Lets do a mock election

[Rocknronny]

So lets see who would win the up coming election wit a good old TGN poll.
RR

[Leftygolfer30]

Instead, let's do a poll on how annoying the large orange font is in your signature...:rofl:

[Rocknronny]

Instead, let's do a poll on how annoying the large orange font is in your signature...:rofl:I have to make sure you don't forget the date you need to find a babysitter.;)
RR

[Biffm1]

This will count as my official vote...pass it on.

[Big Shooter]

I wanna vote for the Green Party (but I'm not) 'cause they want to have a Stat Day EVERY Month
....i.e. MORE GOLF!!!! (they are after all The GREEN Party!) ;)

[Biffm1]

I wanna vote for the Green Party (but I'm not) 'cause they want to have a Stat Day EVERY Month
....i.e. M
[/URL]
ORE GOLF!!!! (they are after all The GREEN Party!) ;)[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Marta.jpg"]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/23/Marta.jpg/200px-Marta.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Marta.jpg)Official Green Party rep.... I'm in.

[landlord]

I've almost always (and again this time) felt some incongruency between the local person I want to vote for and the party I'd like to see leading things, so the answer to "whom I'd vote for" can get complicated.

The person I prefer in my riding belongs to Party X, but there's no way in heck I want Party X running things at Queen's Park. Since I doubt this one riding will make a difference to who leads, I'll vote for the person I like from Party X.

FWIW, there'll be a referendum on election day that addresses this very issue, and I'll be voting for the new system -- proportional representation.

(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportional_representation for more.)

[leftintherough]

I've almost always (and again this time) felt some incongruency between the local person I want to vote for and the party I'd like to see leading things, so the answer to "whom I'd vote for" can get complicated.

The person I prefer in my riding belongs to Party X, but there's no way in heck I want Party X running things at Queen's Park. Since I doubt this one riding will make a difference to who leads, I'll vote for the person I like from Party X.

FWIW, there'll be a referendum on election day that addresses this very issue, and I'll be voting for the new system -- proportional representation.

(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportional_representation for more.)

Ya, what's with this parliamentary system anyway????

[swaaain]

I do not like any of the candidates, so I chose to vote for

MASTER YODA!!!!

[avidgolfer]

I do not like any of the candidates, so I chose to vote for

MASTER YODA!!!!

Me too! That's why I'm voting for Yoda in the GREEN party!

Don't like what the Liberals did during their mandate.
Don't like the segregation of schools as suggested by the Tories.
Don't like the NDP because what they did during the Rae days.

[SoNgMaN]

since Tory has seemed to turn to helping out all his CEO buddy's from his days at rogers, and the GF is now a teacher, i'm voting liberal cause they plan to improve our public education system not destroy it. anyway i still hate dalton but at least ken dryden isn't running in my riding again

[el tigre]

Well, I don't think I can ever vote PC after the Mike Harris years. How was it that after huge cuts and massive downloading, the province was practically (and secretly) bankrupt prior to the last election? I still don't understand how that happened, and its kinda scary that the same guy is now the Finance Minister for the whole country.

I'll vote Liberal. Even if Dalton doesn't do much, I'm reasonably satisfied that he won't totally screw up everything either.

[leftintherough]

Well, I don't think I can ever vote PC after the Mike Harris years. How was it that after huge cuts and massive downloading, the province was practically (and secretly) bankrupt prior to the last election? I still don't understand how that happened, and its kinda scary that the same guy is now the Finance Minister for the whole country.

I'll vote Liberal. Even if Dalton doesn't do much, I'm reasonably satisfied that he won't totally screw up everything either.

Hey, for most of the time Ernie Eves was the finance minister. Little Jimmie just came in at the end of the Harris run.

Mike Harris and John Tory are two entirely different people.

IMHO, Its a moot point not to vote for party because of a former leader. I direct my vote to the current leaders, issues, and my local candidates.

[LowPost42]

Democracy is the process in which you decide how you want to get pooched, by whom, and for how long.

That said, my riding has been red forever. I don't have a green option (or I'd go that route). We need a solid independent. :(

[Bellyhungry]

We have PC in Ottawa, we need Liberal in Ontario to keep things in check.

I despise Dalton for reneging in his promises, not his party.

As for Ernie Eves, I can't believe he did not have to face criminal charges for lying about the financial health of the province when he was in the office.

