2015 Federal Election Thread

[Mustapha]

BC already has de facto legalization because of PC's not enforcing current laws. Canna clinics, for example, hire quack doctors to rubber stamp memberships to acquire high quality pot. It's thanks to this it's going to be one of my stops next time I'm in Vancouver.

These are already coming to Alberta, too, we just got a dispensary north of Cochrane a year or two ago, and there's another I think outside the Northeast of Calgary being built or already built. PC's are just singing a tune to appease people who still have some archaic beliefs surrounding weed in one hand, while in the other allowing things in de facto form to progress toward legalization.

There's little Liberals will achieve in BC that isn't already commonplace. So then you have their other policies and abilities, which suck.

Recreational use is still illegal, so all that is happening is people are abusing the medical Marijuana program. I don't want to have to lie to my doctor in order to enjoy a joint on the long weekend, thanks.

I would be interested to know which of the Liberal policies 'suck'. Perhaps the Senate reform or electoral reform policies? Maybe you think high income earners should pay less tax rather than more?

I read opinions but not a lot of reasoned arguments for these opinions.

[Warhippy]

So this is happening.

Here are two stories regarding PAC management and advertising in canada.

After living in the USA I am saddened by this.

Special interest groups being allowed to sway to voting public. American politics are here to stay

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/engage-canada-s-anti-conservative-tv-ad-all-about-timing-1.3122069

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pro-conservative-harperpac-launches-to-counter-union-backed-ads-1.3122785

[Warhippy]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pro-conservative-harperpac-launches-to-counter-union-backed-ads-1.3122785

A new third-party organization called HarperPAC has announced it plans advertising to target anti-Conservative messaging in the lead-up to the 2015 federal election.

In a press release, the group says their goal is to "defend the interests of everyday Canadians against the tide of cash from professional leftist agitators and big union bosses that has been earmarked to take down the Conservative government."

• Analysis: Engage Canada's anti-Conservative TV ad all about timing
• GreenPAC hopes to put environmental champions on federal ballot

The statement is in part a reference to anti-Harper advertisementsreleased this month by Engage Canada, an organization supported by donors that include unions. That group, headed by former Liberal and NDP strategists, says it is working to make the Conservative government "unelectable."

Stephen Taylor is spokesman for HarperPAC. (Twitter)

HarperPAC spokesperson Stephen Taylor said in the release that "unions in Canada have amassed a war chest of millions and plan to relentlessly attack Stephen Harper's Conservative government. We are leveling the playing field."

Taylor is a former would-be candidate for the Conservatives and has worked for the National Citizens Coalition, where Prime Minister Stephen Harper worked before re-entering federal politics. Under Harper, the NCC took its fight to allow third-party advertising during election campaigns all the way to the Supreme Court.

HarperPAC's advisory council also includes Kas Nejatian, Jason Kenney's former director of strategic planning when he was immigration minister, and other former staffers to Conservative ministers and Alberta's Wildrose party.

HarperPAC is the second pro-Conservative third-party organization to announce its intention to advertise in the lead up to the election. An organization called Working Canadians also says its goal is to "fight back against union bosses."

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So here is our first PAC.

It is run by former Harper aides and staffers and unofficially is being funded by large businesses and rumoured 1 right wing institute. These are people that have done everything in their power to help Harper the last 12 years and have benefited enormously from that help

Now note where they say keeping the unions and leftists away. Yet not once mentioning how they are doing it for the far right and businesses. They also fail to remember the other PAC committe opposing them is made up of Canadians from all 3 major parties.

Note the name, HarperPAC.

Does this raise red flags to you? It should. My next post will show you why

[Mr. Ambien]

Recreational use is still illegal, so all that is happening is people are abusing the medical Marijuana program. I don't want to have to lie to my doctor in order to enjoy a joint on the long weekend, thanks.

I would be interested to know which of the Liberal policies 'suck'. Perhaps the Senate reform or electoral reform policies? Maybe you think high income earners should pay less tax rather than more?

I read opinions but not a lot of reasoned arguments for these opinions.

You don't need to go to your own doctor, Canna clinics have their own to rubber stamp memberships, and your doctor doesn't even need to know. And it's not only joints, these places sell edibles. It's so ridiculously easy to get, no one in their right mind would ever think it was truly illegal.

