positive legislation through first, as in platform points before setting the auditing hounds loose. Although it needs to be done and done right, siccing the Auditor General and RCMP on the corruption right away will only be seen by the MSM (and the Canadian flock) as revenge and the start of a "hidden" agenda.

Oh yeah, I hope Kate's hangover isn't too bad ;-)>

The mafia rules in Toronto as usual. It's time to double the size of the RCMP, after cleaning it out of course.

The ironic thing about abortion being the divisive issue,especially in Hogtown,is that half the Liberal caucus is against abortion,but the media fail to ask the question point-blank,the way they did when Kevin Newman blind-sided Stephen Harper.
Once again,the "unbiased MSM" played a huge role in preventing the total annihilation of the Liberals.

Although it needs to be done and done right, siccing the Auditor General and RCMP on the corruption right away will only be seen by the MSM (and the Canadian flock) as revenge and the start of a "hidden" agenda.

The first order of business is the accountibility act. That, by definition, means there will be accountibility by wrongdoers.

Conservatives need only get the act passed, from there it takes on a life of it's own:)

God bless Canada.

I noticed that the Marxist-Leninists really kicked the Communists' ass, does this mean that their leader has to resign? Maybee a new party for Comrade Martin to lead?

Well, I know it is bittersweet for some of you, but you can look on the bright side. For the first time in nearly 13 years, there is not a Liberal as Prime Minister. I'd say that in reality that is a great deal of progress.

We told you. (The following is the last gloat: The Librano$ are dead.)

Down with socialism.

Long live freedom and democracy.

God bless Stephen Harper. >>>

Excerpt:

As important is Ontario’s turn -- again tentative, cautious, but further than in many years -- towards the Conservatives, and the West. Indeed, this election is further evidence of an important trend: Ontario, outside Toronto at any rate, is joining the West. The democratic values and hardy optimism that are hallmarks of the West’s political culture have worked their way into the Ontario psyche. More and more, the West’s interests and values are also Ontario’s.

For Stephen Harper, this is a remarkable personal triumph. The man who many people said could not win the race for Canadian Alliance leader, who could never reunite the warring right-wing parties, who could not win the leadership of the united Conservative party, and who most certainly would never, ever become Prime Minister, now stands on the very brink of power.

Who would have guessed that this cold-eyed ideologue would show such a flair for consensus-building; that the apostle of the “firewall” would put together the most genuinely national party in the country. And here’s another irony: though he comes to power preaching the virtues of a looser federation, with a less intrusive federal government, Mr. Harper may succeed where others failed in building a stronger sense of national unity. >>>
http://andrewcoyne.com/

A big let down last night, not with Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party, but with Canada and Canadians in general.

1.) The fact that Paul Martin garnered the support he did after the proven lies and corruption against the very people who then went to the polls, bent over, made their X and said it feels good, PLEASE DO IT TO ME AGAIN!
2.) That the people of this country could vote for the status quo, knowingly embracing the fear mongering of a desparate prime minister who would stoop to any length to maintain power rather than take a leap of faith and embracing a platform of hope and future promised by the Conservatives.
3.) The mainstream media trying to coerce me and the people of Canada toward a political message of their choosing, rather than presenting the details that I need to make an informed decision.
4.) The acceptance by almost 14 million of this great country that the only ideas that warrant merit are those of a few power hungry individuals that fear change, that tolerance for others political bias is not acceptable and indeed not so called 'Canadian Values'; where Centre Right can be alluded to be Hitler or Pinnochet.

What I did like about this election is that all of you fine people in the BLOG-O-SHPERE have made incontrovertable and indelible change to how information will be distributed in future. As an individual I have been engaged and riveted to both the BLOGs and the MSM.... you people rock. You offered me more unfettered information than any MSM outlet could or would. When you expressed opinion I knew it was yours but more so I knew that your opinion was that and you left it to me to agree or disagree. WOW! this is the discourse of the future...

Let's move forward...

NL

Just prior to the election several bloggers were musing about what they would do once the Libs were out and the CPC gets in - I would suggest that their (bloggers) role is going to be more important than ever. If you want to build on this modest win, do not become complacent. This is now the time to build on what has (hopefully) only just begun. Anyone who underestimates the Liberal machine is a fool and they will attempt to bounce back quickly. Now is the time to drive the wooden stake even deeper into their heart - do not let them get back on their feet.

Today is the dawning of a new era in the political landscape of Canada. Although Mr. Harper did not achieve a majority he was able to elect reperesentatives in all regions in the country. This demonstrates that there are some open minded people who have been able to escape the powerfull brainwashing of the Liberal Machine and left leaning media in this country.This shows that there are people out there who can see through the spin and get to the facts and make up their own minds "based on the facts.The Liberal story has consisted of too many lies and flip flops . Mr. Harper comes across as an honest man because he is telling the truth. With truth comes consistancy because all you have to do is state the facts and tell the truth. When people are lying they have to remember what lie they told the last time. It is also more difficult because lies are very often implausible. This was exemplified in the Gomery commission. It is totally implausible that Mr. Martin had no knowledge of what was going on. The Canadian people recognized this fact. The unfortunate trend we are seeing in this country is that more and more people in this country are getting a free ride on the backs of fewer and fewer real net taxpayers. At some point these people will cry Uncle if the abuse does not cease. We can not continue to cut the limbs off the real wealth creators of this country or this group of people who truely create the wealth and prosperity in this county will curl up and die. We now have a chance to see real change in Canada because I think Mr. Harper recognizes the real wealth creators in this county and will do his best to unleash them from the bloated government machine that his been doing it's best to choke them. The thing that the Liberal party fears the most is prosperity outside of it's own elite circle. Prosperous people do not look to government for handouts . They want to stand on their own 2 feet. As my Late father stated. "Liberal do redistribute wealth they distribute poverty." It is clear to see because in the past years of Liberal rule more and more people rely on government for their livelyhood. You can not reverse this by doing more of the same . You have to go in a totally different direction. You have to empower people by fostering financial independence so they can hold their heads up high. Last night was a victory for the ordinary working people of Canada.

It's embarassing that we had what is arguably the most corrupt government in the history of the country and they ran a campaign that was amature at best and filled with mistakes and yet they win over 100 seats. What gives?

um bullet we have them down to 3 seats in MB they lost wpg south and gained churchill.

Darn!

Something to do with the NDP splitting their vote among people who do and don't support homosexual marriages up north.

A beginning for a better Canada. I noticed that the social engineers at C.B.C. have not figured out that the Liberals had a defeat. They keep making the point that Mr Harper did not make gains
in the 3 big cities. They need to ask WHY the "cult of unhappiness" (ndp) and the liberals don't do well outside these cities. Could it be
that a moral value system is still alive and well
outside of, but not in Vancouver,Toronto and Montreal? ...and why that is so!

I want to thank you Kate for your blog. A great source of information and I think that you have made a difference in this election. Well done.

Paul

Here's a question...

Where can I find a map of Canada showing the colours of the election results? I've been looking but the media seems to be relunctant to show most of Canada under Tory blue.

I watched Prime Minister Harper take a minority
government the pundits were saying "how can he
run the country with such a low minority" "How
can he manage to get the issues he wants changed
with such a small minority" and on and on, the
negative spin seeming to be he cannot run the
government with so much opposition.
Then I watched Prime Minister Harper speak and
he turned the negative into positive thinking on
all the ideas for change the conservative party has told us about.
The speech was terrific, the view of each
negative remark was turned around to become a
positive.
He will be in a tough position, no doubt about
that, but he is a uniter, a man with patience
and perseverce and that is exactly what Canada
needs. Given enough time he and his party can
show the world Canada is still a great country.
He took the best route in his speech. We can
make changes for the good of Canada and made
the fact the conservatives are not planning
a "west only" scenario, but a united country
future for us is what is needed.

