Interesting how each one of the parties call down the others and at the same time say how everything will be better when they get in.
What this means folks is the best mudslinger and best liars, will get in.
If the budget was balanced always, like the say, then why are we so many Billions in the hole? Cant these politicians add or subtract? No they cant. There in it for the greatness of thereselves, vote me in and it is all fixed. I don’t like our political system right now, Lies are commonplace. People believe anything their told.

Nice see young , fit people stepping up . The future belongs to the young . With a leader that can ace the Grouse Grid there will be no lack of energy in the new libs . We need hope not nope .

Liberals had my support, till I heard JT open his mouth about his tax ideas, and immigration stance. Liberals want to flood Canada with immigrants and refugees, make the corporations pay for it. Deters big business from setting up camp and employing the middle class, which JT is apparently trying to appeal to.

“Liberals want to flood Canada with immigrants and refugees…”

Exaggeration and fear mongering. Turkey is “flooded” with 4.1 million refugees, Lebanon is “flooded” with about one million, Jordan is “flooded” with more than a million…..

Canada’s taking in a couple of thousands of Syrian refugees so far with the promise (will it be kept?) of taking perhaps ten thousand more over the next two to three years can hardly be called “flooding”!

Will corporations have to pay for resettlement and integration into Canadian society? JT is going to hit big business with a refugee tax? That is newsworthy if it is true!

Mulcair wants to raise corporate taxes significantly! Wouldn’t that deter “big business from setting up camp and employing the middle class”?

@ 12:27 PM by onemansthoughts wrote: If the budget was balanced always, like the say, then why are we so many Billions in the hole?

It is too bad people have to comment about budgets when they have no clue about what a budget actually is, what surpluses and deficits are, what cyclical budgets are, what Keynisian economic theory is, what mainstream economics is, and so on.

I am a believer in cyclical budgets. We have seen that applied over the past century by Roosevelt in the depression years as well as by other governments at the time such as Canada. Running a budget deficit in lean times provided fiscal stimulus while budget surpluses provide restraint in boom times.

The Harper government has created a recession over the last two quarters. Unemployment is rising because we have been relying on a petro dollar and doing nothing to help our manufacturing sector. That sector is not gaining any ground even though the value of the C$ has dropped drastically in relation to the USA and that trade partner is recovering and is capable of importing more products from Canada, but Mexico is beating us to the punch big time.

That needs to be turned around, and it has been proven that by squirreling money away just for the sake of not increasing the debt, a turn-around is virtually impossible. This is a time to invest in our country and our people. The Harper Government has managed to shift the proportion of borrowed money from government to household borrowing of the citizens of this country. That needs to be turned around. The latter is very expensive borrowing, the interest going to the lending institutes who are making record profits.

We need someone smarter than that to run this country.

Two things that Justin Trudeau has said have given me a negative opinion of him. One is his support for bill C-51. The other is his naive analysis of the Syrian civil war. What he said is that Assad is evil and that therefore we should support the rebels. it is true that Assad is bad, but the rebels are composed of a whole bunch of groups. The Kurds are good guys and deserve independence. Some small rebel groups are democratic. Most of the rebels, however, are Islamists. They aren’t all as nasty as ISIL, but they’re still bad. What to do about Syria is a question on which reasonable people can differ, but Trudeau’s analysis was much too simplistic and failed to recognize that the Islamist groups are worse than the Assad regime.

From the photos it looks like the liberals have had the biddest turn out.

I like that they had a senior liberal at 91years young to be a part of it. Good on them for that.

Bill Poser….Why shouldn’t the Kurds have firm borders and a distinct nation ? What is everyone’s problem with the Kurds ?

Mulcair and Trudeau just do not get it. ISIS would love to get set up in USA and terrorize because the USA are enemy number one in the eyes of ISIS. Canada would make a convenient avenue to migrate to the States and spread their terror. Also our own nations security could be put in the balances as ISIS will try to enter under the guise of being a refugee. The Conservatives are doing the correct thing to be cautious and I and I’m sure thousands of others are grateful. Turkey, Lebanon or Jordan may be flooded willing or unwilling, nevertheless we as a country cannot be governed by what happens in other countries. We are what we are and have our own thinking on things.

billposer wrote: “Most of the rebels, however, are Islamists. They aren’t all as nasty as ISIL, but they’re still bad.”

Do you feel the same ways about Zionists as well?

How about the “religious right” in the USA, a movement which is increasingly active in politics?

We could circumnavigate the globe and find groups which have fundamental religious views virtually everywhere. The notion of “bad” is one which is external to those in the religious fundamental group. From the insiders’ points of view they are “good”.

