UPDATE 6-Canada takes tentative step to right in election

Tuesday 24 January 2006, 11:11pm EST

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Canada took a tentative step to the right in Monday's federal election, ousting the Liberals after 12 years in power and voting in a fragile minority Conservative government, television networks said.

Preliminary official figures at 11 p.m. (0400 GMT Tuesday) showed the Conservatives winning or ahead in 122 electoral districts compared to 103 for the Liberals of Prime Minister Paul Martin.

The result was a personal triumph for Conservative leader Stephen Harper, a 46-year-old economist who forced through the creation of the party in December 2003 by uniting two squabbling right-wing movements.

"It shows that Canadians were looking for change," deputy Conservative leader Peter MacKay told CTV.

Support for the Liberals shrank amid voter fatigue and a major kickback scandal which brought down the minority government of Prime Minister Paul Martin in November.

How long Harper can stay in power is open to serious question, since he will have nowhere near the 155 seats he needs to hold a majority in the 308-seat House of Commons.

The Conservatives have no natural allies in Parliament and will therefore have to govern on an issue-by-issue basis with the backing of other parties.

"Minority means we have to be constructive, and we have to be working together and finding common ground," said MacKay.

Analysts believe a minority Harper government would likely last between a year and 18 months.

Preliminary data showed the Conservatives had won 36.4 percent of the vote, up from 29.6 percent in the June 2004 election. The Liberals slipped to 31.3 percent, down from 36.7 percent.

Martin, 67, had tried hard to convince Canadians that Harper was an extremist who would try to strip away personal freedoms such as gay marriage and abortion.

But Harper shrugged off the attacks, vowing to clean up government, cut the national sales tax, clamp down on crime and cut waiting times for health care.

It was the first time a right-wing party had won an election since 1988, when the then Progressive Conservative government beat the Liberals.

One of the reasons for Harper's success was a breakthrough in the French-speaking province of Quebec, where only a few weeks ago the Bloc Quebecois was predicting it would win the vast majority of the 75 seats available.

But the Conservatives -- who had no representation at all in Quebec at the start of the campaign -- were set to win 10 seats. The Bloc looked likely to lose three seats and end up with 50.

The result was a blow for Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe, who had predicted his party would win more than 50 percent of the vote and give a boost to the independence movement. Initial figures showed the Bloc had won 43 percent of the vote.

The left-leaning New Democrats also did well and looked on course to win 30 seats -- their best showing since 1988.

The preliminary results were in line with polls in the last three weeks of the campaign which consistently showed the Conservatives were set to win a shaky mandate.

Martin fought mainly on his record, particularly an economy running both a healthy budget and trade surpluses.

As the Liberals slipped in the polls, Martin stepped up his attacks on Harper, saying he would leave the weak behind, curb abortion and let Washington determine Canadian foreign policy.

At the dissolution of the old Parliament in November, the Liberals had 133 seats and the Conservatives 98.

(With additional reporting by Rachelle Younglai, Randall Palmer, Gilbert Le Gras and Janet Guttsman)

www.rueters.com  

from

Election Project.org (they seem the least biased?)

Current Prediction 4:21 PM 22/01/2006

Liberal Party  99

Conservatives 118

N.D.P 28

Bloc Québécois 58

Other 1

Too Close  4

Total  308

----

It's a very close election.  

Voting in a federal election is done by paper ballot.  There is an automatic recount when the margin of victory is less than one-thousandth of votes cast.  Or a candidate can request a recount if he/she believes the votes were counted inaccurately.  

by Ian Welsh is at:

http://www.bopnews.com/archives/005845.html#5845

Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:54 AM ET

By Ka Yan Ng

TORONTO, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Markets are always prone to move with new governments or shifts in power, but even a clear majority by Canada's front-running Conservative Party is unlikely to have much impact on stock, bond and currency prices, Canadian analysts say.

The Conservatives have opened up a big lead on the ruling Liberals, and some opinion polls put them at levels that could bring a majority of the 308 seats in Parliament, a change from the outgoing Liberal minority government.

Analysts say any market reaction would be most noticeable in the Canadian dollar, then in bonds, and less so in stocks.

But none will get carried away, because it is so hard to quantify how a change in government will compete with all the other issues pulling for traders' attention.

The market has already dealt with a minority government for 18 months without trouble. The Canadian dollar gained ground on rising energy prices and expectations of higher interest rates, while bonds tracked U.S. treasuries.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index jumped 22 percent in 2005, propelled by strong resources.

"I only see upside, but even the upside, when all is said and done, is rather limited," said Carlos Leitao, chief strategist at Laurentian Bank Securities.

"If we look at where we've come from, which is a situation in the last 18 months of having a minority government, it doesn't appear to have had a big impact on Canadian markets.

"Now the worst that can happen is more of the same."

Markets are now focusing on how a new government will implement campaign promises, especially on the budget.

"Even if we get a majority or minority, the question for markets will be what kind of fiscal measures will be enacted," said Carolyn Kwan, financial markets economist at Scotia Capital.

(more)

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=URI:urn:newsml:reu
ters.com:20060119:MTFH79788_2006-01-19_13-54-35_N17253535:1

Sun, January 22, 2006

By CHIP MARTIN, FREE PRESS POLITICS REPORTER

Liberal Leader Paul Martin campaigns with local candidates Sue Barnes of London West, left, Glen Pearson of London-Fanshawe, Crispin Colvin of Elgin-Middlesex-London and Joe Fontana of London-North-Centre yesterday morning during a campaign stop at Pearson's Southdale Road office in London. (KEN WIGHTMAN, LFP)  

Prime Minister Paul Martin told London supporters yesterday the only way to stop the "radical right" from assuming power in Canada is to stick with his Liberals tomorrow.

Martin -- on a whirlwind dash across Canada in the last weekend before the election -- made a final bid to shore up Liberal fortunes in area ridings, before heading west.

In London, Martin revved up about 300 supporters by denouncing the Conservatives of Stephen Harper who he said want "to take this country to the far, far right of the U.S. conservative movement."

At the campaign office of London-Fanshawe Liberal candidate Glen Pearson, whom Martin encouraged to run, the Liberal leader also took aim at New Democrat Leader Jack Layton.

Martin said voting for the NDP may make a point, but it won't improve the country.

"(Layton) will tell you the answer is more NDP members, he wants a bigger caucus. We want a better Canada."

On hand were other area Liberal candidates, Joe Fontana of London-North-Centre, Sue Barnes of London West and Crispin Colvin of Elgin-Middlesex-London, along with national Liberal president Mike Eizenga, a London lawyer.

Martin was preoccupied with the Conservative leader, whose party continues to lead the Liberals in the polls. He said the Conservative party has nothing in common with the former Progressive Conservatives, which he called "as dead as disco."

The prime minister said it was noteworthy Harper has "had to keep many of his Conservative members in hiding. He doesn't want (them) to tell Canadians what they stand for."

He accused Harper of a having "narrow vision and values" and urged his receptive crowd to work hard it the dying hours of the campaign to thwart him.

Martin said the only way to stop the "radical right" is to vote Liberal. "Let's send Stephen Harper packing," he said to a loud cheer.

"The finish line is in sight," he said. "The race is ours to win and we're going to win it."

He likened Harper's plans to those of former Ontario premier Mike Harris, who he said ran up debt and destroyed social programs.

It was Martin's second visit to London in four days.

When he left London Wednesday, he'd said he probably would not return before tomorrow's general election. The addition of a final blitz in London suggests his party is anxious to help local candidates where three of the four London ridings were taken by Liberals in 2004.

"I was born and I was raised in Southwestern Ontario and this election is about values. This is where I got my values," he said, with a slightly raspy voice.

Martin reiterated concern about the future of Ford's St. Thomas assembly plant, which could be hard hit by the ailing automaker's restructuring plans to be announced tomorrow.

"We all know there is a big announcement coming from Ford on Monday," he said.

"I believe in a Canadian government investing to protect jobs. I believe we should help Canadian workers. I believe we should help Canadian communities. Stephen Harper says it's none of our business. I'll tell him that's the nation's business."

After his 15-minute pep talk, Martin left by bus for rallies in Kitchener and Brampton before flying to Winnipeg for a Chinese New Year's dinner and a stop at a Franco-Manitoban cultural centre.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/CanadaVotes/2006/01/22/1405583-sun.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4622030.stm

Blogs written by Liberal and Conservative party supporters have enlivened the debate in Canada's federal election campaign.

Here some of the best political bloggers share their take on the campaign, ahead of the vote on Monday 23 January.