From a Yankee: Congratulations, Canada! You have just done, in Mark Steyn's words, "a necessary act of political hygeine". :-)

To those disappointed by the size of the Conservative win, I can only say the following. The Conservatives need to continue their successful grass-roots building. Harper and the Party have done a brilliant job thus far. Hopefully, this will continue.

Equally important, when Prime Minister Harper and his Justice Minister (NICE ring to that, eh? :-) unleash the forensic accountants and investigators on the Canadian government's books, the tip of the iceberg that is Adscam will pale in comparison with what's found.

(That, BTW, is not just my opinion but that of a number of Canadian friends, plus what some Canadian journalists and bloggers are saying. certainly, the Grits' history bears that out.)

There should be enough there to complete the destruction of the "rotten to the core" Liberal Party.

Congrats to Harper. His minority is weak, but so is the Liberals. Neither they nor the Bloc wish to have another election. I think they should rule the first year as if they have a majority and put most of their platform through. I doubt it will be voted down. If he has to water it down to get Lib, Bloc, and dipper votes he will look bad. Gay marriage is here to stay (not enough votes). The GST, childcare, accountability bills should pass. After one year all bets are off though. The Libs may want an election then with their new leader.

After twelve years of the Liberals buying their way to power, I think you've done about as well as can be expected. As a Yank with deep family roots in Canada, who follows Canadian politics and has an understanding of parliamentary democracy; I think that the Conservatives have been given the opportunity to show that they are not "scary", not a wholly owned subsidiary of the Republican Party(US)and that they embrace the best interests of all Canadians.

That being said it looks as if they will be facing a opposition party that is flat broke and who has had their check (cheque?) writing privileges suspended. They won't be in a position to buy their friends anymore.

I viscerally, agree with Conan the Barbarian's mission statement: "Slay your enemy. Scatter his flocks. Listen to the lamentations of his women." But, my days as a war chief also taught me that sometimes it's better to ignore the braves howling for scalps and coup. Set some investigations in motion, let the legal system work, reward the righteous, punish the guilty and govern pragmatically. In a more modern context; "You can do everything with bayonets except sit on them."

Conservatism is a hard nut for some people to chew. It says; be strong in yourself. It says; take responsibility for yourself and others. It says forgo some jam today so that you can have jam next week. It also says that you have to work for both the bread and the jam. And, it says; don't eat the seed corn.

To some these concepts are not only foreign but laughable. It is certainly not fashionable but, I tend to think of this as a mission in which many of our fellow citizens, on both sides of our common border; need to be led out of the darkness and into the light.

In Steven Harper you guys are fortunate indeed. He is a modest man, a policy wonk and a former geek who has had to learn politics but who will never be entirely comfortable in a political setting. He also has a wicked sense of humour; a characteristic he seems to share with many Canadians; our Kate for example. It's no mistake that so many of our best loved comedians have come from Canada. He is a man for your time.

I have also done some research on some of your Conservative MP's. They are a stellar group of people. Just look, for example, at the background and record of Kate's MP, Carol Skelton. This is a very, grounded, solid and talented woman who can still manage to smile hugely while helping to mount a campaign sign into frozen ground. You've got a bunch of those kind of people and you may not know just how lucky your are. But, then hard workers usually seem lucky to those that have not ever really worked.

Great day for you all and my best to you. We might want to talk and walk a little softly around here today. Kate may have a little hangover.

How far we have come in such a short time!

A little over 2 years ago Paul Martin's polling results are so high that the MSM are gushing about how he might get the largest majority in the history of Canada. Stephen Harper is portrayed as an uncharismatic policy wonk faced with the unenviable task of leading an unruly patchwork of MP's in the newly formed Conservative Party. Certainly he is destined to be a footnote in history.

Two years later Stephen Harper is Prime Minister of Canada having run on a platform based on solid conservative principles. Paul Martin announces his retirement from politics.

How can the MSM discribe this as anything other than a total vindication for Stephen Harper? Sure a majority would have been better, but when you consider how far this remarkable man has taken us in the past two years, aren't you excited about where he'll lead us to in the next few?

May the MSM and his political opponents spend the next decade underestimating Prime Minister Harper.

Kate, Regarding the 700,000 votes that CBC and David Susuki went off with?????
This breaksdown to 2200 extra votes in 308 ridings!
I have a question: Is there not a way that we could do a on-line petition regarding Elections Canada?
Boy, there is a lot of pissed off people here. I emailed your story to a few friends (most were not that political involved, and their pissed.
This need to changed that no official ballot ever goes "a stray" again. This is another unaccountablity flaw of the Liberal's & CBC.
One thought to ponder: Two more years, maybe Lloyd Roberts, Don Newman, Peter Mansbridge, Mike Duffy will be put out to pasture. After all a couple of these guys have covered the last 13 elections! Old and tired!

Just remember that the next couple of years every single conservative faux-pas and mis-intrepretable comment will be ruthlessly dissected for weeks on the evening news.

The investigations into former Liberals will be viewed as old, old, news not worthy and relevant of prime time. Complex, boring, not relevant tot he new Liberals.

Conservative political initiatives will be cast as too american, too socially (extreme) conservative, pandering to (conservative) minorities, blah, blah, blah...

The bureaucracy will constantly and anonymously feed little dribs and drabs of quasi-demi-sorta- scandals which will get endless news time.

NGO's and various pressure groups of gay, aborignal, immigrant, religious nature etc....will get lots of time to say, every night, how bad the Conservatives are, well sorta, if you compare them to heaven (tm).

It's going to be hell.

Then just when you want to scream, another election with NEW! Shiney! Improved! Now Scandal FREE! Liberals will occur. In TIME TO SAVE CANADA!

If you can't win an election majority when your opposition has no platform, has corruption scandals so large they occlude the sun, and they run a tone deaf and incompetent campaign riven by internal fighting...

You can't win.

Good luck anyway!

As an Albertan I'm very pleased that the Conservatives won, I'm somewhat upset at the numbers. I believe it will be difficult for Steven Harper to move forward with his agenda of good old "common sense". I can only hope that in the short term he will push ahead with his top 5 proposals and show those idiots in Vancouver, Toronto and the Maritimes that common sense is a good thing. I was watching Canada AM this morning and Jeff was in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia asking people what they thought of the results. I couldn't believe that bunch of whiners, going on about being a have not province and Steven Harper doesn't like them...etc...etc...some idiotic woman was saying that they had already closed 15 daycare centers! My God, people of Canada pull your head out of your ass and start to pay attention!!! No wonder the Liberals are allowed to get away with the things they do. I tend to give people to much credit that they pay attention to the world around them, I guess not and I find that very disappointing. Electing Belinda Stronach speaks loudly of the mind set in Ontario......it remains true, probably now more than ever, that you're known by the company you keep. Those that voted Liberal will hopefully someday look in the mirror and see what is really looking back, someone who condones dishonest, selfish, lying, self serving politicians. If that truth ever dawns upon the great unwashed in this country then we might get somewhere. I will try and remain optimitsic that in the end the Conservatives will end up with a majority and get this country back on track

Looking for work?

http://www.recruitingsite.com/csbsites/oag/en/careers.asp

Southern Ontario didn't do Liberal - the GTA did. Let's not perpetrate the fiction any longer.

With the exception of Kingston, the nearest Grit riding to me would take more than 2 hours to get to.

I live in a cluster of 4 ridings that were Tory holds - all exceeding 50% of the vote.

Ontario is not a monolith, and the future of Conservatism depends on noticing these differences, and building on what is a stronger base than anyone realizes.

Paul Martin WAS a maggot feeding on the fears of the Canadian voters..
This was SUPPOSED to be an election based on ideas...

So much for Martin showing integrity...

Paul Martin ... You have been a boil on our backside...

And YOU HAVE BEEN LANCED!

Is it me, or does the sun look brighter this morning?

;-)

A note regarding native voting to add to your comments kate. I know that the local reservation band coucils pay band members to vote. And they ain't voting Conservative.

Over 100% turnout, campaign literature at polling booths, threats to voters ... ?

