Voter turnout is heavy in Durham and York region, the middle class is voting for Harper and splitting the vote to Layton. Dion’s leadership maybe in question?

Update (7:56pm):Just came back from voting and turnout is heavy. I had to wait in line for a long time as it went outside of the High School and into the parking lot. Durham residents are voting, are you?

Update (10:14pm): It will be a Conservative win for Harper. The question is how large of a win? In Durham region there are some tight races in Oshawa. There is no way to declare a winner at the moment. Tonight is definitely a strange night. The Conservatives are doing well across the board. However, the Liberals are actually looking strong in Quebec, which is a definite blow to Jack Layton and the NDP. It will be interesting to see the numbers from B.C as they come in. However, no matter how you  put it, at the moment this is the Conservatives night. Albeit, still a minority at the moment they are picking up seats in Ontario. Dion has helped in Quebec, however strangely they are hurting in Ontario, which is there base. An interesting note is Ontario’s north has gone NDP. I am not sure if this is a pattern for Jack Layton to go on, however it’s an interesting note for the future. The NDP vote is definitely up in percentage, however he must be disappointing with the seat total. Also, the Conservatives are doing well in Thornhill with Peter Kent. Better thank Peter Shurman for that pick up! Dion will definitely have to explain the Carbon Tax to his caucus. Canadians were either in fear (a general lack of understanding) of the Carbon Tax. Or is this a message from Ontario on his leadership?

BIG NEWS: Oh my! Garth Turner has been defeated! Harper must be happy….

Update: Voter turnout may have been heavy in Durham, however across the Country it seems NO ONE CARES. Voter turnout was the lowest in Canadian history at only 59%.

Advertisement

Jack Layton is the ideal opposition leader

You can’t do your job as Leader of the Opposition. I don’t know what you’re doing running for Prime Minister. It’s a very unusual political situation when every voter knows even before the federal election that Canada’s next prime minister will be Stephen Harper. Like or loathe it, the Conservatives will be returned to power on October 14.

But two other important questions are far from decided – who will be Opposition leader and whether it will be a minority or majority government.

After last week’s debate and two years of Harper government one thing is very clear – the only real federal opposition in the House of Commons is the New Democratic Party. And the only real choice for Opposition leader is Jack Layton.

Liberal leader Stephane Dion is a smart, decent man. But Dion and the Liberals don’t stand up to Stephen Harper – they prop him up.

On 43 separate occasions in Parliament, Dion’s Liberals voted to keep Harper in power and accept his very conservative legislation.

By continually abstaining, the “Official Opposition” has abdicated its important role of serving the majority of Canadians who reject Conservative ideology.

But it wasn’t just fear of losing an election that led to the Liberals becoming Conservative Lite – they actually agree with Harper’s wrong-headed positions on many key political issues.

Dion and the Liberals support Harper’s massive $50 billion corporate tax cuts that reward companies which have eliminated more than 400,000 manufacturing and forest industry jobs since 2000.

And the Liberals and Conservatives want huge tax cuts despite the fact that Canada’s tax rates are already lower than many industrialized nations, including the United States, Germany, Italy and Japan.
And Canada also has a much lower Goods and Services Tax than most countries.

Dion and the Liberals joined with Conservatives to vote to extend till 2011 the deadly mission that sent brave Canadian troops into a hopeless situation in Afghanistan.

Dion and the Liberals say they want a “Green Shift” and carbon tax to protect the environment but oppose a proposed NDP moratorium on new Alberta tar sands oil projects – Canada’s biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions.

read more | digg story

Why you should not ignore Jack! Is it time for a new vision for Canada?