"In the past, the stuff we've described as negative has been pretty tame"

Colby Cosh, Colbycosh.com

"A Conservative victory won't signify a shifting of political opinion"

Bart Ransom, Calgary Grit

"This has been an astonishing campaign"

Kate McMillan, Small Dead Animals

"The Liberals have been unable to get their message out"

Jason Cherniak, Cherniak on Politics

"None of the parties is talking about the issues that really matter"

David Cournoyer, Daveberta

"Politicians shouldn't underestimate the internet"

Steve Janke, Angry in the Great White North

much more at the link

If Harper is smart he'll call a quick snap election soon, right after he gets his government established and they can get into the honeymoon period.  He can't wait until the first major majority party bill crashes and burns, because it will unmask him and his party completely.  Who knew that the French 4th Republic had transplanted itself west to Ottawa?

From correspondents in Ottawa

23jan06

OPPOSITION leader Stephen Harper and his Conservatives are tipped to end 2 years of Liberal rule in Canada.

In the last hours of the campaign, unusually held in the depths of Canada's savage winter, party leaders criss-crossed the vast country to shore up support and convince still-undecided voters.

Mr Harper, his party running 10 points ahead of Prime Minister Paul Martin and his scandal-tainted Liberals in opinion polls, basked in the glow of an apparently imminent victory as Mr Martin staged a last ditch bid to stave off defeat.

"We can win because it is time for a change, time to move forward, time to get beyond the scandals and investigations and corruption," Mr Harper told a cheering crowd in the frigid central city of Winnipeg today.

"Let the Liberals claim, for Canada, this is as good as it gets. I know for our Canada, the best is yet to come," he said, chastising his main opponents as a "disorganised, directionless and desperate government."

Mr Martin, a millionaire former shipping tycoon, who claims Mr Harper is an "extremist" in the mould of US arch-conservatives, however refused to admit defeat.

"We will win!" he promised cheering supporters at a rally in Richmond, a suburb of the western city of Vancouver.

"We have the numbers. We can stop Stephen Harper. We can elect a government that reflects the Canada we believe in. It is up to us. So I am asking (you) to dig deeper, go further, to fight harder."

A poll by Strategic Counsel for CTV television and Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper gave the Conservatives 37 per cent of the likely vote, and the Liberals 27 per cent.

Those figures, in line with other polls, would translate to a solid Harper victory, but hand him a minority government, forcing him to piece together a coalition administration with help of the separatist Bloc Quebecois or the left-wing New Democratic Party.

The New Democrats had 18 per cent in the CTV poll, with significant gains in west coast British Columbia, and in Toronto, Canada's economic hub.

The Bloc, which only fields candidates in the French-speaking province of Quebec, was at 11 per cent.

In vote-rich Ontario, a bastion of liberalism, the race seemed to be tightening in the final hours with the Conservatives tied with the Liberals at 37 per cent.

The Montreal newspaper La Presse carried an Ekos survey which predicted the Conservatives would win 120 to 130 seats in the 308-seat House of Commons.

Sullied by corruption allegations, the Liberals are no longer the political machine which bulldozed to four straight election victories, three under retired ex-prime minister Jean Chretien.

They have barely clung to power since voters, tired of a patronage scandal, snatched away their ruling majority in the last election in June 2004.

Mr Harper told CTV television overnight that he would "try and have something for everybody" in Canada, promising reduced taxes and a crackdown on crime, rejecting claims he was an extremist.

"I am a conservative, I believe in the power of free markets and liberalised trade and making sure Canada's economy is dynamic."

"I also believe you need social services but you should deliver them in a way that empowers people, these are all small 'c' conservative views."

Liberals claim Mr Harper would threaten abortion rights, revisit a law permitting same-sex marriage passed by Mr Martin in 2005, and renege on Canada's Kyoto Protocol commitment to combat global warming.

The Conservative leader may also review Canada's refusal to join the US anti-ballistic missile shield.

Mr Harper has, however, softened a once cold, angry image and portrayed himself as a reassuring prime minister-in-waiting.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,17907205%5E1702,00.html

Last Updated Sun, 22 Jan 2006 11:34:26 EST

CBC News

NDP Leader Jack Layton paid little attention to the Liberals but was harsh on the front-running Conservatives on the last day before Monday's federal election.

Appearing Sunday morning in Hamilton, where the NDP holds one seat, Layton positioned the party as one that would defend the environment, health care and foreign policy in Parliament from Conservative policies.

Jack Layton campaigning in Hamilton Sunday.  

"We are going to stop the spread of credit-card medicine," he said.

Layton emphasized the NDP commitment to "working families," and contrasted that with the Conservatives. "Their priorities are wrong," he said.

The Conservatives expect tax cuts will fix Canada's problems, but that's not right. The tax cuts will give dimes to people but dollars to banks and oil companies, Layton asserted.

"Working families are tired of being at the back of the line when they deserve to be at the front of the line," he said.

He emphasized seniors, saying that many families had expressed concern about taking care of aging parents and grandparents.

Layton had little to say about the Liberals, again asking voters to switch their support to the NDP.

Layton will appear in Toronto later Sunday, where he holds the sole NDP seat.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canadavotes2006/national/2006/01/22/layton-sunday060122.html

Jan 22, 4:17 PM EST

Glance at Canada's Federal Election

WHAT'S AT STAKE: The elections are for 308 seats in lower House of Commons. A party needs at least 155 seats to form a majority government. Otherwise the leader of the party that wins the most seats must try to form a minority government, which must be approved by governor-general.

CURRENT PARLIAMENT: Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberal Party holds 133 seats, Stephen Harper's Conservative Party has 98 seats, Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe controls 53 seats and Jack Layton's New Democratic Party has 18 seats. Independents hold four seats and two remain vacant.

KEY ISSUES: Calls for cutting taxes, enforcing tougher penalties for violent crimes and beefing up the military, along with border security and relations with the United States. The Conservatives have focused on federal inquiries into corruption allegations against the Liberal Party. The Liberals have accused the Conservatives of having a hidden right-wing agenda to chip away at abortion and gay rights.

VOTING: Some 22.7 million Canadians are registered to vote at 60,000 polling stations. Polls open in eastern Newfoundland at 6:30 a.m. EST and close in western British Columbia at 10 p.m. EST. Results typically come within an hour after polls close.

Advertisement

WHY: Under Canada's parliament system, the House was dissolved in November, when Martin's Liberals lost a vote of confidence. The New Democratic Party withdrew support of Liberals when they reneged on health care promises and became mired in corruption scandal.

---

On the Net:

Elections Canada: http://www.elections.ca

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CANADA_ELECTION_GLANCE?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL

from the Toronto Star

Stacked vote creates some sure losers

Winner-take-all system also silences urban, left

Jan. 23, 2006. 01:00 AM

CHANTAL HEBERT

OTTAWA On at least one fundamental score, this is, once again, not going to be an election for the record books.

When the votes are counted tonight, women are unlikely to be any closer to achieving parity with men in the House of Commons. Today's vote could even result in fewer female MPs taking their seats in the next Parliament.

Canada takes tentative step to right in election

Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:53 AM ET

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada took a tentative step to the right in Monday's federal election, ousting the Liberals after 12 years in power and voting in a fragile minority Conservative government, television networks said.

Preliminary official figures at 12:20 p.m. (0520 GMT Tuesday) showed the Conservatives winning or ahead in 125 electoral districts compared to 102 for the Liberals of Prime Minister Paul Martin.

The result was a personal triumph for Conservative leader Stephen Harper, a 46-year-old economist who forced through the creation of the party in December 2003 by uniting two squabbling right-wing movements.

"I have just called Stephen Harper and I have offered him my congratulations. The people of Canada have chosen him to lead a minority government," Martin told supporters in his Montreal electoral district in a concession speech.

Support for the Liberals shrank amid voter fatigue and a major kickback scandal which brought down Martin's minority government in November.

"Canadians voted for hope over fear and accountability over corruption ... Tonight is the beginning of a moment of reckoning for the Liberal Party," senior Conservative Jason Kenney told reporters in the western city of Calgary.

Harper vowed to clean up government, cut the national sales tax, clamp down on crime, cut waiting times for health care and improve strained relations with the United States.

But how long he can stay in power is open to question, since he will have nowhere near the 155 seats he needs to hold a majority in the 308-seat House of Commons.

The Conservatives have no natural allies in Parliament and will therefore need to govern on an issue-by-issue basis with the backing of other parties.

"Minority means we have to be constructive, and we have to be working together and finding common ground," deputy Conservative leader Peter MacKay told CTV.

Traditional wisdom dictates that minority governments in Canada usually last between a year and 18 months.

(more)

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-01-24T055215Z_01_N19193
346_RTRUKOC_0_US-POLITICS.xml

"Constructive Opposition"

Updated Sun. Jan. 22 2006 2:57 PM ET

Canadian Press

LAVAL, Que. -- Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe is promising constructive opposition to whichever party wins the election.

Duceppe says the Bloc won't behave any differently if the Conservatives form the next government than it did during the Liberal reign.

