# Throne Speech



## sags (May 15, 2010)

I can't help but wonder why Harper is so determined to follow the US path........after it has been tried and failed in the US.

Mandatory sentencing, three strike rules, drug prohibition,..........and now a budget cap.

Isn't the debt limit fiasco in the US............all about a budget cap?

For a comprehensive list of what Canada should NOT be doing, all we have to do is look to the US for a trail of failed policies.

Why not copy the Nordic or German examples.............something successful for a change.

Finland has the highest rated education system in the world. They only hire teachers with Master Degrees in Education, issue no homework, and present a laid back approach to learning.........which appears to be highly effective.

Germany has a system that directs young people into appropriate channels for them. Skilled trades are held in high regard. They have a strong apprenticeship network. The dominate the world in first class engineering and manufacturing. 

One Nordic country has prisons that look like country clubs. The inmates are treated well, educated, and helped to establish links to the outside world to support their integration back into society.

The UK has a system of automatic cleansing of minor criminal records, after a period of time without committing another crime. They don't want people convicted of minor crimes, to wear that albatross around their necks for their whole lives. They want to give people a second chance and allow them to live normal lives. The alternative is to isolate and make it difficult for people to live crime free lives.

Some countries around the world have de-criminalized or legalized marijuana. Canada is still following the US example of harsh penalties, criminal records, and an overall failed policy of prohibition. Now they want to make it more difficult for addicts to receive treatment.

Whatever a person's political convictions, Canadians should start wondering what is the best path forward.

Retracing the failed policies of the US, seems a bad choice.........when there are better examples out there.


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## nathan79 (Feb 21, 2011)

Harper is far too ideologically bound to support those ideas. 

We won't see much new ideas as long as Canadians continue to support the status quo of this government.

Of course, Harper thinks he can win our loyally by throwing trinkets to the masses, such as unbundling cable channels -- a good idea, but not enough to forgive his other failed policies.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Harper is beyond hope. Time to start looking towards a replacement that can do the job. He carries the baggage as the Reformer and he has not improved anything. He is hoping the EU FTA will carry the day. It won't.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

I try to take a balanced view. There are some things Harper has done that I approve of. Cutting corp tax rates, encouraging provinces to adopt HST, fixing some aspects of the immigration system. On the whole, it's sadly a short list when balanced against the endless stream of dumb populist ideas. Unfortunately, all they have to do is keep approx 38% of the people who bother to vote happy.


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## 6811 (Jan 1, 2013)

andrewf said:


> I try to take a balanced view. There are some things Harper has done that I approve of. Cutting corp tax rates, encouraging provinces to adopt HST, fixing some aspects of the immigration system. On the whole, it's sadly a short list when balanced against the endless stream of dumb populist ideas. Unfortunately, all they have to do is keep approx 38% of the people who bother to vote happy.


Just to add to the "short list" don't forget that he initiated the TFSA and cut the GST. 

I too like to keep a balanced view and with the current alternatives to Harper,(Mulcair and Trudeau) on the light end of the scale I think we may see Harper in power for some time to come.


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

I don't think trying to emulate Euro countries is a good idea... I prefer carrying on with Canadian interests which may coincide with our neighbor to the South. Harper has been doing a great job for us and I shudder to think what would happen to us should the alternatives form our next government.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

I'm neutral to positive on TFSA, and pretty negative on the GST cut. It's added a good $75 billion to our debt and counting...

Harper has done a pretty poor job of advancing our interests in the US, starting with capitulating on softwood lumber, through Buy America and now Keystone. What am I missing?


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

IMHO, the Throne Speech was completely meaningless. 

I suspect that there is far more to come out of the Duffy issue, and in particular where the $65K went after it left the account of the first payee. It has the attributes of the Sask. scandal that sent a number of cabinet ministers to jail and essentially caused and end to the provincial Conservative Party and the formation of the Saskatewan Party. I sincerely hope that this is not the case. But eventually I think that Duffy will be charged.

I would like to see a change of Government at the federal level. I just do not think that is healthy when the same party is in power for more than 3 terms. We have the most secretive government since WW2 -one that makes a sham of the Freedom of Information act.

Where I live in Alberta, the Government has been in power for 40 plus years. Huge sense of entitlement from MLA's and throughout the civil service. It is not a good situation.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

The throne speech isn't a budget, but it is supposed to convey to Canadians the government's vision for the future.

In that regard, I believe it more clearly showed the goverment's lack of a vision.