Is this Canada or post-Soviet Ukraine?

To jhuck:
The best I could find relative to what you are looking for election results is here:
http://www.canada.com/national/features/decisioncanada/data/elxn_update.html
Hope this helps.

There is enough corruption and scandal in the Liberal party to bury them for a long time. So why are they still very much alive and kicking.

Forget the obvious popular reasons and focus on the 'nut'. Conservatism is a dying ideology that propagates bovinity. Like cattle, conservatives follow each other around in a kind of circular logic.

Liberalism free of corruption is the future and the good people of Canada know it.

No worries NL, anytime! Glad to see you took the time, and made the effort to learn, digest, and form your own beliefs and opinions.
I think this minority scenario is a good thing. In reality, in the beginning all many of us hoped for was a chance, a chance to show the scared huddled masses what the grassroots has been trying to tell them for yrs.... that change IS possible, that not ALL politicians are crooks, and that there is hope... if only someone could walk thru the liberal minefield of subterfuge,misinformation,spin,fearmongering etc.
Had a tear in my eye last night during Ha... PM Harper's speech, when he said "... the west is in!" I'm sure back east eyes snapped open, and drinks were spewed! LMFARO oh the image!The long time members have come a long way since the Reform days. Working and keeping the faith. I think a big thanks is in order to Peter McKay as well for doing what he did, breaking the strangle-hold on the old Tory party. Without the strategy of these 2, we'd not be enjoying a new era for our country. Once again I can stand and proudly say "I AM CANADIAN!"

Canada Auditor General Expanding Investigative Staff - New Jobs Posted on Election Day!

Lost Budgie

The voter's have spoken, let's now start the road to a stronger government, you must remember that years of liberal deceit had created an uncertainy with the voter as to our PM's reputation, win at all cost is there motto. We have embarked on a new path to build a strong Canada & many a new PM has started this way. Let's show Canadian's that he is strong & proud, ready to lead us even further & will win the trust of Canadian's. Lets not be critical as to who won & loss, we are not like the smug party that we finaly removed from office, we are better than that. As Prime Minister Harper said now let's get on with the task ahead cleaning up government & building a strong Canada.

Our new government is an answer to prayer and many of us are thankful. Two areas we can expect improvement for sure are in foreign affairs, especially our relationship with the US, and in the Supreme Court, and why not pray for some more vacancies on said court. "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked bear rule, the people mourn."

With all this shit going on it's starting to look like a 3rd world election. I mean...what the phuck is going on between the LIEBRALS and the NDIPS....there has to be some accountability for thses things.....geesshhhh.

t is interesting that the Liberals dominate in Toronto and do well in Vancouver--43.7 and 37.5 percent foreign-born population (2001 census, even higher now).
http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/analytic/companion/etoimm/tables/subprovs/fbpro.cfm

Monteal is a special case.

What is interesting is the situation in the next three largest metropolitan areas, all close to a population of one million: Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. The Liberal won only two seats in Ottawa, in the urban core (the NDP won the other core seat); the Conservatives won all the suburban ridings. In Calgary and Edmonton the Conservatives won all the seats. They also won four of six in Quebec City.

Surely this is an urban triumph for the Tories, but I do not think one will find any such description of the result in the media. One wonders why.

Another interesting fact: the foreign-born population of these three cities is, respectively, 17.7, 20.9, and 17.8 percent (curiously the percentage for Canada as a whole is 18.4--almost the same).

So the urban areas where the Liberals predominate are those where the foreign-born population is twice, or well over twice, the national average. Exceptionally atypical places. And Toronto and Vancouver (plus Montreal) will become only more atypical since some three-quarters of all immigrants settle in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.
http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/analytic/companion/etoimm/canada.cfm#three_largest_urban_centres

So in fact there are three Canadas: Toronto and Vanouver, cities vastly different in their ethnic makeup from the rest of the Rest of Canada: the (anglo) Rest of Canada, and Quebec.

This ever-increasing diifference within RoC between the two great metropolises and all its other parts cannot be a Good Thing. Amongst other things the national media in Toronto (John Ibbitson of the Globe is the supreme exemplar) are simply unaware that they live in a very odd city that has ever less in common with the country as a whole--a situation that severely distorts media attitudes and coverage.

In addition, our immigration policy promotes family re-unification of the broadest possible sort. This means multitudes more of people ill-suited on the whole to add productively to the economy (let's face it, many end up on welfare) joining their relatives in the metros each year. This will only exacerbate the division of the country and I doubt the Conservatives will have the courage in a minority parliament to do anything about it.

Mark
Ottawa

My predictions for the near future-

First, the Liberals are desperately broke... that's not fiction, it's fact. They are going to need a minimum of 2 years to rebuild their coffers to fight another election.

Second, they need to pick a new leader, and thats going to take at least 6 months to get to. Even after thats done, the new leader is going to need a minimum of 12 months to consolidate his position in what can only be called a divided party.

Third, the first dumb bunny party to set off an election before mid 2007 will be absolutely crucified by the voters... that is across the spectrum and applies to all parties equally.

I think you should anticipate several things happening in the near future.

First, you'll see the accountability act slammed through. Harper wants a quick victory and that is the easiest one to grab. That package will most definately include fixed elections dates. This of course excludes a non-confidence vote.

Second, he's going to have to table a budget, and this is going to be tricker... I'm not even going to guess at this one, other than to say it's probably going to be good news for Canadians, as he's going to have to comprimise... If I had to guess, I'd say we'll see the child tax credit, GST, and to be warm and fuzzy to the Liberals, he'll have to keep the personal exemption increase.

Third, he'll begin the process of revamping the equalization formula, especially in light of his commitments to the french.

I suspect that somewhere in there, sooner than later so as to take advantage of the Liberals weakness as they reorganize, he'll trash the gun registry and implement some sort of new justice platform, in conjunction with the NDP, and the Liberals will support it.

He'll do all this very quickly as well, because he's only going to get maybe 12 months free ride from the Liberals, and then they will begin to show strength as an opposition again.

That's my forecast... bets anyone? I hit every major city once a year, and I put a time limit on this of June 2007, which is when I expect Harper to fall. Unfortunately, he will have fixed election dates, so it will be the Libs who do the non-confidence thing, but if it happens before June of 2007, I'll buy the beers... unless your like Kate, and live in the middle of the desert, in which case you'll have to come to Saskatoon to collect.

email is themacdonells@shaw.ca, if your taking the bet, email me.

Tom:I do hope Mr. Harper cleans house, but he'll have to tread lightly, Liberals are thin skinned and squeak a lot.

LMAO!! good one Tom! *2 thumbs*

I'm a Conservative...Moooooooooooooo.
At least my shit comes out of my ass, not my mouth, as it tends to with lieberals.

Just heard on John Gormley (CJME Regina) that there are some alleged irregularities in the northern riding of Desneth-Missinippi-Churchill River which the Liberals pulled out of the fire
after trailing by 200 votes with ONE POLL left to count!!
Seems there was 100% or higher turnout on some of the reservations in the riding!!!
Hmm....Liberals at it again???...Stay tuned.

at it again indeed! Heard from both sides of the native vote. They are as divided as anyone else is. All depends on which side is talking as to the fear-factor. Wonder how many other ridings slipped by the controllers. Hmmmm...
Thanks for the update Kate. How's the head... should we tread softly as well? ;)

Dr.Wright

My apologise's. I stand corrected. I forgot about the Chuchill riding. I used to live and work in Thompson and like 13 years of Liberal domination, those are also bad memmories.

As to the ballot count in some northern communities, with over 100% turn out, now, thats "SCARY". Be interesting to see what comes of that.

Polarized country? Nah.

http://www.elections.ca/enr/help/map_39ge.pdf

Question, Why does a conservative like a bovine have 3 stomachs?

Answer, It takes that many to digest party ideology.

I hope PMSH has strings on his mittens. It gets awfully cold in Ottawa.