That means the Bloc will continue to defend Quebec's interests, Duceppe said at a campaign appearance in Laval, north of Montreal.

Duceppe has warned Quebecers that a Stephen Harper-led Conservative government would defend Alberta's interests above all.

The Bloc leader is touring several Montreal-area ridings on the last day of the campaign.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060121/bloc_opposition_060122/20060122?s_name=
election2006&no_ads=

It was definitely NOT a good night for the US influenced and oddly mysterious Xian evangelicals and their ultra right wing agenda.  There were 8 of these extremely well financed candidates across the country and every constituancy that had the misfortune to have one in their midst will be reeling for some time from the sheer nastiness and mean-spiritedness of their campaigns.  I happen to live in one such riding and can confirm that in spades.  

But the dust has now cleared, leaving

NOVA SCOTIA

Paul Fancis - Sackvile Eastern Shore - Defeated

Andrew House -  Halifax Defeated

Raklesh Khosa - Halifax W. Defeated

ONTARIO

Rondo Thomas - Ajax Pickering Defeated

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Mark Dalton - New West/Burnaby - Defeated

Darryl Reid (former head of "Focus on the Family" Canada) Richmond -Defeated

Cindy Silver - North Van - Defeated

John Weston - W.Van/Sunshine Coast- Defeated

Just one survivor of the lot

David Sweet, elected in the Ontario riding of Ancaster Dundas - formerly President for six years of the Canadian Chapter of the "Promise Keepers" (which is just plenty weirdness enough, I'd say.)

(Well, and maybe Stockwell Day, if he counts - though he was never touted as a key candidate in this power bid.)

That goodness Canadian voters with our traditional strong quotient of plain horse sense are not about to eliminate the divison of church and state anytime soon.  We're already courting enough trouble with these election results, without having to put up with 8 wannabe Jerry Falwells littering the landscape, too.

Posted on Sun, Jan. 22, 2006

Canadians face tough choices in election

BETH DUFF-BROWN

Associated Press

OTTAWA  

Canadians voting Monday for a new leader and House of Commons will choose between 13 years of Liberal Party rule or a new government that could shift the country toward a conservative right seeking to cut social programs funded by high taxes.

It's a tough call for the nation's 22.7 million registered voters.

Many support the social and economic policies of the Liberals and worry that Conservative leader Stephen Harper may be too extreme in his views on abortion and gay marriage, but Canadians also have grown weary of the broken promises and corruption scandals that have plagued the ruling party.

"Change is an issue for a lot of people," said Nelson Wiseman, a political scientist at the University of Toronto. "This is the Liberals seeking their fifth consecutive term, so a lot of people believe that it's healthy to have a periodic alteration of parties, like the Americans, so that dynamic is out there."

Though voters at some 60,000 polling stations from Newfoundland to Nunavut also will be considering candidates from the leftist New Democratic Party, French-speaking separatist Bloc Quebecois and the Green Party of environmentalists, the battle is largely between Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin and Harper.

Martin, 67, has trumpeted the eight consecutive budget surpluses under Liberal Party rule and sought to paint Harper as a right-winger posing as a moderate to woo mainstream voters. He claims Harper supported the U.S.-led war in Iraq, which was opposed by many Canadians, and would try to outlaw abortions and overturn Canada's marriage rights for gays and lesbians - all of which Harper denies.

"People will have to choose between the ultraconservative, extreme right-wing agenda of Stephen Harper and the progressive, ambitious plan we're offering Canadians," Martin told a campaign rally Saturday.

Martin accused the Tories of muzzling their candidates in recent weeks to avoid alienating voters with contentious remarks about gay marriage and abortion, as they had during the last election.

The Liberal campaign appears to have worked with Joanna Lundy, a mental health worker in Vancouver, British Columbia. She will reluctantly vote Liberal in an effort to block Harper from becoming prime minister.

"He's not open to diversity," she said. "I think he'll put us in the dark ages on women's issues, abortion issues, gay issues."

Harper, the youngest candidate at 46, has toned down the rightist rhetoric that cost him the last election in June 2004 and has painted the Liberals as a party that takes taxpayers for granted and is top-heavy on scandal.

He has pledged to establish a federal accountability commission to review government spending, to contribute $1,041 to Canadians with young children for day care and to cut the widely unpopular national sales tax from 7 percent to 5 percent within five years.

"If you want your taxes to go down, you have to vote for it. If you want a government that actually does something about crime, you have to vote for it. If you want to fix health care, you have to vote for it. If you want choice in child care, you have to vote for it. And the only way to get that is to vote for a new Conservative government," Harper said Sunday at a campaign rally.

Martin's government and the 308-member House of Commons were dissolved in November after New Democrats defected from the governing coalition to support the Conservatives in a no-confidence vote.

The opposition said the Liberals no longer had the moral authority to govern, pointing to a party debacle in which several members were accused of misspending millions of dollars from a national unity fund, prompting a federal inquiry and several indictments.

Even after losing the vote and being forced to dissolve Parliament, Martin remained ahead in the polls and relatively popular with Canadians, who applauded his moves to legalize gay marriage nationwide, push through a national child-care program and stand up to Washington on security and trade issues.

But the Liberals' numbers began slipping after a teenage girl was killed by a stray bullet in downtown Toronto while shopping on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. Harper quickly responded with a platform that was tough on crime and promised stricter measures to keep illegal guns from being smuggled across the U.S. border.

The Liberals' popularity slipped even more in early January when it was revealed that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were investigating a possible leak by Liberal government officials that appeared to have influenced the stock market.

Though no one has been implicated of wrongdoing, Conservatives seized on the report to add to their campaign momentum. At one point last week, the Conservatives led in one poll by double digits, although their edge had dropped to 7-8 percentage points by Friday.

Postal worker Tim Armstrong is among the many Canadians tired of the scandals plaguing the Liberal government.

"I think they lack credibility and integrity," he said. "Every time you turn around, there's another scandal. It just goes on and on and on."

ON THE NET

Liberal Party: http://www.liberal.ca

Conservative Party: http://www.conservative.ca

New Democratic Party: http://www.ndp.ca

Bloc Quebecois: http://www.blocquebecois.org

Green Party: http://www.greenparty.ca

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/canada/13687121.htm

By DANIEL LEBLANC

Sunday, January 22, 2006 Posted at 12:58 PM EST

Globe and Mail Update

Montreal -- Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe is ending the eight-week campaign with a final blitz in Montreal, promising an even bigger victory for his opposition party than 2004's record haul of seats.

Mr. Duceppe is going to four Liberal ridings, hoping to score upsets in traditionally federalist parts of the city.

He started off at the headquarters of Taxi Expert in the riding of Papineau, which is currently held by Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew.

Mr. Duceppe used a CB to call drivers and encourage them, their families and their clients to vote.

"Democracy is precious," said Mr. Duceppe, pointing that many cabbies come from countries that do not hold free ballots. "You can and you will make a difference."

Mr. Duceppe also went to the Liberal riding of Ahuntsic and gave a pep talk to the supporters of Maria Mourani, who came in second in the 2004 election.

"This time around, we will win," Mr. Duceppe said.

But the Bloc is still in for a fight elsewhere in the province. The Conservative Party is highly competitive in a number of ridings in the Quebec City area and could stop the Bloc from dominating the francophone parts of the province.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has said that a Liberal-dominated Senate, judiciary and bureaucracy would prevent a Conservative government from doing everything it wanted, but Mr. Duceppe added that the best safeguard in Quebec is a "large gang" of Bloc MPs.

"We're the best check and balance to stop him from putting an end to the daycare centres in Quebec, to stop him from making Quebec pay for Kyoto, to stop him from sending 14-year-old children in jail," Mr. Duceppe said. "The interests that he is defending are not Quebec's interests."

Mr. Duceppe had spent Friday and Saturday touring parts of the province that could potentially go Conservative, such as Pontiac, just north of Gatineau, and ridings in the Quebec City area and in the Saguenay.

In Quebec City, the Bloc took out full page ads in newspapers on Saturday to say that there is a western menace hanging over Quebec "We will not let Calgary decide for Quebec," the ad stated in bold letters, with the drawing of a little cowboy hat over the word Calgary to further illustrate the city's far-west heritage.

Mr. Duceppe said the goal of the ad was simply to point out that Albertans have different values than Quebeckers on issues such as the Kyoto Accord and agricultural development, insisting the ad did not consist in a personal attack on the people of Calgary.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060122.welblocdu0122/BNStory/Front

...all Canadians, and all Americans under 30 are morons.  You get what you deserve.  Enjoy your "family values."

I believe the faith most Canadians hold is that their religion is very private and isn't the busines of government.  

Relgion is very, very seldom a topic of conversation.  In my teens I was once pulled over by a police officer who was anticipating giving me a ticket.  He asked, "Are you Jewish by any chance?"  My off the cuff response was, "What has my religion to do with getting this ticket?"