The human beings who inhabit this earth have always had the approach of either working with them, exterminating them, becoming absorbed by them or ignoring them in the hopes that they will go away.

Fear is the easiest way to control people.

Harper is crushing our freedoms. It’s funny all you Conservatives talk about less government control, but you allow the Harper government to run rough shod over your freedoms with scare tactics. Even the conservative candidates are scared to talk in public forums.

He’s convinced you guys that all these immigrants and refugees have it out for you. You are governed by fear.

He has the worst record of any Prime Minister, continues to lie, has taken a huge surplus and turned it into a huge deficit. He’s cut funding to health care, seniors and veterans.

But all he has to say is I will protect you from terror and you all jump on his band wagon with your pitch forks.

I feel bad for our area with all the support we throw behind MP’S that have done nothing to make our region more prosperous.

Our government is supposed to work for us. Vote for the best candidate.

Not your favourite team,

Dave. Most of what you say is drivel. Conservatives candidates are not afraid to talk in any forum they choose,. However they may chose to not participate in forums that are preset and basically managed by the left leaning media, or Liberal NDP organizations. Why should Conservative candidates go to these forums just to give the opposition parties an opportunity to slag them. Don’t be foolish. If they want to slag people, they can slag each other.

The Conservative candidates will be at those forums that are basically set up by a well rounded representative group that represents all the people in the ridings.

As for cutting funding etc; He was elected with a majority Government and part of his mandate is to cut excessive costs. I suspect you don’t have any specifics when you talk about what Harper has cut, nor do you have any specifics on how much many he has saved people through the reduction in the HST fro 7% to 5% and other programs over the years.

Keep in mind, its not the Conservative voters that are constantly bitching about Harper, its the people who have never voted for him, and never will. The 91 1/2 year old Liberal is a good example of that.

Have a nice day.

Cheetos wrote: “We are what we are and have our own thinking on things.”

The USA thought that way too …… until September 11, 2001. Actually before that, but they did not take the warning seriously.

The tactics of the underground resistance during WWII has spread to something we now call “terrorism”. While the underground resistance during WWII was rooted in politics and national interests, the resistance and terrorism in Palestine post WWII was based in Zionism – the melding of religion with politics.

The increase in communication capacity and the thirst of the media to feed its many specialty news channels has allowed the fundamentalists’ messages to be spread faster and wider than ever before. At the same time armament technology has increased the capacity of doing harm by such religious fundamentalists.

The colonization of Africa has not worked. The war on drugs has not worked. The war on dictators has not worked. So far, the war on terrorism has not worked.

Until there is a better understanding why we are failing to live in peace with each other which should result in a major change in our approach, we will not achieve success.

The grand opening of the Liberal campaign office is representative of two huge ridings. I suspect they had less than 100 people in attendance, which would mean approx. 50 people per candidate. When you take out party workers, friends and relatives. You have very little left to get the job done.

I was surprised by the 91 year old gal. I thought everyone with blue hair, or no hair were Harper supporters.

Have a nice day.

Yes we are living in a more dangerous world. Mulcair and Trudeau just don’t see it, but the average Canadian does. Mulcair if elected wants to turn and run from trying to destroy the advancement of ISIS, Trudeau wants to knit them socks and sweaters, ya you know try to be their friend. Yikes!

“The colonization of Africa has not worked. The war on drugs has not worked. The war on dictators has not worked. So far, the war on terrorism has not worked.”

Exactly! Wars suck. Anybody who still promotes our involvement in foreign war should get his brains examined! We have a right to defend our borders with military might, but that is where it ends.

Stop squandering our resources and lives on affairs which are half ways around the world and none of our business.

Palopu wrote: “However they may chose to not participate in forums that are preset and basically managed by the left leaning media, or Liberal NDP organizations”.

An interesting notion which is put forward by the Conservative party “handlers”. They think everyone is actually managed. In fact, in normal circles that would be called a conspiracy. All those forums are conspiracies against the Conservatives. “Poor me, poor me.”

If they are, then it is only the Conservatives that have themselves to blame for the past performance. It has been the norm that normally those who do not perform well get kicked out, and those who show the best promise are put in charge.

Anyone who actually believes there is such a conspiracy is not aware that this country has citizens who are free to think what they wish to think. That is the environment in which politicians find themselves. That is the life they chose for themselves. Any politician who is not able to stand in front of a crowd that thinks differently than they do is not worthy of being a politician and is not worthy of one single swing vote.