As I wrote over on Reg's excellent blog regarding the fear To. seems to have for Harper:
I know you're not supposed to respond directly to your critics, but I wonder if an NDP "quest-in-jest" style online campaign might have worked: "Find the hidden agenda... If you can find anywhere in our campaign literature, website, or platform where it says we will ban gay marriage and/or abortion, you win a free...."

I guess I can only speak for my riding (West Van), but the real reason the Libs grabbed a couple seats from the Tories is very bad candidate selection.

The Tories lost a seat held for a longtime by John Reynolds. Picking an anti-SSM, anti-abortion candidate in this affluent but liberal riding was pure idiocy.

Plus the Lib candidate is a very popular, well-known local guy, very pro-business but moderate on social issues. I would have voted for him if he wasn't running for the RED MAFIA$

I don't what anyone says, sometimes appointing a candidate is preferable to the stacking of nomination meetings by one-issue 'party members'.

EPW

Let there be no doubt that we have won. Not by as much as we wanted to, but we are in power. Think of it as a probationary period in a new job.
In the mean time we have the advantage of being able to go through the books and, more importantly, set the agenda. There is no need to get upset or panic. Just stick to the programme and all will be fine.
Don't forget we are the ONLY national party now. PEI is not a concern. It's like not having a seat in Halifax. Sure, you'd like a seat in Halifax, but failure to do so hardly heralds the arrival of the four horsemen.
We are now starting a new campaign; I expect this one will be at least 24 months long. I doubt the Liberals could fill their war chest in much less than that.
The Conservative message during this time will be unopposed (aside from the MSM, who will lack potency like the other arms of the Liberal party during the reconstruction). In this period I expect that many will change their tune. People will respond well to the core message of pride, self-reliance, and a strong country with real influence. Our repositioning on the international stage will be well received among the electorate. People think other countries should listen to Canada. A more powerful military, aggressive foreign policy, and personally strong PM will do the trick.
The next one is ours to lose. We have all the advantages one could reasonably expect (without stuffing ballot boxes).
Consider this a government of "national unity." We are in a transitional phase; if we stay the course the next election will see the completion of this process and a Tory majority.

Sure - he may not be on our side and he fights a bit dirty. However, one thing you can say about Martin is that he accepts his loss fairly and respects democracy.

JoeCalgary,

Spot on.

Well spoken Mr CJ!

anyone have any luck with Kate's request yet? None for me yet.

36%= 18 months.

I wonder how much that Artic Navy base is going to cost. It'll be Lord Stevie's Gun Registry Database.

And in 18 months, what do the neo-cons, once known as CRAP , run on, considering the gomery report will be very very old news...talk about fear mongering...

36%= 18 months.

So, the Conservatives defeat the Liberals in a severely tense five-week campaign and who does Saskatchewan NDP Premier Lorne Calvert speak about first in his first statements to his province?

He congratulates Jack Layton on his gains in the house and expresses his disappointment that his province did not elect one NDP candidate.

And we wonder why this province has become irrelevant in both Ottawa and in corporate and industrial circles.

Saskatchewan has all the resources and ability to be a second Alberta in Canada. Instead, Calvert would rather duplicate the economic policy of an island of seals located just north of the Arctic Circle. He's partisan and socialist to the end and cares less about us than he does about power. He's a freakin' idealogue that needs to be cut off at the knees with an annihilation in a possible 2007 Provincial Election.

Will that happen? Probably not. This labour union-ran Western outpost has no vision but the status-quo. I'm getting sick of it.

Frustrated in the Gap!

It speaks volumes about the tolerance of the left, when Jack Layton thanks PM for all his service to the country, loud cheers from the audience, same for thanking GD, boos rain from the rafters when he congratulates PM Harper. Fast forward to Calgary where the extreme right wing conservatives cheer as PM Harper thanks all the leaders for there work. Group hug.

Seen at a polling station in Saskatoon: The ballot box was covered by an old copy of Time magazine with a picture of G.W. Bush on the cover, caption questioning the Iraq war. Nice work elections canada.

I was pretty depressed when I went to bed last night, as no matter how well the CPC battle was waged, the liberal dragon still managed to lift its head. It's all but up on all fours, crawling about and wreaking havoc, today, or so I thought.

The Conservatives have come a long way since retaining only TWO seats in 1993, when they were crucified for their policies, leadership and arrogance. Why is it when we have the same formula only 13 years later, the People (specifically the GTA) cannot rouse themselves and do likewise to the liberals? Perhaps it's the increasing pressure of political correctness, insofar as you just can't debate the bigger issues without finding yourself marginalized and branded as a "homophobe", "racist", or "neo-con". Once, Canada had a society that tolerated opposing views and encouraged the debate of same; I'm not so sure this society still exists.

Today I'm a bit happier, glad to say. Yeah, we've not crashed through the system to make huge policy and social changes overnight, much to my disappointment. But Canadians, it seems, aren't quite ready for that. The smaller CPC victory IS the thin end of the wedge, however, and if properly used, many good things may precipitate out of it. My God: we've the first Conservative party in power in 13 years, and the first non-Quebec PM since, who, Diefenbaker, maybe? Even diehard CPC voters have to see this glass as being at least half-full.

I'd expect Harper to start working on the more challenging (but not MOST challenging) items of his agenda, so as to push things through without fear of a vote of nonconfidence.

It's important for him to be seen as keeping his promises and delivering legislation to help Canadians long before the next election call. Mandatory minimum sentences must be implemented to combat gun violence in Toronto, as well as the lowering of the age of adult sentencing to "youths". Of course, the GST reduction is a no-brainer and everyone of all political stripes will be happy to see it, and no - repeat, NO - party would be loony enough to veto it and trigger any vote of nonconfidence.

So onward we must go, one successful small step after another, towards the next election call. Success should encourage further success; it certainly does in the "real world".

Frankly, many people are in a flutter about a free vote on SSM; this could be done next month for all the objections it will cause. That won't topple the government, and if it's a no-go, it's off the board. Of course, the SSM debate must be placed in terms of priority: I'd expect this to surface at least after a year's time, as the CPC can't show their immediate priority in office is to debate this issue. That'd be a real blow to Harper's credibility.

There are soooo many Canadians who've never seen anything BUT a liberal government, who were likely frightened into voting grit at the 11th hour. The CPC need to work as hard as they can to show that Canadians can benefit from another form of government other than liberal, and that the "scary, hidden agenda" monikers were just liberal fear mongering, if not outright lies.

Yeah, I'm pretty disappointed that my fellow Ontarions decided to drink the red kool-aid late last night, but in this horse race, you take what you get & run with it. And to those in Alberta who are screaming for separation in response to the (albeit disheartening) Ontario vote: calm your asses down. In Stephen Harper's own words, "The West is IN". I agree you've received the shaft at the hands of the liberals, and are due plenty of respect. I have faith that our new PM will open the doors wider to you than you've ever seen these last 13 years, so... be patient a little longer. The CPC have come a huge way in the last 2 years, yes? Let's give them the chance to show what they're able to do.

Now it's up to the CPC to start delivering and acting as though they're under the microscope, because they most certainly are. And the more vocal right-wing elements better get hold of their collective mouth, because any hardline soundbytes will be quoted verbatim or replayed in the next election campaign... guaranteed.

TOPICAL THOUGHT: Should Harper & the CPC instruct Gomery/Fraser to revisit the Adscam inquiry & completely blow the lid off Earnscliffe and any other forbidden nooks and crannies? Discuss.

mhb23re
(email is above username at Google webmail service)

Well a day of mixed emotion. There is a breath of fresh air in the country. On the positive we will have a government with representation in every region of the country, 10 seats in Quebec, all the seats in Alberta. Other than that an entirely underwhelming show. I can't believe that anyone is really pleased with the result. With the Liberals in disarray, fighting amongst themselves, a completely ineffective campaign, mired in scandal, and the Conservatives barely manage to limp into the formation of a very weak government. The hope is that Harper has the opportunity to demonstrate to the Canadian people that he isn't really Scary Monster II. I believe that he really is a decent guy and that Canadians will be pleasantly surprised. Lets hope so.