I was, I believe, about 17 at the time, and for an officer to even ask the question was totally foreign to my frame of reference that my response would have been typical of literally any Canadian.  

Religion to a Canadian is a very private thing and there is 'no' role in government.  

I really don't give a rat's ass what the fundies believe...they don't have a place in my govenment.   IMHO, I'm representative of what most Canadians think about religion...which isn't very much--it just doesn't play a large roll.  Go to a church if you like...I'll go to mine if that's what I want to do.  Just don't get in my face about your beliefs!        

A Face Reading Expert Ways In:

By ANN MARIE MCQUEEN, OTTAWA SUN

Local expert tells Ann Marie McQueen that the noses, eyes and lips of our PM hopefuls can offer some clues on their personalities

PAUL MARTIN's mind is darting off in a hundred different directions, Stephen Harper has trouble communicating and Jack Layton just wants to be liked.

And Gilles Duceppe? Well, he might just like to rule the world.

For Ottawa's Dianne Nichol, it just takes a glance at the faces of Canada's Liberal, Conservative, NDP and Bloc candidates to figure out what they are all about.

The face reader has even advised several local Liberal and Conservative candidates on how to look for signs of support on the door-to-door campaign trail.

Nichol's expertise means that when she looks at the four prime ministerial candidates, she sees much more than a crooked nose or bushy eyebrows.

For example, Nichol fervently believes Martin is the best husband on the campaign trail. He is both compassionate and needs people, something Nichol says she can tell by his visible eyelids. But, she cautions, his chaotic eyebrows are a sign of trouble.

LARGE NOSE, STRATEGY

"There are too many ideas in his head," she says. "Too many different interests."

Harper's larger nose suggests he is an excellent strategist and long-range planner. His eyes are close together, which can indicate narrow-mindedness, while the smaller shape of his mouth could mean he's better at communicating one-on-one than in groups.

"He's so focused, Stephen Harper," says Nichol. "That's why he doesn't communicate much. Because he lives in his head."

Jack Layton's crooked nose and mouth -- not to mention his larger right eye -- indicate that while he may be a good human being, he has a tremendous hunger for public recognition, says Nichol.

"He needs it so desperately. He needs approval."

Duceppe's heart-shaped face and arched eyebrows suggest he likes to get his own way, doesn't waste time and needs to be in control.

"He's so fast," she says. "He doesn't have time for anyone."

Nichol, who has a degree in psychology, spent 15 years as a cosmetics sales rep and has been studying faces for more than a decade. With just one day left until the election, even she remains torn over who to vote for.

HEART VS. LOGIC

"If I go with my heart, which is for compassion, it's Paul Martin," she says. "If I go with logic, with a guy who's doing all the studying that needs to be done, it's Stephen Harper."

Nichol admits to tip-toeing around some of the candidates' more negative characteristics in an effort to be "diplomatic."

Could her findings have been more alarming?

"Oh yes," she laughs.

Jan. 22, 2006. 03:08 PM

CANADIAN PRESS

Jack Layton cruised home today poised to gain seats in Ontario and British Columbia after running a steady campaign that seems to have drawn some middle-of-the-road voters.

Pollsters and seat projectors are calling for near-record results for New Democrats in the seismic shift that may trigger a Conservative victory Monday. Some even say Layton's NDP could approach the party's all-time high of 43 seats under Ed Broadbent in 1988.

However, even NDP insiders say that result would require a tremendous amount of luck in a dozen three-way races where Liberals, Conservatives or New Democrats each have a chance of winning.

In 2004, the party seemed to be poised to win about 30 seats. Then as polling results rolled in through the night a dozen of them disappeared to the Conservatives and Liberals. The NDP lost many of them by a few hundred votes or less.

Pollsters and the party blamed the shift on last-minute strategic voting by soft NDP supporters who thought Liberals were a better bet to stop Tories.

"All I'll say is, this campaign is absolutely not a repeat of 2004," said NDP strategist Jamey Heath.

"We're not making predictions, but are confident people know whose side we're on. . . . We expect to defeat many Conservative MPs and Liberal MPs tomorrow."

Layton visited many of the close ridings from 2004 in the final week of the campaign, spending much of his time in British Columbia before hopping nearly 3,600 kilometres over the weekend to hopeful ridings in Saskatchewan, northern Ontario and finally Toronto.

Saturday's airborne tour switched to buses for seven stops in downtown Toronto on Sunday. A new bus was pressed into action after Layton's main campaign vehicle was knocked out of action by vandals who broke several windows.

Police are investigating but have no suspects.

One of the final stops on Layton's itinerary was the downtown Toronto riding of his wife, Olivia Chow, who was among the NDP's unexpected losers in the 2004 campaign.

Layton said the NDP will keep the Conservatives from steamrolling across the country.

"We saw that all across British Columbia this week where we are going to stop Mr. Harper," Layton told about 400 supporters in Hamilton.

"We saw that in Edmonton and Saskatchewan, where we are going to stop Mr. Harper as well."

Edmonton and Saskatchewan are unlikely to deliver many seats to Layton, but polls seem to show his vote is holding in B.C. and Ontario, where voters fled to the Liberals at the last minute in 2004.

Layton has pitched the NDP as the alternative to keep the Conservatives in check after predicting the Liberals will be in disarray after losing the election.

In a mark of confidence that the message is working, Layton even paid tribute to the Liberal party of old, sounding like a man delivering a political eulogy for an old rival.

"Our party has great respect for what the Liberal party has accomplished in the past," said Layton.

"Unfortunately, it's more and more clear that Paul Martin is not Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Paul Martin is not Lester B. Pearson."

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&a
mp;cid=1137943087904&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467

Norma Greenaway, Ottawa Citizen

Published: Saturday, January 21, 2006

OTTAWA -- Canadians are ready to elect a strong minority Conservative government Monday with a solid NDP check on its power, a new national survey conducted for CanWest News Service and Global National suggests.

The survey by Ipsos-Reid also says the Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois are in a neck-and-neck race to become the official Opposition.

Darrell Bricker, president of the polling firm, says the survey's bottom line is that Conservative leader Stephen Harper will be Canada's next prime minister.

"Harper is going to win on Monday night, there is no question about that," Bricker said in an interview.

He also said the poll's findings do not support speculation the race is tightening in the crucial battleground of Ontario.

The poll of 2,000 people, conducted Tuesday to Thursday, shows the Conservative party with a 12-point lead over the second-place Liberals.

It says the Tories have the support of 38 per cent of respondents, up one point from the previous week. By contrast, the Liberals were down three points to 26 per cent. The NDP climbed one point to 19 per cent and the Green party was unchanged at five per cent.

The poll is considered accurate within 2.2 percentage points 19 times in 20.

Barring a boost in Tory support over the weekend, the Conservatives are unlikely to secure the 155 seats they need for a majority in the 308-seat House of Commons, Bricker suggested.

"They are pretty well at the top of their cycle," he said of the Tories.

Ipsos-Reid projects the Conservatives could win 143 to 147 seats. The Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois could snag 59 to 63 seats each, and the NDP 39 to 43 seats, more than double the number in the 2004 election.

Bricker said the bulk of the NDP's gains, as many as 15 to 20 ridings, will be in Ontario, where the party is poised to pick off seats from the Liberals in Northern Ontario, as well as in the Hamilton and Windsor areas.

"Paul Martin's message about trying to stop the Tories seems to be working to the advantage of the NDP in Ontario," Bricker said.

Martin has been pleading with "progressive" backers of the NDP and Green party to cast their vote with the Liberals to thwart a Tory victory.

"But the ironic aspect of that," said Bricker, "is that it is kind of playing into Jack Layton's message -- if you want to put controls on these guys, vote for the NDP."

In Ontario, the Conservatives had the support of 38 per cent of respondents, down two points from last week. The Liberals were down three points to 34 per cent. The NDP were up two points to 21 per cent.

The margin of error is 3.5 points 19 times in 20.

In closely watched British Columbia, Conservative support rose five percentage points to 35 per cent, and the NDP climbed four points to 29 per cent. The Liberals dropped one point to 27 per cent, and the Green party fell nine points to seven per cent. The margin of error is 5.9 points.

In Quebec, the Conservatives were at 27 per cent, up six points. The Liberals were down 10 points at 14 per cent, and the Bloc had the support of 46 per cent of respondents, up three points. The margin of error for the provincial result was 4.5 percentage points 19 times in 20.

(more)

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=51434986-ccc1-4c33-aa3b-b118fa3feeba&k=287
96

Conservatives dim independence chance in Quebec

Tue Jan 24, 2006 5:29 AM ET

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's Conservatives pushed the separatist Bloc Quebecois below the key 50 percent mark in early election results from the French-speaking province of Quebec, cutting the odds of a new vote on breaking up Canada.

