[Northern Light]

Jerusalem isn't the capital of anything right now, and by the looks of it won't be for a long time. Next question.

Well, now, irrespective of one's politics, one should concede Jerusalem is the capital of Israel on a functional basis, as that is where its seat of government is located, and has been since 1948.

Whether that outcome is/was desirable to any number of interests is a different matter altogether.

That Scheer is playing politics on the issue, regardless, is a given.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

According to Wikipedia, the Muslim population outnumbers the Jewish one by 2 to 1. If this is a political stunt, it is a pretty bad one.

I wonder how many countries does Canada have their embassy NOT in the capital?
How many countries have their Canadian embassies NOT in Ottawa?

Last time I checked, Ottawa isn't a location contested by multiple faiths and national and sub-national entities. Moving the embassy there at this point is about as politically wise as De Gaulle's Vive le Quebec Libre.

AoD

 

[Admiral Beez]

Jerusalem isn't the capital of anything right now,.

Of course Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. The citizens and its representatives get to choose the capital, regardless of foreign opinion. And sure the residents who were there before won't be happy about it, no more than indigenous peoples when Washington DC was declared the capital of the new US Republic. Did anyone ask the indigenous Celts if they approved of Rome declaring London the capital of Britain? Like the USA and Britain, Israel isn't going anywhere, and like USA and Britain, is not going to be surrendering territory to historic residents without a fight. So, we'd better get used to Israel being around, and look in our own backyards to check our hypocrisy before criticizing Israel for stomping on the people who originally occupied its territory.

Getting back on topic, I'd like to see Israel and Middle East affairs having nothing to do with our elections.

 

[animatronic]

Can you take the Jerusalem conversation somewhere else? This is the provincial election thread - last time I checked Ontario didn't have any embassies in the middle east, and our trade office is in Tel Aviv.

 

[JWBF]

Jerusalem isn't the capital of anything right now, and by the looks of it won't be for a long time. Next question.

Sheer is acting like a true dumbass with that statement of ill intent.

Zionism has always been in fashion for Conservatives, but "Ultra Zionism" is the new chic.

 

[Admiral Beez]

If the PCs choose the right leader (IMO, Elliot, or even Mulroney) the Liberals are perhaps looking to a massive defeat. And they've earned it. I'm so tired of the government knows best approach.

And the scandals, see list below, even with assumed source bias this is bad stuff.

https://www.ontariopc.ca/liberal_14_year_election_anniversary_scandals_highlight_reel_package

One thing that bugged me the most about these 14 years of Liberal rule is how we mismanaged wind power, where we had a surplus of traditional power, but locked in higher rates for wind power generators, and then allowed Liberal insiders and connected folks to get the government contracts for that power.

 

[ADRM]

If the PCs choose the right leader (IMO, Elliot, or even Mulroney) the Liberals are perhaps looking to a massive defeat. And they've earned it. I'm so tired of the government knows best approach.

And the scandals, see list below, even with assumed source bias this is bad stuff.

https://www.ontariopc.ca/liberal_14_year_election_anniversary_scandals_highlight_reel_package

You do realize a number of the bullets on that page are outright lies, right?

 

[narduch]

One thing that bugged me the most about these 14 years of Liberal rule is how we mismanaged wind power, where we had a surplus of traditional power, but locked in higher rates for wind power generators, and then allowed Liberal insiders and connected folks to get the government contracts for that power.

This government is notorious for making sweat-heart deals for its 'insiders'. The Hydro One sale is an example of them paying back their major donors.

There is a poll out today that 81% of people want to see the Liberals lose.

If the PC's play this right they should be able to bounce back from the Brown fiasco.

 

[DSC]

You do realize a number of the bullets on that page are outright lies, right?

The sad thing about this election is that none of the parties looks very good. The Liberals do probably need time in the 'penalty box" but the Tories have recently shown that they have nothing better (and apparently far worse!) to offer. I am a 'historic" Liberal supporter with past flirtations with the NDP but I was open to being wooed by the Tories - their behaviour over past few months has completely removed any superficial attraction they may have ever had for me. If the current 4 (were 5) Leadership candidates are the best they have to offer god help us if they actually win. Unfortunately the NDP really seems somewhat out of it.

