Canadian Soccer under the Tories

[The Beaver]

So, with most pundits predicting a June federal election with the Tories winning a slim minority, what sort of environment for the development of soccer in Canada can we expect from Harper and his gang? Will the Tories be a more favourable government, or will soccer suffer further? Thoughts?

[Elias]

Soccer will suffer!

It's part of the Refor, er, Conservatives secret hidden agenda that only the left wing media has access to. They call soccer, along with homosexuals and public health care, the "Canadian Axis of Evil" which must be eliminated.

It's right there in their secret hidden agenda blueprint.

[Elias]

BTW who said Harper was going to win? This election will be decided by MorOntaratonians.

[Richard]

Ontarians will have to be REAL morons to vote for the western separatist fundamentalists led by that George W. Bush clone Stephen Harper. Do you really want a separatist government in Quebec and a western separatist government in Ottawa? There goes Canada down the toilet taking with it every Canadian national team.

[River City]

If Canada broke up though, that means no more CSA, right?

[Jarrek]

Voting Conservative of the Bloc would be the worst thing you could do for Canada.

[Elias]

quote:Originally posted by Jarrek

Voting Conservative...would be the worst thing you could do for Canada.

Why? Just one half-decent reason.

[hamiltonfan]

If the liberals get in again..i wouldnt mine leaving this country that i love. ThEY STEAL OUR MONEY! Thats all it is to it.

Vote Tories

[canso]

Soccer is too egalitarian for rednecks and yokels. Conservatives prefer elitist games played by kids whose parents can afford to buy expensive equipment and where the little guys get crushed.

[Joe Concacaf]

Have you ever noticied Canada has only ever qualified for the World Cup under a TORY government.

[River City]

quote:Originally posted by Elias

Why? Just one half-decent reason.

In another lifetime, I was inolved with the federal Progressive Conseratives and was active during the merger/takeover by the Canadian Alliance.

The current Conservative Party aka Reform 3, is a reactionary, old-boys school, neo-con, american-style movement that sees the world in black and white and hates the Liberals for the simple reason that they want to be in power.

Until the merger/takeover with the PC's, their sole obsession was with winning power for power sake's. Now, it's a little bit more disguised, but only thinly.

Although I am fiscal conservative, I will probably vote Liberal as I'd rather have my government foolishly waste my money than put up with a government that is openly hostile to segments of its population.

[Daniel]

Is everyone forgetting the NDP? They're having a bit of a resurgeance and they're a non-right alternative to the Libs.

[Bxl Boy]

People outsinde Ontario doesn't want an Ontarian government (that's Liberal, if you din't understood)...

So if you don't want "Western separatists" nor the bloc, NDP seems to be the only solution

But pleaaaase, not the Liberals again

[The Beaver]

No, I'm not forgetting about the NDP and will actually vote NDP in the next election because I live in a riding where the NDP candidate will win--again. (Libby Davies.) I'd vote Liberal in any other riding, especially where the closest competitor is a Conservative.

It is great to have River City's inside input on this one: I, too, would likely consider myself a fiscal conservative (which is why voting NDP is not a perfect option for me), but I cannot bring myself to vote for THIS Conservative party. I cannot fathom how a federal party such as Mr Harper's could be so divorced from Canadian values. I've not heard a single idea from Harper and his neo-con brethern that has ANYTHING to do with Canadian realities: every idea they have is one previously generated by the Bush administration. Harper suffers from low-self-esteem, seems to believe that the only good, moral and useful country in the world is the USA, and to that end wants Canada to follow everything the Bush admin. does despite the fact that such policies do not reflect canadian values nor take into account the context of our Canadian reality. This isn't to say that the corruption being rooted up at the Gomery Commission should be ignored: If you cannot stomach voting for the Liberals in the wake of this information, if you feel that you must punish the party because of corruption under Chretien, then I fully understand. But before you toss your vote over to the Conservatives, be sure you know what you are voting FOR. Do the Conservatives have a hidden agenda? Yes, but not entirely. to be clear, we still have not heard from them since their most recent policy convention, so we do not know how they feel about Missile Defense, dollarization, and the war in Iraq. We know they are not fans of Kyoto, that they are against same-sex marriage etc, but what else do they believe in?