Here is an idea for the minority Conservative government. Together with the Bloc, redistribute all the provincial consitutional powers back to the provinces, i.e. health, housing, child care, education, and all other social issues etc.. This could get rid of any need for the Bloc and would make the NDP irrelevant on a national level and we could get back to a two party system and eliminate this "minority" insanity. Besides, I think it would be great for Confederation.

We can kick out a provincial government if they do not meet the social needs at the provincial level. We do not need a federal policeman to make sure the provinces protect health care and child care.

Henry

What will determine how long this government will last will be how good of a PM Stephen Harper is. There are enough things that he promised to do that are popular, as well as some (generally) good ideas generated by the Liberals/NDP/Bloc that he should be able to get enough support to pass legislation.

Plan to resolve the fiscal imbalance over 4 years; add in an EI change to reduce the cost and increase the payout (we have a massive EI surplus) over 4 years; increase the minimum required income to pay tax over 4 years; and cut the GST. With all of these needing to be passed in the budget, you effectively make it so that you can not be defeated on a confidence vote for your entire term. No other issues are matters of confidence, thus you don't have to worry too much about gaining support.

Finally! We're in! Not only did they lose to Stephen Harper, but apparently Brian Mulroney as well. I wonder who's had the last laugh now? I'm sure Chretien ain't losing sleep over it either.

But seriously, the Liberals will have no option but to play nice for a while. They're in no condition to be dickheads, or reorganize the ratpack. Furthermore, even if they elect a new leader, the first person to try and go to the polls again, regardless of stripes, will be crucified. It's time for the accountability act. It's time for tax cuts. It's time to cut the GST. It's time for $1200/yr. It's time to cancel the gun registry. It's time to clean government. And it's time to let the Auditor General loose on the books. Oh boy, are they in for it.

Congrats, Prime Minister Harper!

Father da Souza did a nice hatchet job on Dithers in today's NP. I too, feel somewhat deflated by the numbers;but one thing that stood out throughout this disgusting election was that people constantly referred to the Libs/Tories platforms being indistinguishable. The Libs will look like fools if they suddenly recant on say crime; patient wait guarantees; the Bloc and NDP will go for the ethics package, and look for Broadbent to be the new Ethics Commissioner. Harper is no fool. And when he brings down his first budget, expect it to look a lot like the Libs' economic platform with a Tory touch. Masterful campaign, but talking to my mom in T.O. today, she said there is more disgust at how quickly Torontonians were to forget the boxing day shooting and elected the same bunch of rogues whose policies were responsible for Toronto's year from hell. And she USED to be a Liberal.

Kate, the Churchill River riding is the one I grew up in. My parents still live there, and it always seems to be a race-based vote. A large aboriginal population will vote Liberal. There is so much racial tension in that part of Saskatchewan, it is scary. Anyone who is not Aboriginal seems to get ignored by the politicians because obviously the numbers would skew to towards whomever the natives are supporting, if they can get their vote out.

I am so glad I live far far away from this mess, in B.C. I'm just sad that my parents are still there. As they are part of the "rest

I just filled out my card for automatic monthly political donations to the Conservative Party. We need to replenish our war chest ASAP as this will not only help in the next election but will prove a deterrent to the Liberals and offer us more clout in negotiations.

Anyways, to finish my thought: I doubt Merasty's "victory" in Churchill River will be overturned. Don't you know it's politically incorrect to challenge anything the natives do?

Well, looking at the poll-by-poll results from the last election:

http://www.elections.ca/scripts/OVR2004/23/4991.html

It would, I daresay, be rather suspicious for the Liberals to make up more than three hundred votes in a single poll. I assume it was at one of the Reservation polls.

That's the same way that the 2002 Senate Election was stolen from John Thune.

There's no way in hell that we should let this one go.

Is there any possibility we can persuade Toronto to separate from Canada and form their own city-state,ie Singapore, (only left wing)?
One bloody city has once again dictated the Government to all of Canada. Stephen Harper should have told Kevin Newman that he intended to open free abortion clinics, and SSM chapels all throughout Ontario, as soon as he was elected. Might have got him 4 or 5 seats in TO.
The Liberals will be back, big time, as soon as Desmarais and friends decide who they want to lead. The Party debt is small change to the Liberal backers. One blogger suggested driving a stake through the Liberals' heart while they're down. Good idea. They won't be down long. Mr.Harper, start an independant inquiry into Liberal crimes ASAP. Appoint a new RCMP commissioner, and Auditor General, and turn them loose with search warrants. Find a judge who isn't beholden to the Liberals, even if you have to go outside the Country. Root out the corruption now, or it'll be back to the same old BS. The Liberals have survived these voter aberrations before, and they'll be back in power all too soon if you don't finish them off now. Congratulations to Stephen Harper, you were the only PM candidate that showed any dignity.

it's a political cactus-ball for sure.

I disagree. Once Harper is in power, people will realize just how great a leader he will be.

What the heck are Liberals going to run on? No scary monster?? That means a TORY MAJORITY!

Check out the Victory Video at FD: Click Here

Dalton McGuinty is talking about the election. You know he's going the same way as Paul Martin...

Out on his A$$

"...Electing Belinda Stronach speaks loudly of the mind set in Ontario......it remains true, probably now more than ever, that you're known by the company you keep..."

Belinda's father gets boot from Wal-Mart
Jan 21, 2006
"...shaking hands with the public, introducing himself and encouraging people to vote for Ms Stronach. The Wal-Mart endeavour was short-lived, however, when a Wal-Mart official approached the auto parts magnate and told him he was not allowed to canvass in the store..."

http://tinyurl.com/9z6nj

Our take on lessons learned at The Wild Duck:

Quick Lessons Learned…from This Canadian Election

saskfishtales...
Hang in there.the winds of change are beginning to howl in Saskatchewan.Everyone is starting to be sick over the resource rich nature of the Province and the do-nothing NDP government that sits watching the world go by and issuing more welfare cheques.
It will be interesting to see if the Stephen Harper government drags their feet a little bit on equalization for Saskatchewan so as not to make Lorne Calvert a hero just in time for the next election.
Calvert won't have any success with scare tactics over health care and Crown Corps the way he did last election.
The NDP is going down in flames in 2007!!

EVEN IN DEFEAT, I BELIEVE THE LIBERALS CHEATED CAUSING THE CONSERVATIVES TO LOSE A SEAT IN SASKATCHEWAN

Liberals probably cheated in other ridings too and not just in Edmonton Centre where the margin was so great that Anne McLellan had to concede anyway, and you fair-minded conservative folk are too damn (sorry to say this and take it in the sense that it is meant) dumb as a post to see it.


And then of course, there's still...

www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/003425.html
www.canadafreepress.com/2006/cover012106.htm
www.lostbudgie.blogspot.com/2006/01/canada-election-day-stay-vigilant.html
www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=med&document=jan2206&dir=pre&lang=e&textonly=false
www.conservative.ca/EN/1091/40086
www.andrewcoyne.com/2006/01/please-stand-by.php#comments

Hey everybody there's a terrific article on our new first lady at the Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20060124/HARPERFAM24/National/Idx

She sounds like a swell gal and reminds me of my own dear wife, so naturally I am stuck on her already. And there's something about her you probably already know Kate, but I thought I would add it here anyway: ""I can drive anything" -- and she can too, tractor, truck, and her beloved motorcycle. She likes the escape: On the bike, she's not a wife, mom, politician-by-proxy or anything but herself." You have a fellow compatriot at 24 Sussex, Kate.

Phone call from the phoney to GG Jean. Phone call!

Such tact, diplomacy, such 'couth from a loser: Paul Martin, Jr.