 

[animatronic]

This government is notorious for making sweat-heart deals for its 'insiders'. The Hydro One sale is an example of them paying back their major donors.

There is a poll out today that 81% of people want to see the Liberals lose.

If the PC's play this right they should be able to bounce back from the Brown fiasco.

That wasn’t a real poll - just a radio station’s straw vote.

 

[ShonTron]

The sad thing about this election is that none of the parties looks very good. The Liberals do probably need time in the 'penalty box" but the Tories have recently shown that they have nothing better (and apparently far worse!) to offer. I am a 'historic" Liberal supporter with past flirtations with the NDP but I was open to being wooed by the Tories - their behaviour over past few months has completely removed any superficial attraction they may have ever had for me. If the current 4 (were 5) Leadership candidates are the best they have to offer god help us if they actually win. Unfortunately the NDP really seems somewhat out of it.

I do not have any allegiance to a political party, but my political views are definitely left-leaning and should be in the the NDP's territory. In the last six provincial and federal elections, I voted Liberal twice and NDP four times, which were dependent on three things: the candidate from either party, the party platform, and whether my vote was important to block a right-wing Conservative.

I'm now in Toronto Centre, where there's very little chance a [P]C could ever get elected. So I'm now only considering platform and candidate. Sadly, I feel the Liberals take this riding for granted - we don't even have an MPP right now. The federal Liberals stuck Bill Morneau here, who has very little in common with the demographics of Toronto Centre (Don Valley West would have been a much better fit - if an Adam Vaughan-type had ran in TC, I might have supported the Liberals in 2015). So it will probably by the NDP again this time around (despite Horwath), unless I'm floored by the Liberal candidate.

 

[narduch]

That wasn’t a real poll - just a radio station’s straw vote.

Ok.

I was just flipping through headlines quickly on twitter this morning.

 

[Northern Light]

The sad thing about this election is that none of the parties looks very good. The Liberals do probably need time in the 'penalty box" but the Tories have recently shown that they have nothing better (and apparently far worse!) to offer. I am a 'historic" Liberal supporter with past flirtations with the NDP but I was open to being wooed by the Tories - their behaviour over past few months has completely removed any superficial attraction they may have ever had for me. If the current 4 (were 5) Leadership candidates are the best they have to offer god help us if they actually win. Unfortunately the NDP really seems somewhat out of it.

I consistently find the Greens right the best platforms that strike a balance between fiscally reasonable choices, market-place economics, environmental conscientiousness, and social responsibility.

They only have the broad vision document up right now.

https://gpo.ca/priorities/

The challenge is their electability under the current system.

I typically consider Liberal, NDP and Green, though I would be open to a 'red tory' platform w/the right leader.

Right now the only platform out is the PC one, and it will likely be altered by the new leader.

So one can only really judge the leaders (or candidates for same), or in the case of the Liberals, their record.

The provincial budget will be a very important consideration for me.

But I still need more info to consider.

 

[Northern Light]

Provincial Budget to drop March 28.

Liberals to return province to deficit, perhaps as high as 8B

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada...n-budget-that-returns-ontario-to-deficit.html

In so far as they raise social assistance rates, address healthcare wait times, and expand prescription drug coverage.....that's great.

But @#$# raise taxes to pay for it then. Be honest, be transparent its not as if there isn't room.

A 1% hike in HST and a modest increase in corp tax 0.5% would cover a great deal.

Running up debt when the economy is good is dangerous fiscal policy.

 

[Northern Light]

Interesting side effect will be what it does to opposition party platforms.

They will now either have to run on years of deficits; rolling back Liberal program commitments or raising taxes.

I'm somewhere between disheartened by the failure of this gov't to match revenues to expenses and bemused by what looks like a 'poison pill' political strategy.