The Conservatives, unable to elect a single candidate in Quebec in 2004, were leading or elected in 10 of the French-speaking province's 75 districts with some 26 percent of the popular vote on Monday.

The separatist Bloc Quebecois, which once bragged that it could steal over 50 percent of the Quebec vote, was ahead in 50 districts with 43 percent.

"Absolutely we're pleased with these results. Everyone was saying before the election that it was impossible for us to crack Quebec," said Albertan Jason Kenney, tipped as a possible minister in a Conservative government.

The Conservatives came up from nowhere in the Quebec race, as pro-Canada voters disillusioned with the ruling Liberals switched allegiance from the Bloc Quebecois. Several Quebecers are tipped as possible ministers in a Conservative minority government, now the likely outcome of the election.

The Bloc won 48.8 percent of the Quebec vote in the June 2004 election, taking 54 of the province's 75 parliamentary seats. That left the Liberals with 21 seats and the Conservatives with none.

The Liberals were ahead in 14 districts late on Monday with 18.7 percent of the vote -- a dismal showing for a party which once saw Quebec as a major power base.

After 12 years in power, the party lost its edge in Quebec during a sponsorship scandal that centered on kickbacks to senior Quebec Liberals during a badly conceived advertising program designed to promote a united Canada.

Separatists in the province had hoped that a strong vote for the Bloc Quebecois would bolster support for independence ahead of a provincial election expected in two years and party officials tried to put a brave face on their showing of under 50 percent.

"It means nothing because that will be settled if and when the referendum comes," said Joseph Facal, a former Quebec cabinet minister who was a strategist for the Bloc during this campaign.

Quebec voted against separation by just under 51 percent in a 1995 referendum that split politicians, voters and even families in the province into separatist and federalist camps. An earlier referendum, in 1980, also resulted in a victory for the pro-Canada camp.

(more)

http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-01-24T102805Z_01_N23378
401_RTRUKOT_0_TEXT0.xml&related=true

Jan 22, 3:58 PM EST

Thumbnail Sketches of Canadian Candidates

Brief biographies of the four top federal party candidates vying for leadership of the House of Commons in Canada's elections on Monday:

Paul Martin, 67, is head of Canada's Liberal Party and succeeded Jean Chretien to become the 21st prime minister in December, 2003. The son of a longtime Liberal Party Cabinet minister, Martin was born in Windsor, Ontario, and has a bachelor's degree in history and philosophy and a law degree from the University of Toronto. He worked for Montreal-based conglomerate Power Corp. of Canada, before becoming president, then sole owner of Canada Steamship Lines. Elected to Parliament in 1988 as Liberal candidate in a Montreal district, he served as finance minister under Chretien from 1993-2002.

---

Stephen Harper, 46, is the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. He was born in Toronto and has a master's degree in economics from the University of Calgary. After working as a computer programmer, he became a founding member of the Reform Party and was elected to House of Commons in 1993. He left parliament in 1997 to head the National Citizens Coalition, a conservative advocacy group. He was elected leader of a new party, Canadian Alliance, in 2002, then spearheaded efforts to merge the alliance with the Progressive Conservative Party and was elected leader of the new Conservative Party in March 2004.

Jack Layton, 55, is leader of the New Democratic Party. Born in Hudson, Quebec, he has a bachelor's degree in political science from McGill University and holds a doctorate in political science from York University in Toronto. A former city councilor and deputy mayor of Toronto, he was elected to Parliament in June 2004. A strong supporter of labor unions and national health care, Layton was elected leader of the NDP in 2003.

---

Gilles Duceppe, 58, is leader of the Bloc Quebecois, a separatist party devoted to the sovereignty of the French-speaking province of Quebec. Born in Montreal, he studied political science at the University of Montreal. A labor organizer, he became the first politician ever elected to House on a sovereignty platform after winning a 1990 by-election in Montreal. Duceppe became leader of the party in March 1997.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CANADA_ELECTION_THUMBAILS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=INTERNATIONA
L

No mention of $2B highways, borders infrastructure fund during Ont. speech  

Doug Schmidt, Windsor Star

Published: Saturday, January 21, 2006

WINDSOR, ONT. -- Despite standing on the doorstep of North America's busiest border crossing for his last campaign speech on Ontario soil, and despite what rally organizers had said in advance would be his main topic, Conservative leader Stephen Harper made no mention of his party's proposed $2 billion highways and borders infrastructure fund during an early-morning campaign stop in Windsor Sunday.

But it made no difference to an overflowing crowd of several hundred chanting and deliriously happy Tory supporters who packed a Hilton Hotel ballroom on the eve of an election that pollsters predict will hand Harper the keys to 24 Sussex Drive.

"We're just happy he came to Windsor," said Rick Fuschi, Tory candidate in Windsor-Tecumseh. "And I don't think it's a coincidence Mr. Harper was here, because he sees something here."

"We can win anywhere tomorrow," Harper said during a half-hour appearance that was frequently interrupted by cheers.

With the exception of Jeff Watson, elected in the area riding of Essex in 2004, the Tories had until recently considered the Windsor region an electoral wasteland for their party.

But Sunday's rally was Harper's second Windsor stop of the campaign and came on the tail end of several days of whirlwind stumping through voter-rich and election-crucial southern Ontario. Compare that effort to former Conservative leader Brian Mulroney, who never visited the Windsor area during nine years as prime minister.

While Brian Masse in Windsor West and Joe Comartin are expected to keep their NDP ridings, the last poll predictions of the campaign have Watson maintaining what had been a traditionally Liberal seat, and neighbouring Liberal bastion Chatham-Kent-Essex is expected to fall to a Conservative newcomer, David Van Kesteren.

"Canada approaches a monumental day in its history," Fuschi said before introducing Harper.

"Only a new government can turn the page on the past 13 years of scandal and inaction and get on with addressing the real concerns of ordinary, working people," said Harper.

"If you want your taxes to go down, you have to vote for it. If you want a government that actually does something about crime, you have to vote for it. If you want to fix health care, you have to vote for it. If you want choice in child care, you have to vote for it.

"And the only way to get that is to vote for a new Conservative government," he said. "It is time to get beyond the scandals and corruption."

"Thank goodness we're almost there," Windsorite Dolores Paolatto said of her belief the Conservatives will be in power after Monday's vote.

Fellow Windsor Conservative supporter Roy Campbell said the recent spate of negative Liberal campaign ads has made him "ashamed of the prime minister ... Canada deserves better."

In response to Windsor native son Paul Martin's charges in the dying days of the campaign that Harper is "extreme," ultra-conservative" and "far-right," the Conservative leader has focused on policy proposals, perhaps trying to counteract the fearful image that had Ontario voters largely shun his party in 2004.

Harper reiterated a number of his campaign pledges, including a justice platform that will see mandatory prison sentences for handgun crimes and prison terms where "serving serious time will mean serving serious time" with "no more house arrests." He pledged more police in the streets and "tougher security at our borders."

"These are our priorities, not more fear and more smear," he said in Windsor before hopping a plane for Winnipeg and then B.C. to close the campaign.

Keeping tightly to his scripted text and rushing out before the media could ask any questions, Harper also failed to make any mention of the automotive sector in a city that describes itself as Canada's automotive capital.

As for infrastructure and the all-important issue to Windsor voters of finding a solution to the city's border traffic woes, the three local Conservative candidates issued a weekend news release promising that the party would honour "all signed infrastructure agreements and renew the existing infrastructure funds when they expire."

"The Conservatives will certainly deliver better than the Liberals," said Windsor West Tory hopeful Alfonso Teshuba.

© Windsor Star

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=e82b6758-9e15-46f7-b889-9611138d773f&k=768
90

minute for us to hold our breaths!  Any news?  This is funny, just before I checked in, I found an article that shows that the press is in complete disarray.  While reporting polls show a conservative win, it follows with a paragraph showing liberal wins.  Go figure:

"Polls Predict Conservative Win in Canada

OTTAWA (AP) - Canadians voted Monday in an election that could dramatically change the country's political landscape with most polls predicting victory for Stephen Harper's Conservatives - a result that would likely push Canada to the right and lead to improved ties with the U.S.

A victory by Harper, whose ideology runs along the same lines as many U.S. Republicans, would end to the Liberal Party's 13-year hold on power.

Even if Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin, 67, does eke out a win, he'll likely head a weak minority government that will find it very difficult to get things done in the House of Commons.

According to early results after polls closed in far eastern Canada, the Canadian Press news agency reported that the Liberal Party won two seats in Newfoundland and was ahead in two more of the province's seven seats."

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060124/D8FAO0F00.html

This thread will , I think, have reached its natural end today.  What do you want to do now about posting things Canadian and political?