Harper is a policy wonk, as are many of those in his party. They want to push black and white policy on a Canadian reality that is never even remotely black and white. They want to make Canada the USA, even though our values and context suggest this would be disastrous. The conservatives under Harper will do more harm than good. A Liberal party forced to clean up its act and make ammends and tow a clean, honest line, whether under Martin or McKenna or Tobin or Rock or Manley, will be a much better option. But we will likely have to wait for the rebirth of the Liberals--and suffer under a Tory minority--before we see that happen.

[Richard]

A vote for the NDP, much as I feel sympathetic to their idealism, will unfortunately lead only to a Stephen Harper neocon Conservative government along the lines of George W. Bush's Republicans down south in the present political climate. I fail to see how that will serve the interests of any disenchanted Liberals or the country for that matter.

[Loud Mouth Soup]

quote:Until the merger/takeover with the PC's, their sole obsession was with winning power for power sake's. Now, it's a little bit more disguised, but only thinly.

Ah. So The Prime Minister's televised begging last night wasn't a desperate ploy to retain power at all costs? Their constant smear tactics of people on a political and personal level isn't their way of depsertaely clinging to power?

Riiiightt...

quote:

Although I am fiscal conservative, I will probably vote Liberal as I'd rather have my government foolishly waste my money than put up with a government that is openly hostile to segments of its population.

Nice. you'd rather a government steal your money, increase your personal taxzation levels to asnine levels, waste billions on their pet projects, raises for themselves, junkets, their friends, their party...anyone but you and your family.

If this if 'foolishly' wasting money, I'm damn glad you're not in government.

And it's nice that you think the right is the only side hostile to certain 'segments' of the population. I mean, god forbid the Liberals have treated anyone in this country with contempt. Oh wait, they have.

[River City]

For a party that stands on a 'superior' moral ground, the Conservatives are hypocritical to attack the Liberals for the very thing they wish to do - attain power.

As for what I'd rather have, I'd rather have a government that doesn't waste my money and values cooperation, integrity, the rule of law and basic human dignity.

When you described a government that 'steal your money, increase your personal taxzation levels to asnine levels, waste billions on their pet projects, raises for themselves, junkets, their friends, their party...anyone but you and your family.' you described the Mulroney government to a tee.

Unlike the new version of the 'right' though, they weren't stupid enough to believe that only they had 'the answer' or that they were somehow destined to 'clean-up' the country of social evils.

[Daniel]

I think some fear-mongers are also forgetting that a Conservative government will not have majority and therefore will have to cater to the more left-of-centre policy leanings of the other 3 parties. It won'T be like the Republicans and their majority down South.

[Cheeta]

quote:Originally posted by Loud Mouth Soup

Nice. you'd rather a government steal your money, increase your personal taxzation levels to asnine levels, waste billions on their pet projects, raises for themselves, junkets, their friends, their party...anyone but you and your family.

You mean like the Mulroney Tories did?

You know the fellows don't you? The ones who ran up most of Canada's current dept despite one of the greatest periods of Canadian economic growth in history all the while selling out and destroying Canadian institutions and soverignty.

Yeah. That would be them.

Mulroney and his toadies entered office poor men and left fantasticaly rich and managed to do it with there wealth in blind trusts. And then retired to nice fat golden parachute jobs on the board of directors of their friends corportations.

The only difference between Chretien and Mulroney is Mulroney was a smart enough lawyer to be able to cover his tracks better.

And like it or not Harper gets that inheritience. Honest Brian Mulroney. Plus good old Uncle Preston.

Great. I suddenly feel all fuzzy and warm for the tories or whatever you want to call them.

Sorry shape we're in lads. A very sorry shape.

[The Beaver]

quote:Originally posted by Richard

A vote for the NDP, much as I feel sympathetic to their idealism, will unfortunately lead only to a Stephen Harper neocon Conservative government along the lines of George W. Bush's Republicans down south in the present political climate. I fail to see how that will serve the interests of any disenchanted Liberals or the country for that matter.

