Posted on 12/17/2005 8:22:05 PM PST by NZerFromHK
For those of us who aren't completely on side with "Canadian values" ala Paul Martin and the Liberal party, yesterday's Sun Media election poll by Leger Marketing was welcome.
In just the last few days, the Liberal lead in "vote-rich Ontario" (my how tired I am of that cliche) has been cut from 19% to 11%.
Nationwide, the Conservatives were still behind 35% to 29%, but within striking distance for the Jan. 23 vote.
But as everyone knows, "vote-rich Ontario" (is there no better term?) holds the key to national victory. If the Liberals lose that, they lose everything.
Of course, we all know that what the Liberals lack in ethics they make up for in cynicism -- and I expect they have contingency plans in (how's this?) "heavily-populated" Ontario.
So expect an all-out Blitzkrieg of anti-Harper, anti-Conservative, anti-American, fear-and-loathing ads by the Grits after New Year -- and perhaps even over Christmas.
Selling hate is like porn and narcotics. It has to get worse and worse, or it loses effect.
Anything we've seen in past elections will look like pistol practice compared to the artillery barrage that's coming.
The Liberals are masters of mainlining prejudice into national politics, as we saw in Martin's response two days ago to the American ambassador's objections to Martin's shameless Yankee-bashing.
In one speech, Martin declared five times: "I'll call it as I see it."
Bully for him.
This was to hide the fact the Americans, though they won't sign the ridiculous Kyoto greenhouse treaty, have actually restrained CO2 emissions more than Canada, where the government has spent billions achieving nothing beyond creating an impression.
Now the Liberals have got hold of a 1997 speech Harper delivered to the right-wing U.S. Council for National Policy, describing Canada as a haven for EI loafers, radicalgay rights and failed bilingualism.
All true, but so what? It's a Grit gold mine.
There's no point trying to predict this election, but it's useful to remember previous patterns.
In the last few national elections, the conservative alternative (Conservative, Alliance, Reform) rose during the first half of the campaign, and then got pulverized by Liberal hate propaganda.
Hate messages work not by what they say openly, but by subconscious suggestion.
Maybe the terrible right-wingers will start a war, leave your sick mother to die in a homeless shelter, make you go to church, and let loose armed, date-raping neo-Nazis on gay pride parades.
Pick your worst nightmare, because that's what you'll get.
The fact these hate messages succeed, especially in "vote-rich Ontario" (I give up), explains our lack of national unity. You cannot unite a nation with fear and loathing.
All you get is a nation filled with malice and suspicion.
There's a second pattern of "deja vu" we should be aware of.
Twenty-five years ago, three things were the same as today.
Alberta's resource revenues were surging. Ontario was being economically battered by world market forces. And Quebec was heading for a sovereignty referendum.
The only difference now is all three factors are much more acute than they were then.
The Liberal solution in 1980 was to unite Quebec and Ontario against Alberta, economically, politically and constitutionally. Trudeau brought in the National Energy Program and patriated the Constitution.
He appealed for all Canadians to save Canada from OPEC and the oil industry. But it was a direct attack on Alberta, and everyone knew it.
This time, the appeal will be to save "Canadian values" from American imperialism and greenhouse gas. But again it will really be to raise a national mob to loot Alberta.
Like the First World War, I think this attack is now inevitable -- if not in this election, in the one that will soon follow, after Martin has been replaced as Liberal leader by a Quebec francophone.
The Liberal rallying cry will be "national unity," as always.
But the real Liberal aim will be to stay in power, regardless of cost.
As always.
But this time, they will not win.
Where is their power base? Ontario? Quebec? I have no problem boycotting those two provinces and patronizing the others. Maybe we need a list of businesses to avoid in ONT and QUE and a list of businesses in the rural ones to reward.
Big cities, minus Calgary Alberta.
There will come a day when the tide will change. Just as it did in America. Canada has to many good people who just got so tied up in this socialistic crap that they are going to have a hard time digging out. But the day shall come when the tide changes.
Weak people always want to blame someone else for their problems.
May they go the way of France, then.
Well, maybe I shouldn't say that. Before I was at all for the wise about the politics of the world, I just assumed Canadians liked us. And in my travels, I was greated warmly by people in Calgary and in Alberta. Montreal was a different story.
In any case, I loved the people of Alberta and some of those I encountered in Quebec.
Out of curiosity, have there ever been polls of Americans and how they think about different countries?
I can't say that I ever disliked Cananda until I began to learn about how much they disliked us. Same thing with France. I disliked the hyperliberalism you saw there and the decline of the church pained and saddened me, but I didn't hold a dislike for them at all.
I guess what I'm saying is that most Americans are going to have fairly positive views of Spain, Italy, and Canada. It just doesn't seem that the feeling is mutual.
It is in Ontario's population centres like Toronto, Windsor, and Quebec's federalist regions (i.e places full of those who want Quebec to stay in Canada) such as Montreal. They have built a powerful constitutency aurrounding Francophone federalist, Anglo Quebecois, Ontario's immigrant communities, socialists, High Tories (Red Tories), sheeple average Canucks who trust everything the CBC and CTV says.
I think to a lot of average Canadians, Alberta is already half way to the US border by their perspectives. It is often riled as the fifth columns of the United States.
What can US FReepers do to help?
A parody of Canada's national anthem, O Canada:
Oh Canada
Le terre du socialiste
True patriot love
for all that would disgust
With prideful hearts we see thee rise,
The true north weak kneed
And bound by every interest group
And the gay community
God keep our land
But please leave us be
O Canada we want some things for free.
O Canada we want some things for free.
 |
The Prairies Think: the Bible belt, but duller Populated by: shotgun-toting, rodeo-loving cowboys |
The bad Canadians:
 |
Ontario Think: private school kids with public school educations Populated by: Upwardly mobile Canadians, which is even less impressive than it sounds |
I'm not Canadian so I wouldn't presume to comment on their electoral process.
Stop bashing Canadians!
Hang on, I didn't write it. It's one of yours truly. I specifically asked the Canadian DreeDominion member permission to cross-post it here.
Canadian DreeDominion member?
Might you be that same member?
Pathetic.
A "minority government" is formed if the "winning" party fails to get 155 or more out of the 308 seats - we have 5 parties that get significant support (above 10% each): Liberals (center-left, currently corrupt), Conservatives (center-right), NDP (socialists), Bloc (Quebec only - French socialists), and Greens (yay!! more socialism, but they never get enough votes in a given region to win a seat).
The losing parties either enter into a defacto coalition with the quasi-winner, or form an opposition coalition. An election can basically be forced at any time in these circumstances (instead of every 4-5 years), so minority governments are pretty short term creatures. A minority government is almost a paralyzed government (which is good and bad I guess)...
The best outcome now is a Conservative majority, which ain't going to happen this time around, sorry to say. It is going to be either a Liberal minority (again), with NDP support (again) OR a Conservative minority, with Bloc support (the only thing they both have in common is a hatred for the Liberals). I predict that the cycle won't be broken until either the Liberal leader (Martin) or the Conservative leader (Harper) is replaced.
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