-Post as separate stories until a subject comes up that will get heavy interest/input.

                     or

-Post in a single thread for cohesiveness, either in Diary or in NewsQueue(Diary is actually better as new stories are not so constantly pushing a thread further down the queue)

Keeping people posting on a single thread is difficult unless the thread is very active. A thread does not stay visible  near the top of the queue without manual intervention, and will not be on the FP unless there is significant content of interest to Agonists. (It does have the plus of a single place to go to here, to read, post, fight, or bond:-))

Both Mathieu(I think) and I have found that dificulty out, in our different ways.

So let the Agonist know how you want to proceed

here.

UPDATE 5-Canada Conservatives win election -- TV networks

Tuesday 24 January 2006, 10:34pm EST

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Canada's opposition Conservatives were heading for a narrow victory in Monday's national election, ending 12 years of Liberal rule, major television networks said.

All four channels predicted the Conservatives of Stephen Harper would win but preliminary data showed he would fall well short of a 155-seat majority in the 308-member Parliament.

Preliminary results showed the Conservatives winning or ahead in 115 electoral districts compared to 96 for the ruling Liberals. They were in line with polls in the last three weeks of the campaign which consistently showed the Conservatives were set to win a fragile mandate.

The result was a personal triumph for Harper, who forced through the creation of the Conservatives in December 2003 by uniting two squabbling right-wing movements.

"It shows that Canadians were looking for change," deputy Conservative leader Peter MacKay told CTV.

When asked how long it would take to form a cabinet he replied: "We'll want to get at it right away."

Support for the Liberals had slipped amid voter fatigue and a major kickback scandal which brought down the minority government of Prime Minister Paul Martin in November.

Martin had tried hard to convince Canadians that Harper was an extremist who would try to strip away personal freedoms such as gay marriage and abortion.

The Conservatives have no natural allies in Parliament and will therefore have to govern on an issue-by-issue basis.

"Minority means we have to be constructive, and we have to be working together and finding common ground. We worked hard and we've kept away from some of the nastiness that we've seen in other elections," MacKay said.

Analysts believe a minority Harper government would likely last between a year and 18 months.

Early data showed the Conservatives won nine of the 32 seats in the four Atlantic provinces -- a gain of two -- while the Liberals slipped two to 20.

But they made significant gains in the powerful central province of Ontario, which accounts for 106 of the 308 seats in Parliament.

Preliminary data showed the Conservatives had also made some gains in the French-speaking province of Quebec, where only a few weeks ago the separatist Bloc Quebecois had expected to win almost all of the 75 seats.

The left-leaning New Democrats were winning or leading in 23 districts, a slight improvement on their performance in the June 2004 election.

In his campaign Harper vowed to clean up government, cut the national sales tax, clamp down on crime and cut waiting times for health care. He said Martin had not given voters a compelling reason to hand the Liberals, who took power in late 1993, a fifth successive mandate.

Martin fought mainly on his record, particularly an economy running both a healthy budget and trade surpluses.

As the Liberals slipped in the polls, Martin stepped up his attacks on Harper, saying he would leave the weak behind, curb abortion and let Washington determine Canadian foreign policy.

At the dissolution of the old Parliament in November, the Liberals had 133 seats and the Conservatives 98.

http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=nN23284236&im
ageid=&cap=

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4637986.stm

On the outskirts of Toronto, Ontario, in a former bank covered with posters screaming his name, one of the Western world's most-noted intellectuals is sitting down to a dinner of ham and potatoes.

It is a long way from Harvard for Michael Ignatieff, former Carr professor of the Practice of Human Rights and director of the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy at the university.

But the 58-year-old Canadian says his presence here as the ruling Liberal Party's candidate in Monday's general election fulfils a long-held ambition.

"At 21, I felt that one day I would like to run for public office, but a funny thing happened on the way," he says in between bites.

That funny thing included a fellowship at Cambridge University, more than 10 books on subjects as diverse as nationalism, his family history and Isaiah Berlin, and a career as a journalist including a stint fronting arts programmes for the BBC.

'Parachuted'

While many of his academic accomplishments seem to have been achieved with effortless ease, his return to Canada after 30 years in exile and candidacy in the constituency of Etobicoke-Lakeshore has not been without difficulties.

Mr Ignatieff was picked to run as the Liberal candidate for the heavily industrialised constituency on the shore of Lake Ontario in November last year after the sitting MP announced she would stand down.

The deadline for nominations was set for the day after Jean Augustine's announcement, and Mr Ignatieff's two rivals were controversially disqualified.

Many party members are angry at the way Mr Ignatieff was seemingly parachuted into the seat, neatly bypassing local candidates.

Mr Ignatieff, who now lives in Toronto, does not live in the constituency, although he says he will move there if elected.

At the nomination meeting, the crowd booed and heckled, at one point shouting "American! American!".

The 'unexpected'

Discontent has continued to simmer.

On Friday, one of those who sought the nomination, Ron Chyczij, the former president of the local Liberal Party association, endorsed Mr Ignatieff's main rival, the Conservative candidate John Capobianco.

There is more. The area is home to many Ukrainian-Canadians, and Mr Ignatieff was accused of insulting Ukrainians in his 1995 book on nationalism, Blood and Belonging. A group of angry Ukrainians picketed the offices of the Liberal Party in protest.

  I am a loyal party member but not a stupid member. The party let the country down

Michael Ignatieff

And Mr Ignatieff's support for the Iraq war, which he says he backed because of Saddam Hussein's treatment of the Kurds, has pitted him against his own party.

Was he warned about the feelings his candidacy might stir up?

"Politics is the art of managing the unexpected," he says wryly.

It has been a "nasty battle", but the transition from advising world leaders to chatting with Etobicoke residents about their sewers is one he appears to relish.

"The thing I've learned is that the environment, which used to be an issue for Greenpeace types, is going to be the next big mass issue.

"Here you have a national treasure, Lake Ontario, but it smells in the summer and you cannot swim in it," he says.

It is a message he repeats when addressing volunteers on Sunday, the last day of campaigning. His headquarters buzzes with people eating pizza before heading out to knock on doors and distribute glossy leaflets - none of which features the party leader, Paul Martin.

'Beaten up'

Mr Ignatieff has picked a difficult election to run for office. After a series of financial scandals, Mr Martin is deeply unpopular and polls suggest the party will lose Monday's vote to the Conservatives.

Local man Mr Capobianco has made a strong showing with a tight campaign, and Etobicoke-Lakeshore, with a 10,000-vote Liberal majority in 2004, does not seem like such a safe bet anymore.

Canadian media suggest Mr Ignatieff could be a future leader

Mr Ignatieff is aware of voter discontent and has promised to help clean up the Liberal "mess" if elected.

"I am a loyal party member but not a stupid member. The party let the country down," he says. "Additional controls on the political use of money are required."

Canadian media reports suggest he is being considered as a potential party saviour and future leader.

"It is flattering but deeply premature," he says, a phrase he repeats when pressed about his own ambitions.

Mr Ignatieff is also well-rehearsed at brushing aside doorstep criticism that 30 years of exile make him a poor choice to represent Etobicoke residents in parliament.

"The price of expatriation doesn't go down, it goes up," he says. "The price of being a stranger is that you cannot belong to the political class."

"I'm being beaten up for being American but the reason I came home is I didn't like living in the US, because there are no equal rights for lesbians and gays, abortion is not a stable and acquired right and capital punishment is practised in 28 states."

Whether Mr Ignatieff will have the opportunity to air his views in parliament in Ottawa is unclear - it is going to be a close race.

But that has not put him off.

"On Monday, I am going to win," he says. "Our polling data says it, the people say it, my campaign workers say it. And they are smart people."

Canada wakes up to new Conservative government

Tue Jan 24, 2006 8:18 AM ET

By Janet Guttsman and David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadians installed a Conservative government in office for the first time in 12 years but with a limited mandate, signaling voters' desire for change at a measured pace.

Newspapers were quick to point out on Tuesday the fragility of the Conservatives' mandate, with one describing it as party leader Stephen Harper's "Thin Blue Line."

"Canadians did not endorse neo-conservatism when they elected him last night," the Globe and Mail newspaper said in an editorial. "They voted against a Liberal Party that had become smug and arrogant."

Numerous callers to radio talk shows said it was time for change but they were not willing to revamp the entire Canadian political landscape by handing the Conservatives a majority in Parliament.

Monday's election gave the Conservatives 124 seats, below the 155 needed to form a majority. The ruling Liberals won 103 seats while the left-leaning New Democratic Party won 29 seats. The Bloc Quebecois, which campaigns only in the French-speaking province of Quebec, won 51 seats.

"Each and every day, I will assure you of one thing -- I will dedicate myself to making Canada more united, stronger, more prosperous and a safer country," Harper told an ecstatic crowd in the Western Canadian city of Calgary after his win.