Sure, except for those instances where the NDP candidate has a much better chance of winning the seat than the Liberal. In several ridings during the past federal election, vote-splitting between Liberal and NDP candidates led to a Conservative winning the seat. In several of these instances, the NDP candidate was the runner-up. I'd encourage voters in these ridings to take a look at the last election results and put your support behind the runner-up. Had even two of these seats gone to the NDP or Liberals instead of the Conservatives, the left-of-centre sans the PQ would hold the balance of power, Mr Layton would have a cabinet position--Environment, likely--and the Gommery commission would not have the same impact nationally as it is now. To say that a vote for the NDP is essentially a vote for the Conservatives does not reflect the full reality, though I understand your basic point. If the goal is to keep the Conservatives out of power, than we must vote wisely within our ridings.

[matthew]

Hey the Tories stole our money in Saskatchewan and were more blatant about it than the Liberals were IMO. It was bad enough they had to rebrand politically as the Sask Party. Sadly that was able to fool people or they just don't care.

Voting NDP is hardly throwing your vote away. In my federal riding the PC candidate beat the NDP candidate by 124 votes. Surely there must be enough to people who can't stomach the Liberals or the PCs or the Reform enough to vote NDP so that they will have some say. I think a PC/NDP alliance governement would actually help keep the PCs in check.

And say all you want about the Bloc, but I'd rather see them sweep PQ than the PCs or the Liberals. With the massive exception of the seperatist politics, they have a lot going for them. If they aren't pushing for another separatist vote they could do a lot of good in the house. Especially in conjunction with a strong NDP presence.

cheers,

matthew

[The Beaver]

quote:Originally posted by Loud Mouth Soup

Actually, this is not true. My wife is an accountant and will verify this for you--she has to read the new tax guidelines every frickin year so that she can prepare returns, both corporate and personal--but the Liberal government, under Martin's watch as finance minister and now as PM, has in fact lowered taxes and provided numerous new tax deductions. They've raised the allowable (non-taxed) personal amount, as well as cutting corporate taxes. They have also done well to cut into the massive debt they inherited from the last Conservatives under Mulroney.

Now, as for wasting money, it is pretty clear that Chretien's Liberals have made a mess of things, as Sheila Fraser is pointing out left, right and straight down the middle. And I know that the Conservatives want us to punish the entire party for the corruption of a few--Chretien, Gagliano and a good swack of bureaucrats--but I think it'd be foolish to paint Martin with the same dirty paint as Chretien. They are very different individuals.

But what I really want to know is this: What will the Conservatives do once in power? What sort of country will they leave us with?

[DoyleG]

Canadian Soccer won't change much under either the Tories or the Liberals as long as the current CSA regime remains in place.

[LMW]

If people are really interested in Canada and other issues, important to this country then go to the following website:

www.vivelecanada.ca

this site has numerous articles on everything from politics to sovereignty, to the U.S. It is a very informative site and an eyeopener about what some of the things like the conservatives will do if they get in power. They are basically the republican party of canada, they are not progressive conservatives, just hiding behind the name.

There are views from left to right on this site and discussions.

If you like this site spread the word about it as it is for Canada and the people.

I did not know this site existed but I am so glad I found it. Has been around for a few years. It is an english site with a forum in french also. Very informative. They have action items that you can get involved in and you can meet with others with similar views if you wish.

[nedved9]

Canada does not need a election. We should let the Gomery

Commission do there job. Then once it is done then we decide.

And for God sake's let us not vote in the Republican party of

Canada. also known as the Conservative party of CanadA. we vote them in you can say goodbye to the Maple leaf and hello to the Star spangled Banner. Harper is a boob. A American agent. He never talks about issues but he always criticises other people. That is a sign of a person who is very low self esteem. For example he brags that if he was P.M. he would have the Beef situation with the Yanks, solved

wHAT CONCESSIONS WOULD HE MAKE WITH THE yANKS. hE DOES NOT SAY.

aND THE WAY HE LOVES THE AMERICANS, THAT SCARES ME. also health care

he never mentions. And people in Canada want that as your P.M. wE ARE IN HUGE HEAP OF TROUBLE.

I urge Canadians young and old. Think of Mulroneys selling out of Canada. think of Diefanbakkers ruining of the Aero space industry in Canada. during the 1950's (avro arrow). and think Premier Mike Harris

cutting of everything essential and running up huge deficit ala Mulroney in Ontario. Fiscal Conservative my ass.

Vote NDP, GREEN PARTY OR LIBERAL. DO NOT VOTE CONSERVATIVE