Excellent editorial article from today's Edmonton Sun. Read what each of the party leaders say. One is an obvious capable leader in tumultuous times.
Also, for those of you who aren't sure what riding you're in or who the candidate's are the elections Canada website can narrow it down for you.
OTTAWA - You could call any general election an historic one but this time it’s really true.
The 42nd general election campaign that Prime Minister Stephen Harper launched under sunshine Sunday morning from the steps of Rideau Hall will be the longest in modern history — voting day is 11 weeks away on October 19 — and the most expensive in history — the bill could be well over $750 million when all is said and done.
And it’s bound to produce an historic result.
The incumbent could win his fourth election, a feat matched only by Pierre Trudeau, William Lyon Mackenzie King, Wilfrid Laurier and John A. Macdonald.
The official opposition could move across the floor of the House of Commons and on to the government benches, where Thomas Mulcair would form the first NDP government in the country’s history.
Or Justin Trudeau could return to the home he grew up in at 24 Sussex Drive and be the first son of any prime minister to follow his dad into the country’s highest office.
But back to the incumbent, for the heart of this election begins with a ballot question about Harper.
Does the country want more of him? Or does it want a change? Every voter will first have to answer that question before any other considerations.
Harper is already the sixth longest-serving prime minister in our history and second only to the Old Man himself, Macdonald, among conservative-minded leaders.
If he is the victor on October 19, he will slip by Jean Chretien’s mark this spring to be fifth all time.
Canada — and the world — is a very different place from the one that saw Harper first assume office on a cold, winter morning back in early 2006.
The Bloc Quebecois, for example, has pretty much disappeared along with 50 years of sniping between Ottawa and Quebec City over the national unity file. Harper can take some credit for that.
On his watch, Canada and the rest of the world were plunged into the worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression.
Harper tossed ideology overboard (much to the chagrin of some in his base) to do the right thing — run up a huge deficit to kickstart the economy — and Canada came out of recession faster than any G7 peer.
Now Canada faces new economic headwinds, caused mostly by a rapid drop in oil prices.
Harper and the other leaders will spend much of the campaign sparring over the right prescriptions, right now, for our ailing economy.
Meanwhile, there are many dangers in the world and Canadian forces are on the front lines, battling ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq, or providing training to Ukrainian forces who are resisting Russian aggression.
“This is an election about leadership on the big issues, the issues that affect us all: Our economy, and our nation’s security,” Harper told reporters gathered outside Rideau Hall. “It is an election about who will protect our economy, in a period of ongoing global instability, and secure Canada’s future prosperity. And it is an election about who is best-equipped to make the tough calls to keep our country safe.”
Harper was alone among the three leaders Monday to make foreign policy and national security a key pillar of his campaign and, though he did not mention his opponents by name, he took some veiled shots at them.
“Now is not the time for political correctness, inexperienced governance or an ideological unwillingness to act,” he said, a clear reference to the decision by both the NDP and Liberals to vote against the combat mission in Syria and Iraq and his government’s anti-terrorism measures.
“Now is the time to face those who threaten us with moral clarity, strength, and resolve,” Harper added.
The side of Harper’s campaign bus sells his campaign in just four words: “Safer Canada. Stronger Economy.”
That’s his ballot proposition and you’ll hear a lot about it in the next 11 weeks.
Mulcair started this election marathon from the very same spot that Jack Layton started the NDP engines in the 2011 campaign, on the banks of the Ottawa River, with the Parliament Buildings behind him.
“Harper has the worst job creation record of any prime minister since the Second World War,” Mulcair said as he listed a long litany of Harper’s perceived sins on everything from climate change to dealing with aboriginal issues.
Mulcair looked nervous and tentative. Perhaps polls showing him as the frontrunner right now explain that and his decision to refuse to take questions from reporters.
Trudeau, meanwhile was in Vancouver, happy, as he said, to be out of the Ottawa bubble.
“Canadians want change. Real change. And Stephen Harper’s plan has failed our country,” Trudeau told reporters before marching in that city’s Pride Parade. “This election is about people with bills to pay.”
His party begins this race in third place. The Liberals have lost seats and lost votes in every election since 2000.
Liberals believe they have a shot at government — and they do, even if it is a long shot — but Trudeau must, at the very least, reverse this decade of decline with some serious electoral gains.
And so we’re off. Be sure to pay attention because bad governments are elected by good citizens who don’t vote.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/2015/08/0...ll-want-harper
Does Canada still want Harper?
.....Oh yea... Obama said that and how did that work out!!!
The alternatives are frightening!
Linear Mode