Remember, the MP of the local riding is there to represent EVERYONE in that riding, not just those who voted for that individual. In order to do that well, they should do it in an unbiased fashion, even if it may go against the ideology of their particular party. The ability to listen and the ability to advocate for the members and institutions of the riding are the key attributes of an MP.

By not showing up at a protest rally, if that is what they think it is, they are not displaying those attributes and fail the qualification test of the job of a Canadian MP. Why citizens and especially why some candidates and some party leaders do not understand that fundamental notion of our system of government is beyond me.

Palopu,

The shared Conservative campaign opening had maybe 30/people there according to reports. So with your logic there is no one left to get the job done.

Your style of politics that is about bieng negative, bullying people and personal attacks is a dying breed. People are sick of it.

Most of Canada is turning away from Harper and his politics of fear. We can only hope people in our area will too.

Vote for the strongest candidate

Give it up gopg2015. The forums I am talking about are set up by left leaning organizations, and the topics are predetermined by these organizations. 90 percent of the people who are in attendance are card carrying Ndp’ers, or left leaning Liberals. Why would a Conservative group go to such a dog and pony show.

Do not try to dictate who, how, or why someone should attend a function. If I or any other candidate wishes not to participate in a phony forum, then that’s it. If the forum is set up by the local TV, Radio, stations, news papers, along with organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, and if its moderated by a person who is not obviously biased, then that’s a different kettle of fish.

These forums over the years have become nothing but a waste of time, and are attended primarily by members of the different parties, and not by the general public, and in fact serve no useful purpose.

I would much rather see the candidates hold a public meeting at their expense inviting the public to attend and have them make a speech outlining their platform, and what they plan to do for the riding if elected. Each candidate could have their individual meetings, and we could ask them questions after their speech.

This type of meeting would give the voters a chance to deal directly with the candidates.

If no one shows up at a candidate’s meeting then perhaps he should reevaluate his career path.

PG – “We have a right to defend our borders with military might, but that is where it ends.”

If ISIS is on your boarders, it’s too late. Very often a good offense is a good defense. Your logic PrinceGeorge is illogical,,sorry.

DI she’s a happy person . Stevie attracts all the fat , bald , angry ,old , white guys . You know ,birds of a feather . The guys that want the fifties back . When father knew best and the women knew their place .

IF the libs get in and actually impose what they plan on changing, I can guarantee you that good ol us of a will build a wall so high a terrorist wont be able to scale it.

Palopu wrote: “The grand opening of the Liberal campaign office is representative of two huge ridings. I suspect they had less than 100 people in attendance, which would mean approx. 50 people per candidate.”
The people that were there at the time of the ribbon cutting can be counted in the second picture. I count about 6 dozen. That was in a small slice of time of about 10 minutes from the looks of it. The campaign office was open for 2 hours, so we do not have a count of the entire time.

From the September 10th opening of Trent Derick’s office I can count about two dozen individuals in the picture. That is for one riding only. Also a slice in time at the ribbon cutting. So, about half the number per riding than the Liberals.
250news.com/2015/09/10/cariboo-prince-george-ndp-candidate-opens-campaign-headquarters

From August 12th Conservative Party (two ridings) opening the article stated “Dozens of party faithful were on hand for the opening of the Conservative campaign office in Prince George today.” So let’s call it a couple of dozen per riding for good measure.
250news.com/2015/08/12/conservatives-open-campaign-office

Palopu then goes on to write: “When you take out party workers, friends and relatives. You have very little left to get the job done.” Given that such would be the case with any candidate, that is kind of a non-informative statement to make. Of course that would be the crowd at the opening of ANY party’s campaign office.

Dawn falls over Marblehead.

Palopu wrote: “If I or any other candidate wishes not to participate in a phony forum, then that’s it.”

I did not realize you were a candidate. Are you a candidate.

I have every right in this country to post what I think are the attributes of an MP who supports best practices and expected practices for the position. Since one candidate will be selected for each riding, and we do not know who that will be, I expect every candidate to display those attributes.

BTW, those groups that you speak of are called “special interest groups” and they have rights as well and they should be listened to.

You are trying to hide the fact that Harper is continuing to display his dictator-like qualities.

If it quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, it is a duck.

Please refrain from telling others what to do. You are hurting your image. ….. then maybe you are just reinforcing your image.

Hey ice . Roses are red , violets are blue , if you don’t vote for me , the terrorists will get you . By Stevie . Is Scott walker your friend ? He’s the wall guy . I guess he’ll build a floating wall across the Great Lakes . I really , really hope you are being sarcastic . Can you really be that stupid ? True blue eh ?