While we are on the topic of politics, I want to say that I hate Jack Laton's porno 'stache.

[cldale]

I vote green, here is my critique of the other parties:

[PC] Fiscally I am "ok" with their policies. I am an advocate of open market solutions and believe the government should intervene only where it needs to in order to ensure markets function effectively, or to create markets where none currently exist. However, I am not socially conservative, so I balk at many of their social policies. In this election, I am staunchly opposed to funding faith based schools (I am Catholic, and I don't think public money should fund Catholic schools either). To use public funds to pay for religious education in any form to me seems backwards and against what Canada is supposed to stand for.

[Liberal] I guess there isn't much to critique since they really don't do anything but plan for the next election and line their own pockets. My wife is a teacher and she says schools are slightly better now than 4/5 years ago. I just can't stand Dalton, and I find the liberal attitude that they are the natural governing party to be offensive

[NDP] Their policies make no sense to me, and I strongly believe they would be the ruination of our province (again).

I vote green because they place an emphasis on using market solutions to help solve environmental problems. solutions like using the tax system to make companies pay for raw resource consumption early in the production cycle, so that the costs of producing resource intensive goods are passed on to the consumers. This encourages efficiency (to lower costs) and product substitution to less resource intensive products.

Amalgamating the catholic and public boards into a single publicly funding, non denominational system. You don't encourage inclusiveness and fight ignorance by segregating everyone into different schools according to religion. And making catholics pay for islamic schools and vice versa is... well.... kind of dumb.

Thats it for now.

[bigbertha]

Seriously though, forget their platform for a second, if you look at how each party will govern when they get in power, I find that buying large they are all about the same. I am a realist, if everything is going well, I don't care who's in power. I have never believed in party platforms. I am in healthcare so I do know a few things about how public money gets used. There are just too many layers of bureacracy to make a real change no matter who is in power. And I always say be careful what you wished for, right, Bob Rae?

[el tigre]

I despise Dalton for reneging in his promises, not his party.
As I recall, all those promises were made during the last election campaign when Ernie was telling us there was money in the kitty.

You can't spend what you don't have, so I'm willing to cut Dalton some slack on that.

[cldale]

As I recall, all those promises were made during the last election campaign when Ernie was telling us there was money in the kitty.

You can't spend what you don't have, so I'm willing to cut Dalton some slack on that.

But Dalton still had money to waste on having offsite meetings, large expense accounts, et al?

I am pretty pragmatic where the broken tax promises were made... with the observation that I'd rather politicians not make such grandiose claims at all because they look stupid when they make them, and even worse when they have to go back on their "promises".

One thing I found offensive was the liberals suddenly deciding to throw in an additional day of stat vacation in Feb. I am all for extra vacation, but to do it as part of an election platform is pretty low-rent and panders to the dumbest, most short sighted parts of our collective selves.

[STR82ACE]

Say what you will about Mike Harris...he is still the ONLY leader who actually DID what he said he would do...TWICE!! No other leader that I can remember can say that honestly.

I was PC before Harris, during Harris, and will always be PC, no matter who is in the leadership role, provincially and federally.

I only didn't vote once...and the NDP got a majority...never again if I can help it.

[mirak]

Say what you will about Mike Harris...he is still the ONLY leader who actually DID what he said he would do...TWICE!! No other leader that I can remember can say that honestly.

I was PC before Harris, during Harris, and will always be PC, no matter who is in the leadership role, provincially and federally.

I only didn't vote once...and the NDP got a majority...never again if I can help it.

AMEN !

[Big Shooter]

Say what you will about Mike Harris...he is still the ONLY leader who actually DID what he said he would do...TWICE!! No other leader that I can remember can say that honestly.

I was PC before Harris, during Harris, and will always be PC, no matter who is in the leadership role, provincially and federally.

I only didn't vote once...and the NDP got a majority...never again if I can help it.

Ditto. :)

at least ken dryden isn't running in my riding again

He's Federal, this is Provincial. :shhh:

i'm voting liberal cause they plan to improve our public education system not destroy it.