The result was a major triumph for Harper, a 46-year-old economist who created the Conservatives in late 2003 by pushing through the merger of two squabbling right-wing parties. He will be the first prime minister from the oil-rich Western province of Alberta for 25 years.

Opinion polls had pointed to a Conservative minority. But the number of Conservative seats was somewhat below forecasts, indicating an unstable government unlikely to last for long.

Minority governments in Canada rarely last longer than 18 months. The outgoing minority Liberal government stayed in power for 17 months before it was defeated in November 2005 over a kickback scandal.

Unlike the Liberals, who governed with the help of the New Democrats, the Conservatives have no natural allies in a four-party Canadian Parliament and will need the support of political rivals on an issue-by-issue basis.

Harper has pledged to work with other parties to push through his agenda, which includes a cut in consumption taxes and a balanced budget.

(more)

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-01-24T131817Z_01_N19193
346_RTRUKOC_0_US-POLITICS.xml

Jan. 22, 2006. 04:16 PM

CANADIAN PRESS

RICHMOND, B.C. -- Paul Martin says people in British Columbia can stop Conservative Leader Stephen Harper by abandoning the NDP and consolidating the anti-Tory vote among Liberal candidates in the province.

The Liberal leader said the eyes of Canada will be on the province Monday night, where the outcome of many tight three-way races could decide who will govern Canada.

Speaking at a rally in the Vancouver area community of Richmond, Martin said a protest vote for the NDP might make a point, but it won't make a difference.

He claimed the Liberals are ahead in Atlantic Canada and Ontario, and that British Columbia voters can cast the deciding votes that will reject Harper's different right-wing vision for Canada.

He told West Coast residents that by lending NDP Leader Jack Layton votes, they will only hand Stephen Harper the country.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&a
mp;cid=1137943087941&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154

closing times for the polls:

The roads are bare in Southwestern Ontario and there is no precipitation forecast for election day.  For my riding, the temperature for this time of year is remarkably warm, tomorrow's temperatures will be 2C/38F.

To find out what yours is for tomorrow, type your city in the box

The opening/closing times of the polls are staggered.  Elections Canada have tried to make the elections as fair as possible for all voters across Canada.

Time zone    Polls open and close in local time

Newfoundland Time  8:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Atlantic Time 8:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Eastern Time 9:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Central Time 8:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Mountain Time 7:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Pacific Time 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Elections Canada

If you need transportation to cast your vote, call whichever party you will be voting for and I'm sure they will make arrangements to give you a ride.

Have a great day everyone.      

Tue Jan 24, 2006

By Janet Guttsman and David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadians elected their first Conservative government in 12 years, but gave the party a far-from-decisive mandate to push through its agenda of tax cuts, extra military spending and better ties with Washington.

The Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, will have 124 seats in the Canadian Parliament, 30 below the 155 needed to form a majority. But they will still be 21 seats ahead of the ruling Liberals, who came across as tired, jaded and out of ideas in a two-month election race.

"Each and every day I will assure you of one thing -- I will dedicate myself to making Canada more united, stronger, more prosperous and a safer country," Harper told an ecstatic crowd in the western Canadian city of Calgary.

The result was a major triumph for Harper, a 46-year-old economist who created the Conservatives in late 2003 by pushing through the merger of two squabbling right-wing parties. He will be the first prime minister from the oil-rich western province of Alberta for 25 years.

Opinion polls had pointed to a Conservative minority. But the number of Conservative seats was somewhat below forecasts, pointing to an unstable government unlikely to last for long.

Minority governments in Canada rarely last longer than 18 months. The outgoing minority Liberal government stayed in power for 17 months before it was defeated in November 2005 over a kickback scandal.

Unlike the Liberals, who governed with the help of the left-leaning New Democrats, the Conservatives have no natural allies in a four-party Canadian Parliament and will need to seek support from political rivals on an issue-by-issue basis.

Harper pledged to work with other parties to push through his agenda, which includes a cut in consumption taxes and a balanced budget.

The defeat was a humiliating blow for outgoing Prime Minister Paul Martin, who inherited a large majority when he took over in December 2003 only to see support fade as scandals swirled. He said he would not lead the Liberals into the next election.

"I have just called Stephen Harper and I have offered him my congratulations," Martin told supporters. "The people of Canada have chosen him to lead a minority government."

The Liberals, long viewed as Canada's natural governing party, slumped in the polls after police said in late December they were probing whether someone in the finance minister's office leaked information about proposed tax changes.

"Canadians voted for hope over fear and accountability over corruption," senior Conservative Jason Kenney said.

The Conservatives won 36.3 percent of the popular vote and the Liberals won 30.2 percent, their second worst showing since Canada gained independence in 1867.

Harper also vows to clamp down on crime, cut waiting times for health care and improve strained relations with the United States, with whom Canada has a number of trade disputes.

He says he will allow a free vote in Parliament about whether Canada should repeal laws that allow gay marriage.

The Conservatives also put in a strong showing in Quebec, pushing the separatist Bloc Quebecois below the key 50 percent mark and cutting the odds of a new vote on breaking up Canada.

Quebec voted against separation by just under 51 percent in a 1995 referendum. An earlier referendum, in 1980, also resulted in a victory for the pro-Canada camp.

The New Democrats won 29 seats -- their best showing since 1988. There will be one independent, a Quebec talk show host who made a career out of lambasting politicians and railing against what he calls the Ottawa establishment.

(With additional reporting by Robert Melnbardis, Rachelle Younglai, Randall Palmer, Gilbert Le Gras, Cameron French and Jeffrey Jones)

Rueters

We shall see if everyone obeys. Afterall, no one can sue foreign media for this, I think.....:-)

Canada Votes Election Night Results

Party    Elected    Leading    Total    Vote Share

CRD     124    0    124    36.25%

LIBS    102    1    103    30.22%

BQ    51    0    51    10.48%

NDP    29    0    29    17.48%

IND    1    0    1    .52%

OTH    0    0    0    5.05%

Last Update:January 24, 2:17:10 AM EST                 308 seats

----

The electorate in their wisdom haven't given a majority to Harper.  He doesn't have enough seats to govern without collaborating with Layton.  They also didn't make Layton a King maker by giving him enough votes to carry legislation in combination with Harper.

He has to have 155, which he doesn't have if Layton were to form a coalition with him, he has only 153 votes.  At a minimum, he has to get 2 more votes from either the Parti Quebecois or the Liberals.

The voters have created a much better scenario that I could have envisionaged.  

I stayed up to listen to the speeches of Martin, Layton, Duceppe & Harper and before the newspapers tell me what I was supposed to make of them, here are my impressions:  

-----

Martin made a very gracious speech where he promised to step down as the leader of the Liberal party.  Wow--a Prime Minister that steps down the same evening he is defeated by the electorate is a turning point for the Liberal party.  Every time there has been a change in leadership of that party, it has been marked with feuds and unwillingness to step down from power.  

I look forward to seeing if the leadership convention is a smooth transition.

Layton--didn't really say anything that departed from his `worker' concept of his party, which means he's not prepared at this time to be a leader that attracts votes from across the country.    It's want he didn't say...he's not ready to move his party platform into the middle.  

Duceppe--again, it wasn't so much what he said, it was what he ignored that was impressive.  The Parti Quebecois lost popular vote and for the first time, the Conservatives were elected in Quebec.  Strikes me that is a signal that the rest of Canada needs to pay attention.  By electing the Conservatives, they're sending a message that they're dissatisfied with the PQ and it's separatists' message--quite a few Quebecker's would be attracted to federalism if it wasn't corrupt.  They strongly rejected the Liberal party because they no longer felt it represented them and they have also rejected separatism by electing the federal party of Conservatives.  

Harper--spoke like a Prime Minister.  He was very proud that the West is now in.  In referring to the West, he included BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.  He also acknowledged that Ontario is the economic heartland and that it needed to be supported to thrive.  Likewise, the Atlantic provinces.   He implied he'd be able to dull the fractious component which is presently Canada.  He ended his speech with, "Good bless Canada."  

----

In the 18 months a minority government of this type usually lasts, we'll just have to wait and see what he is able to accomplish in that time frame.        

All in all, this is a wholesome election in many ways.  Martin did need to be defeated, but Harper shouldn't have been given a blank cheque that destroys our country.  How very wise this electorate has been.  

Canada's Martin won't stay on long as Liberal boss

Tue Jan 24, 2006 5:29 AM ET

MONTREAL (Reuters) - Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, whose Liberals lost Monday's national election, said on Tuesday he would step down as party leader before Canada next went to the polls.

"I will not take our party into another election as leader. In the coming days I will consult with caucus ... and the party leadership as to how best to ensure an orderly transition," he told supporters in his Montreal electoral district.