Do the NDP, Liberals or Greens offer anything better..........who knows.

But, it would appear this government has run out of ideas.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Duffy and Wallin have to go.

Harper sent Parliament on vacation and went hiding in Europe to avoid the questions from the Opposition and reporters.

But, it isn't going to die down. He appointed them, the PMO was heavily involved in the attempted cover up, and to believe that the information was withheld from PM Harper by his staffers, .......is a stretch of reality. Harper controls everything from his MP caucus to the PMO very tightly.

Justin Trudeau is rising in the polls.........and he isn't really doing much of anything yet.

Some comments on legalizing marijuana and wiping criminal records clean of those charges.........and voila..........his poll numbers shoot up.

Trudeau has learned a lesson from Jean Chretien............Do nothing to hurt yourself and let the other guy disintegrate.

My dad used to say.......PM Chretien gets elected, we don't hear much about him for 4 years, and then he pops back up and gets re-elected.

Chretien could spin a folksy yarn though..........and people liked that.

Harper is anything but "folksy".


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

What's depressing is that whichever party is elected, they end up doing more things I disagree with that things I can support or at least ignore. I can sympathize with the general public's desire to just ignore politics. Especially when it's 90% noise.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

The really sad thing is that Harper could have run a great government. His arrogance has gotten him into trouble. It also got Mulroney into trouble. Yet Trudeau the elder was the most arrogant of all and he avoided it. Chretien hid his arrogance most of the time but he had it too.


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## Spidey (May 11, 2009)

I am also disappointed with several aspects of the Harper government and believe much of the criticism is justified. But I see mostly annoyances. Nothing that would have me protesting in the street. All in all, life is pretty good here in Canada.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

Spidey said:


> Nothing that would have me protesting in the street. All in all, life is pretty good here in Canada.


We're very lucky indeed!

Can't wait for the election debates.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

Toronto.gal said:


> Can't wait for the election debates.


+1 to the above as well.

Deciding who to vote for these days is more about choosing the lesser evil than about picking the best all round candidate, 'cuz there aint none.
Decide what your top 3 key priorities are, and which candidate aligns closest with your position on those matters.

If we don't do that, we will continue to have 30% voter turnouts and majority governments elected with 36% of popular vote.

There are a lot of people complaining about Harper, both on CMF and in general social media such as comments sections of CBC, G&M, etc.
There is a lot of vitriol and a lot of hatred.
I wonder where were all those folks on 5/2/2011?

Despite all the pathetic and hopeless direction of the Ontario govt. I have voted in every single provincial elections when I have been around.
Doesn't seem to be making any difference, but that's another matter :[email protected]


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

HaroldCrump said:


> +
> Deciding who to vote for these days is more about choosing the lesser evil than about picking the best all round candidate,


It was always thus.

Politics is for the most part just performance art. Policy-making happens in backrooms, while just enough tasty treats are dangled in front of the base to secure just enough votes to be re-elected. Most of the important people who hold the levers of power (staffers in the PMO) in this country are unelected and unaccountable. You don't even know their name. But they are far more powerful than your MP, unless you live in Calgary SW.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

If it was always thus (and I agree), is the solution to throw in the towel and give up voting?
I suppose that is what creates such large % of voter apathy.

The % of people whining about Harper roughly corresponds to the % of people that chose not to vote in the last elections.
Maybe if they had chosen to vote, they would not have had the opportunity to simply grumble that we have a majority govt. with 36% of the popular vote.

Speaking of unelected and unaccountable, IMO the Senate is top of that list.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

No, definitely not. I continue to vote knowing that doing so is almost totally pointless. The operative word is 'almost'.

I don't think you can say that people who oppose Harper uniformly don't vote. Given that only 40-ish% voted for the CPC. Some grumblers are non-voters but not all by any stretch.

While the Senate is unelected and unaccountable, they don't have any real power. Neither does the HoC. HoC is a rubber stamp for the executive, with opposition MPs, backbench MPs and even most cabinet ministers essentially nobody of any significance. They are props.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

I voted for Harper last time. Now I am livid that he has trashed all the things he claimed to stand for. Balanced budgets, elected Senate to name the top two. So I am hopeful that a "better" leader will emerge from one of the parties.


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

I lived in Harper's Calgary riding for 13 years. Always voted. Never voted for Harper.

Now we live in Rob Anders riding. One of the many unexpected joys of living in this particular condo is that we will be able to vote against Rob Anders in the next election.


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