Oh really, that was THEIR mandate from the LAST ELECTION!!!:(
(i.e., undoing all the "wrong" that Mike Harris SUPPOSEDLY created!?) :confused:

BOTTOM LINE....if you're 18-21 years old, this is likely the FIRST time you're eligible to vote....take some time to study the issues, and make an INFORMED decision!!! :)

[Special_K]

I'm a school teacher with the catholic board (publicly funded). If PC takes power, we're all screwed. Mike Harris years were those of turmoil. The past 4 years have actually been pretty peaceful. Steps were made in the right direction. Class sizes are down, kids' test scores are up, collaboration between school boards and the gov't. Tories want to take about half a billion out of public ed and put it into the faith-based schools. A step in the right direction after progress has been made? I think not.

Think about this! PCs take power, half a billion gets cut, we're up for contract negotiations next year. How well do you think they are going to go if half a billion has been cut? Pretty crappy which means we'll probably strike, which means I'll be broke and won't be able to HO, and then nothing to sell in the BST. Can you guys imagine a month where I don't sell something nice for cheap that didn't work out for me? Damn... better vote Liberal.

hahaha

[Bellyhungry]

I was informed by a wiseman once: do not debate politics and religion with strangers.

[cldale]

I'm a school teacher with the catholic board (publicly funded). If PC takes power, we're all screwed. Mike Harris years were those of turmoil. The past 4 years have actually been pretty peaceful. Steps were made in the right direction. Class sizes are down, kids' test scores are up, collaboration between school boards and the gov't. Tories want to take about half a billion out of public ed and put it into the faith-based schools. A step in the right direction after progress has been made? I think not.

Think about this! PCs take power, half a billion gets cut, we're up for contract negotiations next year. How well do you think they are going to go if half a billion has been cut? Pretty crappy which means we'll probably strike, which means I'll be broke and won't be able to HO, and then nothing to sell in the BST. Can you guys imagine a month where I don't sell something nice for cheap that didn't work out for me? Damn... better vote Liberal.

hahaha

Haha, at least be honest in defending the liberals. They aren't taking money out of public education, they are putting more money in, its a net infusion with no reduced funding for existing schools.

And you realize Catholic schools are faith based right? If you disagree with funding other religious schools you must agree with ending the Catholic board right? (the UN has TWICE sanctioned ontario for religious discrimination based on our funding only Catholic religious schools).

My biggest problem with the liberal campaign is that they use out right lies (taking a 1/2 billion from public schools to give to faith based schools) to scare people so they don't actually have to engage in real, intelligent debate.

I don't vote PC either (Green if you care) but if you are going to solicit an opinion, at least make sure you have your facts straight, otherwise you are an extension of a political progaganda machine.

[Special_K]

It always has to get personal :D . I even added a bit of humour in the end so as to not receive responses like this.

Ah well, everybody is entitled to their opinion. To come out and say the liberals are straight up lying is a pretty strong statement and one not backed by any hard, cold facts. Call me an extension then.





Haha, at least be honest in defending the liberals. They aren't taking money out of public education, they are putting more money in, its a net infusion with no reduced funding for existing schools.

And you realize Catholic schools are faith based right? If you disagree with funding other religious schools you must agree with ending the Catholic board right? (the UN has TWICE sanctioned ontario for religious discrimination based on our funding only Catholic religious schools).

My biggest problem with the liberal campaign is that they use out right lies (taking a 1/2 billion from public schools to give to faith based schools) to scare people so they don't actually have to engage in real, intelligent debate.

I don't vote PC either (Green if you care) but if you are going to solicit an opinion, at least make sure you have your facts straight, otherwise you are an extension of a political progaganda machine.

[cldale]

It always has to get personal :D . I even added a bit of humour in the end so as to not receive responses like this.

Ah well, everybody is entitled to their opinion. To come out and say the liberals are straight up lying is a pretty strong statement and one not backed by any hard, cold facts. Call me an extension then.

Bah, apologies, I didn't mean to make it personal, I have just been hearing this "money from public education" thing since the election was called and its not really whats being proposed.

First off, I don't think public dollars should go to faith based education. Period. I think it runs against the grain in Canada. That means that although I am catholic myself (and my wife is a Catholic teacher in Dufferin-Peel), I think the seperate board should be amalgamated into the public to have 1 public system with no denomination attached.

In either case Tory is proposing to at least level the playing field by saying that if the Catholics get their faith based education paid for, all religions deserve the same in the name of basic decency and equality, assuming the teach the ontario curriculum, submit to ontario oversight, and hire ontario certified teachers.