Maybe its time for change? Maybe its time for a new Prime Minister? We like to think the Tories are the best for managing deficits, however, Ronald Reagan, Brian Mulroney, Mike Harris (Ernie Eves), George Bush and now maybe Harper, will show us that maybe those ideologies just do not work? The Conservatives say that our fundamentals are sound. However, who are they fooling. They are not true Libertarians. There own platforms calls for an approx 1-2 % growth. Economist say that this is highly optimistic, if not deceptive. With the U.S slowdown it is more likely to be a 1-2 % downward turn. That amounts to, in a recent broadcast on CBC Newsworld of a 3.3 billion dollar shortfall. Hmmm! Sounds familiar? Remember Ernie Eves? Yes, Ontario was left with a large deficit, even though our “fundamentals were sound” in Ontario. Makes me wonder, what are the Conservatives going to cut in order to balance the books? Will there be some form of privatization of Healthcare or key Government corporations? Read more below from a recent National Post article on Jack Layton. It maybe time for Canadians to give the guy a chance.  By: Isaac Thomas / G.T.A Patriot Contributor

——-

By: John Ivison, National Post
Published: Monday, September 29, 2008

Jack Layton

Jack Layton has never really been taken seriously. Beyond the fiercely partisan types who crowded into a community centre just off Danforth Avenue yesterday, the NDP leader has always been regarded as a harmless buffoon — a man so smug, he’d drink his own bathwater. Jack — let’s call him Jack — has always said outrageous things and nobody has paid too much attention to this point.

But perhaps it’s time people actually started listening.

The NDP leader unveiled his party’s platform yesterday in front of a boisterous crowd in his own riding. It was a virtuoso performance.

“Friends, I sense a real excitement out there. A sense of hope that this time, in this election, we can really make a difference,” he said.

“And maybe we can even make a little history.”

If current polling trends continue, he could do just that, by taking possession of the keys to Stornoway, the residence of the leader of the Official Opposition. The NDP started the campaign as much as 19 points behind the Liberals — some polls now put them in a statistical tie.

On the surface, much of the New Democrat platform will seem appealing to many Canadians — families would receive an enhanced child benefit payment of up to $400 a month; billions would be spent on affordable housing; students would be given a $1,000-a-year grant; more doctors would be hired and their loans forgiven if they work in family medicine; and everyone would get an extra day off work in February. Unlike in days of yore, this would not mean plunging the country into deficit. Budgets would be balanced and personal income taxes would be held steady.

In short, Jack made a convincing case that if he became prime minister, we could trust him to spend our money wisely. There he is in his campaign literature, sleeves rolled up, in the living rooms of the hard-pressed Canadian families helping them make ends meet. No wonder he’s flying high in the polls — he’s identified real problems, real issues and promised real solutions.

Read more

Is change in the air for Canada? Is it time for Prime Minister Jack Layton or a new voice for an opposition leader?

Prime Minister Jack Layton?

With Liberal leader Dion faltering and lagging behind Jack Layton in the polls, one has to wonder if change is in the air? We are already seeing old Liberal tactics; telling people not to split the vote, and cause a majority Conservative government. One has to ask, if this is the ONLY tactic they have to remain as the official opposition than maybe it is time for change? The Liberals are getting old and there is a sense amongst voters that it is “time for change” in Canada. Elizabeth May was seen as a possible alternative, however there is the feeling that they are in league with the Liberals, tainting the green image. Who knows what will happen on October the 14th, but one thing is clear, change is in the air. I am not sure if Canada is really ready to have an NDP government in Canada. The experience in Ontario maybe scaring individual voters, however I guess it does not matter since Bob Rae is now a Liberal? Maybe Bob Rae was never truly an NDP backer and we have never really seen what an NDP government can do. The question is, can Jack Layton deliver? Is it time for change? Is it time to for the new world of NDP Orange? Is it time for Prime Minister Jack Layton?

By: Andy MJ / a.k.a The G.T.A Patriot

Read more about the NDP Party of Canada below.

——–

Through three decades of public service, and as Leader of Canada’s New Democrats since 2003, Jack Layton is delivering the kind of change that can make life better for you and your family.

Months after taking his place in Parliament, Jack Layton successfully rewrote the 2005 federal budget. In place of $4.6-billion in corporate tax giveaways, Layton secured investments in better priorities—affordable housing, training, public transit, energy efficiency, development assistance and wage protection.

At last: this was policy from the kitchen table, not the boardroom table, and ordinary Canadians responded.

Read more