Preliminary results showed the right-wing Conservatives won 125 of the 308 seats in Parliament in Monday's election compared to 102 for the Liberals.

http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-01-24T102805Z_01_N24199
414_RTRUKOT_0_TEXT0.xml&related=true

late on the last Canadian thread:

Rick Mercer has anded another minister to his

Con cabinet:

Look who's back.

Garth Turner - Minister of National Revenue, and Secretary of State (Leather Bears)

"If you own Nortel, or a mutual fund holding it, don't bail out now... If you do not own Nortel, then this is the time to start accumulating it."

- Garth Turner, Conservative candidate (Halton) November 27th 2000 at the start of the stock's plummet from $50 to pennies a share

"I am constantly amazed at the assumption people make that they can manage their own finances... most people can't. They don't have a clue how to pick stocks."

- Garth Turner in a 2002 personal investment column regarding those unfortunate enough to have lost on Nortel

http://rickmercer.blogspot.com/

Wow, I never thought Canada would follow the U.S.  I believed, incorrectly, that the U.S. clusterf*ck was blatantly obvious to our Northern neighbors, but maybe that hot air south of its border is beginning to effect Canadians.  Take our advice, do not inhale; its injurious to your future.

Duceppe critical of Conservative cabinet offer

Last Updated Sun, 22 Jan 2006 12:46:05 EST

CBC News

Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe has scoffed at Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's offer to include Quebecers in the cabinet if the Tories win Monday's election.

During media questioning in Montreal on Sunday, Duceppe said he doubts such a scenario would support the issues Quebecers care about.

The Bloc leader said his party - not the Conservatives - would provide the best "checks and balances" for Quebec. Last week, Harper said a Conservative government would work with the checks and balances of the Senate and the courts.

Gilles Duceppe in Laval, Que., on Sunday, Jan. 22  

"We're the best check and balance, to stop him from putting an end to child care in Quebec, to stop him from making Quebec pay for Kyoto, to stop him from sending children of 14-years-old to jail, to stop him from voting to go into Iraq," Duceppe said.

Bloc MPs are the best "counterweight" to both the Conservatives and Liberals, he added.

Duceppe also repeated his warning that a Conservative government would change the equalization formula by subtracting the revenues from non-renewable natural resources. Duceppe said that would cost Quebec millions of dollars.

"That plays against Quebec," Duceppe said. "It's $650 million a year, as the minister of finance in Quebec said, so that doesn't help Quebec at all."

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canadavotes2006/national/2006/01/22/duceppe060122.html

Canada Votes

I'd like to be able to feel confident that election law will be obeyed regarding the ban of transmission of voting results in any form before `all' the polls close.

The Supreme Court of Canada has now given their ruling...if there is no respect for their decision, and there are violations, will there be charges and fines levied, and collected, and in some cases, if the fines aren't paid, violators serving their time in jail?  Should be an interesting election in more ways than one.  The Blog world doesn't believe laws apply to them--they may be in for a surprise.

That link will have the results.  

I would really like to express my gratitude to Mole and Cardinal for all the work they have done here at agonist regarding this election.  Keeping these six threads active has been a great deal of work.

Thank you.      

if you scroll down you'll find a link to this:

"Rondo Thomas" Conservative candidate for Toronto (Ajax-Pickering)... scroll down, pick your speed and watch the video

SYNOPSIS

This guy makes Pat Roberston look avant garde.

Rondo Thomas is one of several "secret" candidates running for the Conservative Party in Canada's election.

While the Conservative Party has presented itself as a mainstream party Rondo Thomas is an ultra-fundamentalist, one of several. Prior to candidacy, Thomas was quite outspoken pledging "war" on same-sex marriage and espousing amazing theories such as:

1. "Marriage is only for procreation"
   
   
2. "The Facts are wrong"
   
   
3. If liberals had their way, all pro-creation would be eliminated.
   
   
4. The world is 6000 years old.

However, once nominated for the party, Thomas fell strangely silent, warned apparently to keep his fundamentalist opinions to himself. However, this video was shot before his nomination and appears in the upcoming DVD for the feature documentary, Escape to Canada.

Meet the real Rondo Thomas.

SEE ESCAPE TO CANADA VARIETY REVIEW:

Variety review of Escape to Canada ... Click to view the trailer

------

I watched both videos and they are extreme.  The Escape to Canada video is not the Canada where I live.  I don't smoke pot and to the best of my knowledge no one I know does either, except people who are able to get it by prescription for `valid' medical conditions they have for the relief of pain.  And I'm not really sure even if a doctor prescribes marijuana that it would be of the smoking variety.  

Check this link and that is the case.

`In a judgement issued on Oct. 7, 2003, the Ontario Court of Appeal wrote new rules to make it easier for people who are ill to get medicinal marijuana legally, but in the process, it reinstated laws making possession of pot for social or recreational use illegal."

So despite what you see on the Escape to Canada video, there aren't many people who use it for recreational use, unless they're willing to go to jail.

I did find it illuminating that the intention was to ridicule Rondo for being extreme, and don't see they in their own way are too.  :)          

the results won't be known to anyone before 10 p.m. EST, unlike the broadcasting in the last election where they were updated live.  

And most newspapers, and other media stop posting any political opinions or news that could affect the election at midnight tonight.

Bloggers probably won't restrict themselves to not posting their political thoughts, but there is no way the election results will begin to be announced 'til the polls are closed across the country.  There are some contests where bloggers are engaged in estimating seats, but they would be no better than an accurate poll.  I really don't envisionage many  serious infringments of the Election Law.  

Those who challenged the election law from the previous election were hoping the Supreme Court would have made their decision about the appeal, including the CBC and some major dailies such as the Globe and Mail.   But the Supreme Court hasn't done that and for this election what Elections Canada has done to prevent the premature announcement of the results is IMHO very difficult to circumvent.

But I do look with interest to see what the blogging community might get up to in their attempt.    

because it is a very important one.  Leaking election results before all of the polls have closed could result in suppressing voter turnout in the western provinces.  Since this election is so important to everyone, any leaking that could suppress voter turnout would not be good.

http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/Election/2006/01/22/1405489-sun.html

Ignatieff snatches Etobicoke-Lakeshore

MICHAEL VALPY | Jan 23 |Toronto

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060124.IGNATIEFFSB24/BNPrint/theglobeandmail/Cana
da

Academic and author Michael Ignatieff, sporting a bright red Liberal tie, walked into a west Toronto tavern last night to a roar of welcoming cheers as the next member of Parliament for Etobicoke-Lakeshore.

His comfortable victory over Conservative businessman John Capobianco and aspirations to travel far in public life seem certain to propel him into the ring of challengers to Paul Martin for the Liberal Party's leadership.

He recalled that Conservative Leader Stephen Harper came into the constituency 10 days ago to tell voters to "send that Ignatieff fellow back to Harvard." Mr. Ignatieff paused. "Well, the voters of Etobicoke-Lakeshore thought about it for awhile and decided to send that Ignatieff fellow to Ottawa."

The tall, lanky, 58-year-old celebrity intellectual told his supporters: "I don't know where the road leads from here." But asked by a reporter if he wants to be prime minister, he replied: "That's a presumptuous question."

He said he feels "okay" about going into opposition. "There's going to be lots to oppose." And he said his party was justly punished by Quebec voters for the sponsorship scandal. "The message from Quebec was that the sponsorship scandal was not just a little piece of malfeasance. The message is that we don't do that ever again."

The urbane Harvard scholar, seen by many in his party as a new-model Pierre Trudeau, very much shares the late prime minister's view of federalism with a strong national government. However, his reported desire to emulate Mr. Trudeau and move quickly from political outsider to prime minister has been derided by political scientists as unrealistic. Mr. Trudeau, they say, was an anomaly.

Whether Mr. Ignatieff can replicate the anomaly, his journey into elected politics turned out to be smoother than predicted and certainly smoother than it began. He returned to Canada after 27 years abroad and was parachuted by powerful Liberal apparatchiks into a safe seat.[ according to the Globe & Mail]

But his constituency association turned on him, the legitimacy of his Canadian residency was challenged, quotes were pulled out of his books and magazine articles to label him anti-Ukrainian (a significant minority in the riding) and pro-torture, there were reports from Harvard that he intended to return to the U.S. university if he was defeated and Mr. Martin had to defend -- thinly -- his support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

...to be voting for should give you a ride. Rides which are contingent on voting for a specific candidate are an offence - if they try and pull that one, remind them of the law (and remind them that the Chief Returning Officer will shit on them from a very, very great height). Rides which permit someone to vote are permitted, rides which are an inducement to vote are not.

in consideration of what you said here, as well.  The piece is actually be Kevin Brennan (I agree with him and he speaks on my behalf as well), and those who want to read it can find it here:

http://www.la-mancha.net/?p=1212

It's a very good piece.

I hope you will write an election post mortem here, despite today's flurry.

-mole