When Harper and the rest of the bleeding hearts open the Syrian refugee floodgates into Canada, are the refugees going to line up beside all our own homeless people or are they moving to the front of the line and getting a roof over their heads and free meals?

nytimes.com/2015/09/11/world/middleeast/obama-directs-administration-to-accept-10000-syrian-refugees.html?_r=0

Ice > You obviously do not read the news.

Obama increases Syrian refugees for US resettlement to 10,000

At that rate Harper will have to build the wall.

BTW, when it comes to building walls, the USA is also failing miserably when one looks at the US/Mexican border. In 2012 it was estimated to be about 140,000 illegals.

The net number is dropping because many have been returning to Mexico since the economy there is growing while the US has not been up to recently. Those Mexican illegals are being replaced by illegal arrivals from Central America.

Palopu states that a forum put on by the Chamber of Commerce is worthy of attending because it is not biased. Give me a break. Their forums are slanted right. No different from attending one put on by the “lefties”.

Palopu wrote: “If no one shows up at a candidate’s meeting then perhaps he should reevaluate his career path.”

Have you ever considered that there are those people who vote for a party and they have voted for that party all their lives. They can read much more quickly than to go through a bunch of questions that are considered nonsense to that individual.

They can read right wing papers and left wing papers and they can do the same with video commentators and reading political blogs that have people who can debate to a high quality level involved.

It is a waste of time to go to a candidates meeting or to a public forum. For such an individual it is a waste of time to go to a meeting or forum, yet the candidate holding that meeting will get a vote.

If you do not believe what I am saying, look at the number of votes that candidates get compared to the number who of people who attend meetings and/or forums. Easily less than 1%.
.

BTW, when it comes to wall building and keeping the number of people who cross the border illegally, I think we would have to give both the old East Germany and North Korea recognition for a job well done.

That first sentence should be altered to read in part ” …. keeping the number of people who cross the border illegally low …..”
:-(

I have to agree gopg , sort of . Except candidate meetings and public forums should be avalible online . Face to face and online interface are and should be the new norm . The finacial world has been doing it for years . Why has democracy not caught up yet ? Or should I say at such an anmeaic rate .

I personally find All Candidates Meetings valuable. Especially the ones where the candidates take questions from the audience. It shows me who can be articulate and who has the facts to answer the questions. I have been asking the candidates in Cariboo-Prince George who is going to attend those meetings. So far, Trent Derrick and Sheldon Clare have said that they will strive to attend them all, not only the ones put on by groups whose agendas are perhaps the same as theirs. Todd Doherty says that he is not attending some, the ones put on by the Stand Up for The North in particular. Perhaps it is the gag order that I hear Mr. Harper put in place for conservative party candidates. I will report back when I can contact the Liberal, Green and Christian Heritage candidates.

Hi HAS et al – I was just spinning through the comments and thought I’d let you know that I’ve RSVP’ed to all four in town “all candidates” as a YES and the one in Quesnel too. I understand that Williams Lake and Vanderhoof are also working on setting up forums and just haven’t chosen dates yet. I think that the “all candidates” are important places for people to get a sense of what their options are and to ask questions of all of us who are running. If you want to catch me outside of one of those meetings you can swing by the campaign office at 3rd and Quebec, or email me at tracy@electtracy.ca

Hi HAS et al – I was just spinning through the comments and thought I’d let you know that I’ve RSVP’ed to all four in town “all candidates” as a YES and the one in Quesnel too. I understand that Williams Lake and Vanderhoof are also working on setting up forums and just haven’t chosen dates yet. I think that the “all candidates” are important places for people to get a sense of what their options are and to ask questions of all of us who are running. If you want to catch me outside of one of those meetings you can swing by the campaign office at 3rd and Quebec.

I’m sure you have all heard the saying, keep quiet and have people believe you are a fool, open your mouth and prove it !
That is what Harper and his candidates subscribe to in this election!
Harper has gagged himself and his candidates and insured that they speak only in front of carefully selected groups of supporters and only from pre- approved texts.
You won’t see Harper or any of his candidates participating in any forum where they cannot control the script.

Looking at the parties platforms or lack there of for the Cons.

Looking at our candidates resumes, and listening to their interviews on the radio, or lack there of for Todd.

As of now I will be voting for Tracy Calogheros.

I like that she is not scripted or reading from notes. We need real people in Ottawa not Harper pupets.

Still a long time till election day but if I was to vote today it would be for Tracy Calogheros.