are you guys plannign to get this fool Harper out? I realize he did not do the damage W. did, but it seems he is trying VERY hard to do that. I say this because seeing Canada under Harper is like seeing a relative doing the same drugs you remember nearly killed you.

Yes, everybody that's even marginally leftist wants him out of office like a bad case of the plague. But he's basically a Republican, and as such has access to the corporate money-tree. The infection came north through the oil-patch, to which Harper is joined at the hip.

but onm this baord, you know we are tyring to destory the GOP, in all shades and forms.

My point is that we have just as hard a time rooting out the oligarchy up here, and for many of the same reasons. It may be even harder in a way, because with a multi-party system and first-past-the-post electoral rules, he doesn't need anywhere near half the votes to win.

There were times I thought the US should consider the parliament, but it is obvious that the bad guys have learned to game that too. We may diasgree on things, but I do respect you, and offer supoort for the many canucks that are no doubt screaming, pull hair, emptying bottles and filling ashtrays over this idiot harper.

It's a trans-national problem...

The douchebags who vote for people like Ralph Nader have their own party and actively sabotage the Liberal party.

Harper is basically supported by about 1/3 of the voting public. The other 2/3 splits its votes between 3 parties. That's why we can't get rid of Harper, so far.

My hope is that centrist and center-left voters in Harper-held ridings in next election vote for whichever opposition party came second in their riding last time, so as to defeat Harper.

The two main opposition parties -- the LIbs and the NDP - can then sort it out when they get to Ottawa.

The most likely outcome would be a Liberal minority government, with the NDP supporting the Liberals.

I'm fine with that, as are most voters, according to polls. The problem is that Liberal and NDP hard core partisans hate each other. Many of them would rather see Harper stay in power than see the other opposition party form a government.

Sigh.

Maybe the Koch brother can pump Canadian whiskey instead.

As it is, the latest polls show Justin Trudeau's Liberals with a small lead over Harper's Oil Uber Alles Party.

whether it is due to parliamentary divides, or by fox stoked hate, or just good old fashioned class and race hate, the left is divided, the right united, so that means they can win with victories so small they are barley a majority.

Layton was a flake, and he had more skeletons in the closet than an anthropology professor.

He defeated the government of Paul Martin. He preferred to see Harper govern than the then-PM Martin.

Had he not done this, there never would have been an almost decade-long destructive power run Canada by Canada's current Tea Party government.

Layton put partisanship ahead of the best interests of the country. That's why I think he was an irresponsible and flawed leader.

If oil is down, that means it costs less. Thus, anything that uses oil or energy will cost less, not more. Thus declining energy prices would seem to be an economic stimulus.

Is this sort of an admission that government was highly invested in oil futures, and took a beating as the price declined? They got caught long when they should have been short?

It's only Alberta, home of our foreign-owned Big Oil sector and its Harper government, that really suffers when oil prices go down.

Sure, the federal treasury takes a bit of a hit (2.5 billion) but the real impact (9 billion plus) is on the Alberta government.

I weep not for Alberta. Just bring in a sales tax like every other province, and they could avoid cuts to social services. However, Big Oil and Alberta's conservative population hate sales taxes, and love cuts to social services, so that's their problem.

The rest of us will be fine with cheap oil and gas. We will be net beneficiaries. Too bad for you Alberta. Time for a sales tax?