Make sure the silverware is counted before Loser leaves 24 Sussex Drive, Ottawa. Oh, & call the fumigators in ASAP after AdScam leaves for good. >>>

Martin phones Governor General to resign
Last Updated Tue, 24 Jan 2006 11:20:07 EST
CBC News

Prime Minister Paul Martin called Governor General Michaëlle Jean on Tuesday morning to tell her he would resign following his party's election loss on Monday. >>>> cbc.ca

We in Alberta will be very vocal with our MPs about not letting one god-damn dime go to Vancouver/Montreal/Toronto.
The hemp wearers can feed off themselves. Yes it's great for the change in government, but those specific areas have shown their contempt for all that is good in Canada, so they should be a heavy fiscal penalty for such actions.

In 1987 our new prime minister, speaking at the first convention of the Reform party said, "the 'progressive'conservatives and the liberals and the NDP are the three heads of the same monster"!! It is imperative that we do some things immediatley and get them behind us!

To help push one of these issues along as it pertains to freedom and property rights and comman sense I am calling for a...

One Million Guns… Salute

A reminder!!

“We are reluctant to admit that we owe our liberties to men of a type that today we hate and fear-unruly men, disturbers of the peace, men who resent and denounce what Whitman called ‘the insolence of elected persons’. In a word, free men.”

Gerald W Johnson (1890-1980)

Attention:

A call to all freedom loving Canadian farmers, ranchers, and sportsmen, big game hunters and gopher shooters. To all duck and goose hunting enthusiasts. To all collectors and target range shooters.

We are calling for a one million gun salute; from coast to coast to demand the immediate rescinding of the offensive long barrel gun registry.

From coast to coast let freedom ring with the sound of liberty from your 12 gauge, 22, or high-powered rifle.

In a safe and responsible manner let the sound and echo of gun fire reverberate through out the hills, plains and forests of our home and native land as the clock strikes noon, central standard time on Saturday the 28th day of January!!

A return to sanity, honesty and reality must be duly noted…lets remind our government, who brought them to the dance.

Let your powder burn!

Not a hunter…doesn’t matter, Post this, print this, copy and paste this,e-mail or fax this…to everyone! If you love freedom!

Meanwhle . . . Ontario as a whole continues to hollow out its unionized manufacturing base. Buzz and his ilk are killing the industry. Ontario has enormous energy problems - Ontario Hydro is so far in debt that even Ontario might be introuble to pay up and Ontario will likely have to go cap in hand to Ottawa for $$ help. The Centre of the Universe (COTU) aka Toronto slps further into a delusion state of importance and marginalize their ability to influence the CBC. They wil be devasted when CBC World HQ is "reorgainized" by the Tories.

meanwhile, oil is going to $100/barrel, the west gets stronger, richer and more critical to North American security.

The country is going through a 10 - 20 year seismic shift to the right/west. Harper needs to get the Alberta and BC HoC seat shortage rectified

The pendulum that Trudeau pushed to the left is coming back through neutral on the way to moderate right.

Don't know what the Atlantic region is going to do but there is going to be less government largesse. If they stay voting with their pimp/drug dealer Liberals then they are in for a world of self inflicted hurt.

Things could be going faster, but the train has left the station and the direction and last stop are figured out.

I, too, was depressed about the narrow victory. But then I remembered that George Bush won the Presidency in 2000 with a lower popular vote than Al Gore. He was re-elected four years later.

The lesson?

A victory is a victory. It's what you do with it that counts.

You're all worrying about stupid things when we have electoral fraud on the horizon.

My own side embarrassess me.

OUR side has much naivete. Their side has much evil.

Whatever. It's a draw.

Right after the CPC gets the Ethiics package through parliament, they should immediately start on a clean air act. Obviously it is the smog that people in the three largest cities breathe that is causing a serious problems in their mental accuity. Just looking out at the bright, clear, sunny sky today in Edmonton and that we usually enjoy in the rest of the province must have something to do with with our political preferences.

Realistically, how many more seats can the CPC expect to pick up over what they now have? Maybe if the BQ collapsed and the CPC picked up those seats, things would be different. The hard liberal areas voted liberal even with the apparent corruption by their leaders. As has been pointed out, the Toronto and Vancouver central cores are atypically Canadian, that is to say, foreign occupied. I doubt little can be done to move them to the CPC column. The same goes for the North Country. That'll never be a shade of blue in my opinion. Modern Canadian political history has the Liberals in power with brief interludes by the Tories. Do you really expect this to change now? I don't think it will because there are too many Canadians that think the European economic and political model is the end all be all. For some reason they cannot look South and see anything good in the American model. It's sad really. I expect the CPC to not accomplish much because of having to bargain away too much of its agenda, a Liberal retaking in 2-5 years, a failure by the CPC to retake, followed by an Albertan separation not long thereafter.

The end of my post above should have been:

I expect the CPC to not accomplish much because of having to bargain away too much of its agenda. I would then expect a Liberal retaking in 2-5 years, a failure by the CPC to retake, followed by an Albertan separation not long thereafter.

Chris - I don't think CPC pols (not all of them, anyway) are naive about electoral fraud. E.g. Edmonton Centre - hard work by Laurie Hawn's people at rooting out bad addresses on the rolls + scrutineers at polling places + disgust with this government put him way over the top this year, with well over 3,500 votes ahead of Anne McLellan; however, just the first two elements probably would have won the election for him last time around. A lesson, hard won, not soon forgotten.

I totally agree with Henry -- I was watching Jack Layton gloat about how he held the balance of power and I thought, "whoa, there, laddie". First, Harper has definitely taken the sting out of working with the Bloc by showing he's a real force in Quebec, so working w/ the Bloc in the Parliament isn't cozying up to Separatists but being shrewd (and if the Liberals tried to run a campaign ad on that next time around, the Cons could put together a great anti-ad in 30 mins, beginning w/ Buzz Hargrove). 1) Fiscal imbalance 2) Whisk the healthcare/childcare/whatev questions out of the NDP's hands by devolving them to the provinces, which have ultimate responsibility for them anyway - maybe give them block grants to spend as they see fit, as the U.S. Congress gives the states, or something similar. I think the Bloc could go for that. Anyway, enjoy "Jack the kingmaker" stories now because they don't reflect the kind of strategic, prismatic thinking that this parliament is going to require.

You guys are so busy commiserating, your not looking at the real picture, the bigger picture if you will.

Listen, firstly the liberals are broke as hell... We, as in the Tories, still have money. I don’t mean a little money, I mean a lot of money. Remember that because I'll get back to it. The NDP are also broke, as are the Bloc. No party wants to hold an election any time soon, because the only ones who can afford it are the Tories.

Couple of things to remember... based on what I saw of the election, I'd guess the Tories have about 5 mil left in the bank. I have heard that the liberals are nursing a 34 million dollar deficit... I am not sure how much credibility I put in that number.

You can say what you like about Paul Martin, but he was a kick ass fund raiser, and I believe McKenna (my guess as next Lib leader) will be strong in that arena as well, but it will take the Lib’s time. If I had to guess I'd say the Lib’s are probably around 4 to 5 million in the hole... at the most 10 mil. They spend big on advertising, as is evidenced by the high quality of their commercials. (Just so you understand, I’ve made two commercials in my life of similar quality to the ones the liberals put out, and both cost upwards of a million dollars. That didn’t include airtime. The Tories ad’s, while effective in their own way, were seriously low budget. Mine were done in the states, and I did them there because it was cheaper than doing them here. I still had to pay union, but it wasn’t quite as high).

So that means a minimum of 18 months, probably more like a couple of years to be really ready to rock on the Liberal side. Until they approach the point where they have at least 10 mil for a campaign, they are going to play real nice with the Tories.

There is an aside to this, the Tories know the liberals are hurting cash wise, and so are the NDP and Bloc... this will give them a significant stick for the first year when it comes to budget time. They don't give a shit about going to the polls again as long as it is undeniable that they had nothing to do with forcing an election. Thanks to their Alberta base, they have access to money anytime they need it, as long as it's legit, and they are without question the best positioned to win another snap election.