I applaud the spirit of equality and inclusiveness, but I think the approach is backwards. I think you build inclusiveness by bringing people together under "one roof", not by segregating them according to religion. I also think that from a dollars and cents perspective, a single public system is far more efficient than seperate catholic, public, and now other faith systems.

I've listened to Tory speak on this, and he is pretty honest about the funds coming through tax increases and redirecting funds from other non-education sources, and he claims that the funding to the existing public and seperate boards will also be increases.

So unless you are calling him a liar, I don't see how you can make a claim that the money is being taken "away" from the other boards.

No matter, I don't vote PC, Liberal, or NDP anyways. I find both parties corrupt and their policies to be... outdated and stale.

Apologies again if you felt it was personal, I just take issue with this particular piece of misinformation being spread around. Ideally campaigns are fought on policy and ideas, not on fear-mongering and half truths as in the states.

I do wonder though, do you support a seperate Catholic board that is publicly funded?

[LowPost42]

re: Catholic schoolboards receiving public tax dollars, I think it's totally wrong (but was done to garner the Catholic vote. But wait, when ISN'T a campaign promise made to garner a vote? When are campaign promises made with long term views in mind? Anyway...)

I also disagree with the idea of amalgomation of the public and catholic school boards. I think that, especially in Canada, the idea of religion-based schools flies. However, I don't think John Q. Public should be funding them at any point. Religious (read: private) schools should be funded by their backers and by the students (or their parents) - further seperation of Church and State.

If public dollars to the Catholic school board doesn't end soon, how long before public dollars will also fund the Islamic school board, the Buddhist school board, the Jehovah Witness school board, the... well, you get my point.

[cldale]

re: Catholic schoolboards receiving public tax dollars, I think it's totally wrong (but was done to garner the Catholic vote. But wait, when ISN'T a campaign promise made to garner a vote? When are campaign promises made with long term views in mind? Anyway...)

I also disagree with the idea of amalgomation of the public and catholic school boards. I think that, especially in Canada, the idea of religion-based schools flies. However, I don't think John Q. Public should be funding them at any point. Religious (read: private) schools should be funded by their backers and by the students (or their parents) - further seperation of Church and State.

If public dollars to the Catholic school board doesn't end soon, how long before public dollars will also fund the Islamic school board, the Buddhist school board, the Jehovah Witness school board, the... well, you get my point.

Yeah, this election we're being sold a new holiday in february :)

I think you misunderstand what I mean by "amalgamation". I mean that the catholic board would cease to exist, being rolled into the public board. All that property is publicly owned, so the schools and all assets should go to public education. I think most people would leave their catholic children in the public board (I would).

If catholics then want their own religious schools they can open new ones.

[mjongstra]

What is everyone's reason for voting conservative?

You know that John Tory is going to do everything that Mike Harris did. Mike Harris screwed over the health care system and education system, and now they're going to do it again? As a student I can see the improvements happening with the system since McGuinty came to power, and they want to take money away and give it to the faith based schools? No way.

The Conservatives have cause numerous teacher strikes, the liberals have caused none. Yeah sure strikes are fun when you're in gr.4 but when i'm in gr.12 and trying to get into university I would be pissed.

I don't get why everyone likes this guy.

P.S- they only reason everyone is saying the McGuinty made all these lies is becuase the opposition can't see the current governments budget. Dalton assumed that he had a good budget to work with but he was wrong so he didn't have the money to go through will all of his problems. He is doing a superb job now consdiering he has turned Ontario's economy around it to something good.

[STR82ACE]

You know that John Tory is going to do everything that Mike Harris did.

That's good enough for me...he has my vote!

Mike Harris did not screw up health care or the cost of education. You seem to have forgotten the mess he inherited from the NDP. Mike Harris did what he had to do at the time, and to be honest, if the people didn't want him to do it in the first place, they wouldn't have given him a SECOND majority government.

Stop blaming Mike Harris. Mike did what was necessary to save this province. It hurt, alot, but it had to be done. What have the Liberals done since they came into power? Sweet diddly squat!! Laid back, stayed quiet, and hoped the people would ignore their broken promises. Yea, that's a government to stand behind <that was sarcasim btw>

[cldale]

That's good enough for me...he has my vote!

Mike Harris did not screw up health care or the cost of education. You seem to have forgotten the mess he inherited from the NDP. Mike Harris did what he had to do at the time, and to be honest, if the people didn't want him to do it in the first place, they wouldn't have given him a SECOND majority government.