Liberal policies that all involve raising taxes (wealthy people pay enough taxes), championing PC policies but pretending to be different, fiscal irresponsibility, catering to enviro nuts, etc. Liberals are a crap choice. If you think they're great for you, power to you, but I find your primarily selfish motivations not to be reasoned. I don't think people who earn a decent income should be providing services and giving you things you haven't earned.

[thejazz97]

In summary, I don't see the global community continuing to have faith in the US Dollar for very much longer. I have a feeling that another currency will replace it as the world reserve currency. A currency backed by gold.

They never should have gotten rid of the gold standard.

[Warhippy]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/engage-canada-s-anti-conservative-tv-ad-all-about-timing-1.3122069

The political parties have ramped up television and radio advertising in recent weeks as they anticipate this fall's federal election. But they are not the only ones booking airtime.

One ad that made its debut this month comes from Engage Canada, a group whose stated intent is to make the Conservative party "unelectable." Engage calls itself a non-partisan, grassroots organization, though is headed by former Liberal and NDP strategists and it counts unions among its donors.

• Watch the ad, 'Neglect'

The ad, titled "Neglect," takes direct aim at Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government with the claim that under Harper, incomes among the wealthiest five per cent have risen much faster than for average Canadians. It also attacks the Conservatives by claiming the government hasn't done enough for job creation and has cut health-care funding.

A frame from Engage Canada's 'Neglect' TV spot, which takes aim at the Conservative government's record. (Youtube.com)

The ad's claims have been denounced by commentators on the right and questioned by others — but how does it succeed as a piece of political advertising? We asked brand and marketing executive Franke Rodriguez for his take.

What's the message?

The message here is direct, and it's not that inequality is rising. The message is that the Conservatives don't care that inequality is rising — ​and affecting you, the average Canadian voter.

Kernel of truth here?

Socially conservative. Hawkish. Backed by high-income Canadians​...

The kernel of truth here is tied to the Conservative party's "shrinking tent" — that many who typically identified themselves as Conservatives have said now excludes them.

The logic, then, is easy — if the Conservatives are for "them" (the groups listed above), then they're not for "us" (everybody else). It's easy to internalize, share​​ and is a sentiment already being vocalized by many

Canadians.

Why now?

In a word, TIMING — for ​a few different reasons:​

• Basic: Campaign flighting, given federal rules, means this is the time a group like this would have to launch their efforts: bloody the Conservative campaign's nose before the federal election ad spending rules tie their hands by limiting third-party advertising.
• Standard: It helps establish a narrative early on that will likely be a dominant one from the opposition to the public going into the campaign, namely, that none of the Conservatives — Harper to backbencher — cares about the average Canadian.
• Advanced: Going back to the kernel of truth around "them" versus "us," the uproar around bill C-24 — the changes to the Citizenship Act, and the "second-class of Canadians" it allegedly creates — has hit a nerve, especially in minority and immigrant-heavy urban centres, and crystallized a suspicion of the Conservative Party. Running this ad now is an effective way of completing and cementing that suspicion with those voters​ ​and turning it into a firmly held belief.

It also combats ​the Conservative attack ads on Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, which (anecdotally) are falling flat, especially amongst millennial and Gen-Z voters, whose news outlet of choice — Vice — excoriated the ad in a manner only proving how off the mark for this audience the Conservative message is.

What score or rating would you give?

9 - Rhetorically solid and delivered with a polish that, frankly, one would expect from an American PAC. In fact, I bet it would work probably very effectively in a U.S. general election. Well done, and well-timed

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Now this PAC.

This one is made up of NDP, Liberal and former Conservative members and funded publicly and by unions. This is an issue for Harper and the other PAC because this identifies as the largest voting bloc

Bar none.

Note the name. Engage Canada

This as opposed to HarperPAC

Again, I do not agree with this kind of thing at all. but seriously....it is going back to the, if you're not with us you're with the terrorists/child molestors/enviro geeks

October cannot come soon enough and now that the NDP have come out stating they'll clean up election issues like this where second and third hand parties can interfere I am even more swayed to that possible camp