I assure you, the first hint of resistance from the opposition is going to garner a quick reminder of this from the Tories. As long as they don't try anything to radical, they are going to get away with a lot.

Secondly, the Liberals are not going to pull the trigger until they are absolutely positive they can boot the Tories out of Ontario. There's no point otherwise, because they will still be suffering a credibility issue in Quebec, and they don’t stand a snowball’s hope of hell in Alberta or the rest of the prairies. BC will turn Tory blue if they see good results from Stephan, again a checkmate for the liberals.

Nope, short of a serious fuck-up by the Tories, this is going to be one of the most stable if not the most stable, minority in the history of the nation. Stephan will fuck himself on the fixed election date platform, so he can't engineer his own defeat.

The liberals are about to sit back, let the Tories have a couple of years of free reign, or relatively free reign, and in year 3 watch the burners go up as the Lib’s test the waters with their new leader.

The NDP are totally screwed in the process. I do mean totally. They are about to spend at least 2 years as the most useless party in the nation, and sitting right beside them will be the Bloc.

The liberal situation will allow Harper to almost completely disregard Layton. In fact, I think it will be almost embarrassing how ineffectual Jack is about to become, and anything that fucks Duceppe is a good thing.

Yep, I am very certain the Lib/s and Tories are about to become bosom buddies until at least 2008.

The question then becomes, “how fast can the Tories implement their plans”? I think they will move as fast as they are allowed given the bureaucrats, who will be dragging their feet somewhat. What I can tell you is that guys like Prentice, Solberg, Harper himself... these guys are not stupid.

Prentice is a good example when it comes to the gun registry. Jim is very techno savvy. His firm handled a suit for me and some friends against Bell about 5 years ago, and while I can't say I was happy with the outcome of the suit... through no fault of Jim's, I can tell you that he knew exactly what we talked about when we went into the mechanics of what we did. Additionally, he is very popular with the first nations and he believes very much in them, and their cause for quasi-independance.

Harper is a brass tacks kind of guy, and if you give him enough bureaucratic bullshit answers, he'll just say "fuck-you" and go find out himself. The man's mind is like a steel trap, and he never forgets anything.

That’s sort of why I'm excited. The party is riddled with seriously smart specialists, and the backgrounds are very diverse. I can tell you that none of them will be baffled with bureaucratic babble, and heads will roll fast if the institutional welfare recipients of Ottawa, otherwise known as “Government Employee’s”, get in their way.

They've been waiting too long to put up with crap.

The one place I can see true weakness is in the Healthcare side. They will have to rely a lot on professionals for advice in that arena, and that's what always screwed the Liberals. None of them really knew what the pro's were talking about and it resulted in fiasco’s like the gun registry.

Our people are smarter. That's the beauty of Alberta, people keep the KISS principle first and foremost in their minds. The more complex it is, the more likely they will garbage it. Saskatchewan has practicality coming out of its ass, and there is so many good people from the other provinces with seats in Ottawa, and knowledge.

I expect that Ontario is going to be both happy, and pissed, in the coming months.

That's okay by me, as long as we start fixing the real problems. Like the Unity issue. I'm sick of seeing bloc members get elected, and it's Chretiens and Trudeau's fault. Nope, time to have the hard conversations, and bury this bullshit for a couple of decades.

I don't think Harper will solve it all, but someone has to have the balls to try, and he's got zero to lose. Hell, 2 years ago he was a leader for the Alliance, and look where he is today.

I think the best thing about Stephen is that he's a beer drinking, hockey watching, I put my pants on one leg at a time, and I don't owe the elite, old money easterner's a god damn thing, kinda a guy.

That's got to be good for all of us.

What you should be more worried about is Harper getting used to power… that’ll suck eventually.

But for now, relax and enjoy the show, because it’s Harper’s ride for the next couple of years, all he has to do is keep a rein on the Cheryl Gallants of the world. He’s proven that he can do that, and I’m sure he will continue to go more and more main stream

PS… Oh, one other thing, fuck you Dumaris, you don't own this guy, Alberta does.

Electoral fraud is a another huge LIBERAL SCANDAL! (absolutely right, Chris): we can't let this go, we need to get to the bottum of it, for at least three (3) reasons: 1) we need to remind T.O. and the other Liberal voters that the Librano's will pervert democracy if it suits their ends; and 2) we need to help aboriginal Canadians (those that are not of the ruling class of Indian Act arisitocracy) to break free from the oppression and poverty that the system has them (and all of us, by extension) mired in; and 3) we need Mr Harrison back on our side in Ottawa.

Joe, good points. What this parliament is going to require is very strategic thinking, and an ability to see "prismatically", as it were.

Anyway, if I was Jack, I wouldn't exactly be making out a "List of Demands from Progressive Canadians" to put on PM Harper's desk in a week, is the main thing I'm saying.

heh heh. yep, a Liberal conspiracy... that makes TOTAL sense considering they got spanked everywhere else... but it worked in Desnethe - Missinippi - Churchill River... ;-)

Having some familiarity with this particular riding, Churchill River, I really do believe that there may have been some shade goings-on. After the 2004 election, the natives were totally outraged that a *gasp* Conservative got elected in that riding. They would do absolutely anything to keep that from happening again. It is north vs. south in that riding (in other words Natives on reserves vs. other folks). A lot of racial tension there; believe me, I know - I grew up there. I read the online newspapers from that area after the last election and there was a lot of anger coming from the native community at that time. This should be thoroughly investigated.

First, it's nice to live in a rat free province.
Second, the crack has appeared in the dyke. The Conservatives can now throw open the books. Daylight and the auditors can do the rest. This should be the end of the Liberal party, not only by exposing who took what, but more importantly by exposing the apparatus of corruption. The Conservatives can bust up the machine that feeds money and power to Liberals. That being done, the raison d'etre of the Liberal party ceases to exist.
Third, Jack Layton has visions of being a Tony Blair. To keep them on side, Stephen Harper should just offer to throw him another piece of the body Liberal to devour.
Fourth, Paul Martin's epitaph: "apres moi le deluge".
Fifth, to parody someone else's joke; Q: What do you call a Liberal in a suit and tie? A: The defendant.

Best comment from Fred....
"first blush on the results

Big City folks in Van & Toronto shut out of gevernment/cabinet and POWER. This is a good thing.

Federalism is alive in Quebec and the Bloc took some really good body blows.

Best of all the Tories can get their hands on the books, can investigate where the $9 billion in "Off Book Foundations" funding really went. And the missing $40 million. And the $2Billion gun registry scam. And on and on

WE HAVE THE BOOKS NOW :)"
Oh Yeah! Lets get those books opened and published!

Thanks Fred and BTW Ontario has already been nosing up to the federal trough over transfer payments. What do you think they want/need? Why money to cover Hydro debt fiasco!

Here's a question...

Where can I find a map of Canada showing the colours of the election results? I've been looking but the media seems to be relunctant to show most of Canada under Tory blue.
Posted by: jhuck at January 24, 2006 11:48 AM

Found this in the comments jhuck it is a colored map of the political landscape. Noo we don't need electoral reform and Proportional Representation.
http://www.elections.ca/enr/help/map_39ge.pdf

I couldn't believe that bunch of whiners, going on about being a have not province and Steven Harper doesn't like them...etc...etc...some idiotic woman was saying that they had already closed 15 daycare centers! My God, people of Canada pull your head out of your ass and start to pay attention!!!

Posted by: Ron Mullin at January 24, 2006 12:03 PM
Hey Ron in case you didn't know Newfoundland and Labrador contributes three times more per capita to the national GDP than any other province. It is only because of the claw backs of the Non-Renewable Resource Revenues that it hasn't prospered. That and DFO's complete and utter incompetance at protecting a renewable resource the fishery sold off to foreigners to benefit Quebec and Ontario's manufacturing industry.

The Feds have cut 32% of federal jobs in NL in the last few years.