Stop blaming Mike Harris. Mike did what was necessary to save this province. It hurt, alot, but it had to be done. What have the Liberals done since they came into power? Sweet diddly squat!! Laid back, stayed quiet, and hoped the people would ignore their broken promises. Yea, that's a government to stand behind <that was sarcasim btw>

From what I understand speaking with teachers, the Liberals have actually made junior elementary class sizes smaller and the system is better as a result.

Fair is fair, its not the liberals fault that the province was near bankruptcy when they took over, something Eves and friends were hiding from everyone. You know how they were paying their bills? By selling off public property. The province had a massize operating deficit.

Are you not worried that Tory will increase your taxes to fund his ambitious school program? That your tax dollars will be used to teach the Koran, Torah, or the Bible in a Catholic school?

What happened to self determination, individual responsibility and accountability, and the seperation of church/state? These USED to be core conservative values, but the PC party now is some perverted amalgam of social conservatives and fiscal socialists.

If you're looking for a party with intelligent policy based on consistent ideals that is rationally thought out with consideration to long term impacts, check out the Green Party. They are actually more "conservative" that the PC's.

What is everyone's reason for voting conservative?

I don't get why everyone likes this guy.


I actually like John Tory. He doesn't feel the need to pander to popularity polls like Dalton McGuinty. He was an extremely successful businessman, proving he has leadership capability, and knows how to achieve his goals.

Most people vote for the party their parents voted for, and few people fluctuate parties in their lifetime. My wife's entire family votes liberal, only liberal, never anythign but liberal, without any knowledge of issues or policies.

I try and vote for what I feel is best now and in the future. That's changed as I have through my experiences in life. There are several things I feel are paramount to getting my vote however, regardless of party:

[1] Honesty/Integrity. If I cannot trust someone, I cannot vote for them, period. I voted for Jean Chretien, and he lost my vote the moment he told his little story about the man on the street corner who froze to death. I will not tolerate dishonesty or corruption in any form in the person I vote for. Its an absolute non-starter. This is also why I cannot vote for Dalton, because I honestly believe that his integrity is lacking, and there is a lot of corruption going on in his party right now.

[2] Social Issues. Simply put, I believe in seperation of church & state, that the individual requires protection from the community, that the charter of rights and freedoms isn't just a suggestion, its the fundamental code of our values as a society. I won't vote for anyone who suggests otherwise.

[3] Economic Issues. I believe markets work even though the result isn't always what people want in the short run (recession as a correction to market imbalanaces/instability). I believe the government should interfere in the markets to the minimum required to keep them running efficiently, and to help "soften the blows" (yes, I'm a fan of John Maynard Keynes). I believe that lower taxes are desirable, but must be balanced against the needs for public services and infrastructure, as well as the ability of the government to make longer term investments in society (education for example).

[4] Environment. I don't like choking on exhaust fumes, I don't like that we can't swim in our lakes. I am educated enough to know that economic prosperity does not have to mean environmental destruction, and protecting our environment does not have to destroy our economy. I think that the environmental debate has been significantly distorted by the general acceptance that when you protect the environment you destroy jobs.

For me, the Green Party currently embodies what I believe and is the only party I could vote for and feel good about myself for doing so. If I voted for any of the other parties, I'd feel like I am betraying my own beliefs.

[mikejb]

I just wanted to post something on this about John Tory.

The National Post Editorial Board had this to say about him: As one Canadian writer put it in a very fine column about Mr. Tory this week, Mr. Tory’s archetype is former Ontario premier Bill Davis, “the ultimate consensus politician, who presided at a time when Ontario had more stature in Confederation than it does now.”

http://communities.canada.com/nationalpost/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2007/10/04/national-post-editorial-board-john-tory-for-ontario-premier.aspx

Two, that he is and always has been a stand up guy. The one thing all politics needs is a shake up. We need people like Mr. Tory who bring a wealth of experience to improve how the biggest spender in the province handles OUR money. Tory's political base was formed working for one of the greatest premires this province has ever known. We should be happy someone who learned from such a great man has stepped up to try and run this province the right way.

[focal]

voted last night at an advance poll...as expected...my wife and I cancelled each other's vote on both issues...

however pointless the outcome, we'll always exercise our civic duty and privilege on a provincial and national level.