Ten Key Insights Into The 2015 Federal Election

(Wonkish)

10. A weaker NDP than polls depicted from the very beginning

Before and during the first half of the election campaign, nearly all opinion polls placed the NDP in first place across Canada. This was particularly deceiving given their huge advance in Quebec where they were polling between 43% and 52%. In reality they were much weaker in the other provinces and territories except for B.C. Even within many of the provinces, the overall provincial scores were misleading, with close battles in and around major cities and some rural ridings.

Should you vote strategically for LPC, NDP or CPC in your riding?

Anybody But Conservative strategic voting can be summed up as:

1.   If Cons have no chance of winning, vote for whomever you want

2.   If Cons are sure to win, vote for whomever you want

3.   If Cons are close to being beaten by only 1 party, vote for that party

4.   If in a 3-4 way race, decide & vote for who has best chance to defeat the Cons

The problem is mostly with points 1 & 4.

Major Strategic Mistakes May Still Lead To Lower Voter Turnout

A 70% greater voter turnout than in 2011 at advanced polls suggests that the downward trend could be reversed next Monday, encouraged by a competitive race and multiple get-out-the-vote drives. That however is no guarantee as the last election demonstrated. Additionally, there are some major developments working in the opposite direction and discouraging electors this time around – and apathy is not one of them.

Pourquoi octroyer la citoyenneté à un intégriste male alors?

Pourquoi le père, le mari, le frère, le fils ou l’autorité religieuse qui soutiendrait ou imposerait le port du voile intégral lors de la cérémonie d’assermentation pourrait obtenir sa citoyenneté canadienne, tandis que la mère, l’épouse, la fille ou la sœur qui le porte volontiers ou obligatoirement n’y aurait pas droit? 

Deux poids, deux mesures qui devraient nous inciter à ne pas exclure tous ceux et celles que nous jugeons mal-pensants, mais plutôt à voir comment les encourager à changer d'idées et de pratiques. Lire la suite...

Reply to A. Coyne: Spend All That Money, Mr. Trudeau? Why Yes & On That!

(Revised Sept. 3, 2015)

The Tuesday confirmation by Statistics Canada that the country was officially in a recession the first half of this year is not much offset by June’s growth rate of only 0.5% (0.1% non-annualized), when compared to America’s 3.7%. The electoral debate on the merits of the Liberal promise to stimulate the economy and incur deficits can certainly continue.

Débat Maclean’s Debate

Analyse du premier débat des chefs en 2015  (English will follow)

M. Justin Trudeau 

Quiconque croyait que M. Trudeau serait battu corps et âme lors des débats des chefs le connaissait peu ou pas. S’il y a une chose qu’il a démontrée amplement depuis qu’il est devenu chef des libéraux fédéraux, c’est de bien se préparer avant tout grand événement.

C’est à se demander pourquoi certains de ses discours et entrevues, telle que sa dernière parution à TLMEP en octobre dernier par exemple, n’étaient pas à la hauteur par le passé. Par manque de

Citations de M. Stephen Harper, leader du PCC

(Source : http://www.scandalpedia.ca/Bios/Stephen%20Harper_fr.html)

Au sujet du bilinguisme

« Après tout, le bilinguisme national et obligatoire n’est pas, dans ce pays, une simple politique. C’est devenu une religion, un dogme que nous sommes tous censés accepter sans discuter […] Ne vous y trompez pas. Le Canada n’est pas un pays bilingue.

Quotes by Mr. Stephen Harper, Leader of the CPC

(From: http://www.scandalpedia.ca/Bios/Stephen%20Harper_en.html)

On social programs

“These proposals included cries for billions of new money for social assistance in the name of “child poverty” and for more business subsidies in the name of “cultural identity”. In both cases I was sought out as a rare public figure to oppose such projects.” 

(Stephen Harper, The Bulldog, National Citizens Coalition, February 1997)