NL doesn't have a Military base other than by name. Gander has 50 people and 5 Wing Goose only has a few hundred Canadian troops. Where as Alberta has 5 bases with a minimum of 5000 Canadian troops based there full time per base I'm guessing somewhere in the range of 15,000 Canadian troops. Edmonton, Cold LAke, Suffield, Calgary, Wainright.
Anyway ease up on NL they elected another CPC and increased overall the CPC vote at 1.75$ per vote.

On another note there is a great opportunity to accomplish some things in NL what with Premier Williams haing responses from all of the Party leaders to his list of issues affectin NL. Alot of the parties are on common ground with many of the issues so it shouldn't be to hard to get support if they don't want to seem hypocritical like Martin did with his renege on the Atlantic Accord promise. Read for yourself they are basically in agreeance on several of the key issues.
Also the 50/50 funding for the Trans Labrador Highway will go along way in promoting Quebec to the rest of Canada especially if the remaining 350 Km on the Quebec Lower North Shore were to be completed completing a circle for round trip tourism and uniting Quebec and NL with the rest of Canada.
Eventually a fixed link could be done across the 10 km Straite Jacket of Belle Isle finally uniting this country from sea to sea and in the process opening up Quebec to the rest of Canada to tourism and Aquaculture.

NL PREMIER Williams List of issues affectin NL
http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2006/exec/0103n01.pdf

Conservative Response
http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2006/exec/01harper.pdf
NDP
http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2006/exec/01layton.pdf
Liberal
http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2006/exec/01martin.pdf
http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2006/exec/01mclellan.pdf

Kate the campaign team of Liberal Candidate for St. John's East Paul Antle placed signs on Polling property. Elections Canada was notified several times about the signs and still nothing was done. I've included a post about it here:
http://uncommontruths.blogspot.com/2006/01/liberal-candidate-violates-canadas.html
Elections Canada not enforcing the Canada Election Act - and possibly selectively enforcing it? Sounds serious to me.

David Frum who is a former writer for George W. Bush was on CBC basically saying that GWB will be trying to resolve the softwood lumber in and around the March timeframe. He said that it's difficult to find anyone in the White House that can justify witholding this money from Canada.

I have a feeling that GWB is going to make this issue 'disappear' for our friend Stephen Harper.

It's amazing what a Conservative Government can do in a day... It might be wishful thinking, but it would be great if he could get this file moving in the first 90 days of office.

Kate WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN WITH THE RELOCATION VIDEO???????????????????? LETS GET IT OUT.

Ok you guys and gals, take a breather!!!
We have enjoyed all of your comments but we need to at least relish our victory for a bit before hitting the pavement!
This morning we woke to a beautiful balmy chinooky day in southern Saskatchewan. Life goes on and we have to carry on with life. We are self-employed on our own ranch in the middle of the prairies and we wouldn't trade it for anything!
The snow is melting and the mud is back, but our cows are happily grazing and basking in the warm sunshine. They are fat and healthy without a care in the world....we have so much to learn from the animal kingdom! They don't need much to make them happy, believe me! They are oblivious to BSE, they love their calves that they care for and fight off marauding coyotes looking for an easy meal, with their lives. You don't want to get between a newborn calf and its mother!
Anyway, you couldn't take the smile off my face today....we have a small spring water business in which we deliver our tasty water to die hard spring water drinkers in our community and today was bliss! It is so exciting to see the front pages of all the papers with the Tory victory. There is hope in the air and Stephen Harper is leading us. Someone pinch me please. It is still hard to believe! I relish all the good media for the Conservatives....this is only the beginning....hang on for the ride of your lives.
God bless Canada!
Theresa

There's a lot I could say, but ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a Conservative Canada. Man, that sounds weird saying it. Where's my blue maple leaf flag?

Ironic that the defining moment in this run may have been the shooting in Toronto on Boxing Day that made the rest of the country look for law and order . But when it came to the ballot box Toronto opted for the status quo.

the status quo at the intersection of Bay Street and Sussex Drive.

The "old eastern conservatives and the old eastern liberals" have dropped the ball.

With respect JoeCalgary I think you are only part right.

The Liberals, knowing the conservatives have complete access to the books of the country are going to be digging in for scandal of the week. That's right every week the Conservatives will be releasing more info, more allegations and more jabs at the liberals over any misspending they can find in the recent memories.

This will have two effects. Liberals will shorten the amount of time they will be willing to prop up the Conservatives. AND The Bloc and NDP will be much more willing to let the news come out proping up the conservatives. To a point. Roughly the same point the liberals are almost built back together.

Just before then you will see an enormous amount of posturing (a repeat of last spring and last fall) to hit an election before the liberals can challange either the bloc or the NDP.... or immediately after the Libs can challange the Torys (depending on whether the Libs or the NDP/Bloc come out on top of the posturing)

Fuck...I'm from Vanscoy. This hurts me.

It's a great day to be alive. I feel very hopeful, positive and energetic. I intend to communicate to our new MP's that we intend to have true democracy and patriotism for all Canadians, not just those who agree with the Liberals.

Hope everyone's ready for Mt. Everest. It'll be cold and brutal; but a real high if we make it.
Duceppe said during the english debate that the West wants in and Quebec wants out. He said it like he was sad for us, because Easterners and the Liberals just don't get it. It is ironic that they went to such lengths (dubious at best) to hold on to Quebec and shunned Westerners. It was quite profound for me. Hopefully by the time we're done Quebec will think twice. I sincerely hope that no other Canadain child ever grows up feeling unwelcome in their own Country.

I am especially thankful for the Quebecers who took that leap. Too bad more Canadians weren't more enterprising in spirit. Guess the same ol', same ol' is a lot safer. Anyways Alberta is booming there's room for more , even un-employed auto workers, just leave BUZZ behind thanks. You're welcome because we're confident you'll soon see the error of your ways. We know you've been under a bad spell and are about to wake up from a catatonic state. Life is good out here.

singlethreat; I just read your comments about softwood. That is great news. Hopefully it'll be a lesson to many that you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Martin totaly screwed up on U.S relations and trade disputes. The Liberals sat on their hands for years, did nothing, and said nothing even though they had ample opportunity. Then one day it suddenly became 'fashionable' to hate Bush and bash our neighbors to the South. Same thing they just did to us, and have been doing for years. When Bush was so inclined to do so, he quickly stepped up efforts to get the border open to our beef. Hopefully we can get off to a fresh start with each other, the US, and re-invent ourselves as Peace Keepers and good Global partners.

P.S. NDP'ers booing Harper was completely un-called for. I saw Layton's look and had the sense he was a bit ashamed, and so he should be. When raising kids, they often pick-up your bad habits and prejudices. Frankly disgusting and hypocritical for a party that is so proud of it's morals and who they represent. Even more bitter was that the Liberals were cheered. The values of Canadians are certainly questionable.

I have been a DRO many times in the last few years. DROs MUST write down all the names of people who vote and those people MUST produce ID if they do not have a voters card. A simple relational data base will be able to check the validiity of all voters in a riding in only a few days. Jeremy, if you do not know a good computer programer to hire , e-mail me, I know a man who writes his programs in several languages and can set up interactive, relational data bases in a heartbeat. You can e-mail me through Kate. I am not making this up. ALL close ridings should be investigated.

Lets fight for Jeremy. I don't want to let those Libs get away with this!

Do we need one more corrupt MP and one less good one? Look at all the good he did for the Metis Vet, we need Jeremy.

"...Thanks Fred and BTW Ontario has already been nosing up to the federal trough over transfer payments. What do you think they want/need? Why money to cover Hydro debt fiasco!..."

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited responsible for 12% of national debt
Jan 11, 2006
Subsidies to Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), the federal nuclear promotion agency, are responsible for 12% of today's federal government debt, according to a new study from Energy Probe. Since its inception in 1952, $74.9 billion of today's federal debt is attributable to subsidies provided to AECL.