I could not agree more Ben!
I am sick and tired of wannabe politicians who speak the party line and have to clear everything with the party leaders!
Can they not think and speak for themselves?
They come across like robots!
To me,that format is nothing more than manipulation of the voters!

It seems like we have a electoral system that is where the leaders have laid out the party line and those running are afraid to cross any lines. I would be nice to see politics change so that we would see new ideas on the campaign trail. cooperation between parties and people willing to admit that their party is not infallible. It would be an indicator that candidates are listening to the electorate.

Unfortunately we seem to hear rehashed policy and fear of deviation. Imagine if a liberal said they didn't agree with the BCR sale or an NDP er say they liked the carbon tax and not the green bonds for once! Chances are they would be reprimanded and lose the chance of holding a cabinet post. Where did free speech go?

Steven Harper has his followers by the gonads too- don't hear much original talking at that level... In fact we don'thear anything from Dick Harris or Jay Hill unless its an election it seems. Where does Dick Live?

"To me,that format is nothing more than manipulation of the voters!"

Voters are smarter than that! You are. I am. It does contribute to voter apathy though.

Even the leaders don't dare to show their human side anymore. Dare make a joke while bantering and having a teasing conversation with someone on the campaign trail!

Everything needs to be staged and manicured, complete with toothy smiles and baby hugging!

The media are ready to jump on anything like a pack of wolves - that's how they make a living.

Actually diplomat,while I agree with you to a point,you would be suprised how many voters are NOT smarter than that.
I am always amazed at how many poeple believe everything that come out of a polticians mouth!
Granted,they have to keep their constituents happy,but they also spend a lot of time doing what is good for the leader and the party.
That is self-serving, and not exactly always beneficial to the voters!
This leads to mistrust and I tend to think these parties would do better if people felt like they were paying attention to what the voters in their home ridings had to say!
Ain't politics a hoot?
Cheers!

The elections BC web site not only has the candidates by riding, they also have a copy of each party's platform in a pdf format for download.
Yes, we would like some original thoughts expressed from all candidates, but we do have a party system in which the party with the most elected candidates gets to call the shots. On the surface that is a good thing because it provides a cohesive governing body that can actually do something like pass legislation through the house. Sure the leader appears to dictate the party policy, but he is also elected by the party and can be elected out of that role.

Whine and complain if you wish. The fact of the matter is that during this period of global economic distress, BC is not hurting as bad as other regions of Canada. This at the tail end of two consecutive Liberal terms.
I prefer to claim being a Conservative supporter. Where is the Conservative party in BC? Only one of the PG riding's has conservative candidate who is a retired mechanic. That could be good because he has not been molded by business interests in politics and may be in it for the good of the community.
Then we have the BC Refederation Party whose mandate is solely to force constitutional development. According to their site, BC and Canada do no have an actual constitution but rather a statute.
The green party is first environment and then economy. The liberals have managed to prove that doing things for the environment does nothing but cost money, re the carbon tax. Their economic plan is:
Increase taxes on industries and individual practices that
cause pollution
• Decrease taxes on industries and individual practices that
promote health
• Create new jobs and stimulate the economy by emphasizing
local and regional economies
• Capitalize on the opportunity to build long-lasting
infrastructure with a green stimulus package during the
recession
• Return to balanced budgets as soon as possible
• Invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency and help
shift our economy for the low-carbon demands of the future
• Reform tax structures to ensure competitive value-added
industries
• End subsidies to sunset industries that are inefficient and
wasteful
• Create a provincial Green Venture Capital Fund to
encourage local green business start-ups to create greencollar
jobs in green technologies and renewable energy
sectors
• Provide assistance to family farms by supporting companies
or co-operatives that offer warehousing, refrigeration,
packaging and marketing so they can supply supermarket
chains. This will enable small farms to compete with large
agri-business.
• Shift government-supported research away from GMOs and
energy-intensive agriculture and towards research into making
organic food production commercially viable
• Invest in wild fisheries and large scale rehabilitation of habitat
and spawning rivers
Basically more NDP style of spend on stuff and hinder business.

So we go with the status quo or risk diving into deeper economic turmoil for a longer period.

Well, perhaps I should have said that there are a lot of people that are smart and can't be manipulated and that we don't know what the actual percentage is.

Never *mis-underestimate* the people!

The Canucks put on a great show! Game Four will be a real doozie!

Cheers!

We basically have to chose between Liberals, and NDP'ers. What a choice;

The party that is running quietly in the back ground is Voter Apathy.

In this election Voter Apathy will probably win, which means that the Liberals are in trouble, and the NDP will pick up seats, because they have a strong committed membership, and following.

The Liberals are made up of old Socreds, Conservatives, Liberals, etc; etc;,. Some people refer to them as the Coalitionist Party.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out, but if the action to date is any indication, there is a total lack of interest.

I see the Liberals are phoning people telling them that the advance poll is open. Pat Bell on a recorded message. This is pretty lazy stuff. I personally know Pat Bell and if he had actually phoned rather than been taped I might have had a discussion with him, however as it stands, if the best he can do is a recording, then the best I can do is hang up.

well Palopu, so far during this campaign, we've received 3 recorded messages from the NDP - 2 from Ms. Lawrence and 1 from Ms. James. And all 3 of them told us only how bad the Liberals are, nothing about their own platform. Also, Ms. Lawrence has had two opportunities to speak to me personally and has rejected both of them. When I requested a conversation with Mr. Bell, he repsonded immediately.

Ben, you know better than this.

All parties have a policy structure that is determined by their supporters and if a person wants the support of that party then they have to agree to work within that policy structure. If they want to promote their personal agenda they can run as an independent. But you know this don't you.

What you want is these people, that stick their necks out to run for public office, to make a mistake so you can take advantage of it and create controversy and sell advertising. There are some descriptive words out there this kind of action and you know those too, don't you.

I congratulate all those that put there name on a ballot, it's a thankless task, but one that defines us.

Why don't actually talk to these people for once instead of attacking them at every opportunity. Listen to them is find why they are so passionate about the process and report the human side for once. You might be surprised what you find there.

So far, I haven't heard anything from NDP candidates or leadership on their plan for reversing the Liberal's Bill 64 introduced on discrimination in BC which deprieves British Columbians of basic rights to legal representation for discrimination and has reduced by 50% the time to file complaints. With ongoing layoffs, the instances of discrimination of non WASP minorities and Canadians will be on the rise in BC. This can attract the votes of minorities.

For example what is NDP's standing for extending the period for filing complaint, providing legal representation and education On D.? In PG, what is the Prince George NDP's position on discrimination in UNBC? Is it different than the silence of Shirley Bond? In what sense?

NDP should take risk on the issues and the ongoing problems if they want to be the next BC government and if they don't want to give this impression that they are more content with being just the opposition party, with few more seats.

In page 30 of 2009 NDP platform there is one paragraph about Discrimination and restablishing "Human Rights Commission" which was closed by the BC Liberals:

"Strengthening human rights protections by establishing a Human Rights Commission, and enhancing preventative actions such as community anti-racism and discrimination programs, including a provincial anti-hate hotline."

That answers my 1st question. Still few questions left unanswered.