Thursday 23 October 2008

Liberals to be a "responsible" opposition? A likely story - not

globeandmail.com: Liberals will be ‘responsible' in opposition: Dion

Considering the Liberal record of hand-sitting through 43 votes in the last couple of years, it will be a big step for them to be responsible again.

"Mr. Dion said his MPs are upbeat about the role they will play in the
next sitting of Parliament, and have learned some important lessons
from the last two years in opposition.
"
This remains to be seen if they have "learned some important lessons from the last two years in opposition".

From what I have read, Harper intends on running the same kind of show - making everything a confidence motion - again. So, if the Liberals are responsible and vote against legislation that would be bad for Canada, we will have another election very soon. (Harper, of course, will try to lay the blame on the opposition, but, I think Canadians will see through his little game of trying to force elections instead of trying to make things work.) Then, maybe people will see how irresponsible the Harper government is and kick them out.

Here's to hoping that the Liberals get it together, but I'm not holding my breath.

Friday 17 October 2008

More about the MSM's role in the election.

MainStreamMedia list of endorsements - mainly Tory.

Fagstein » Tories win again in newspaper endorsements

Most newspapers in the Canwest, Sun and Gesca chains backed the Tories,
as did the Globe and Mail. The two main dissenters were the Toronto
Star, which continued to support the Liberals, and Le Devoir, which
steadfastly stood behind the Bloc Québécois.



Clearly, the MSM does not proportionally represent the views of the people of Canada. But, the MSM views are not just in their endorsement articles, but in the perspective and the way they write stories every day about the different political parties, leaders and members. If they don't like a party, they talk about them in a negative way - sometimes subtly with their choice of words. And, this is what affects many of the readers. How else do you explain why so many people voted Conservative, when, if you ask them to weigh in on the issues, will find that they do NOT support the Conservative stance on the issues.

Thursday 16 October 2008

Sue the MSM?

FRESH MEAT: The government we deserve?

Maybe we should begin a class-action suit against the major news media companies for misleading the public.

Wednesday 15 October 2008

A better American vote selection quiz

Glassbooth - Quiz to help you choose best 2008 presidential candidate

This one includes other presidential candidates besides McCain and Obama.

Vote in the American election

Post Election Analysis Pt. 2 - Proportional Representation

Proportional Representation This will hardly be mentioned with the current distribution of seats/power. First Past The Post still puts most of the power in the hands of the 2 main parties and the Bloc. So, they won't be interested in fairly distributing seats anytime soon. Here are comparisons of FPTP vs Proportional for 2006 and 2008 of how the seats would be distributed:

Post Election Analysis

Observations

Less people voted in 2008 than in 2006 (over 1 million less people).

The majority of these people who did not vote this time were Liberals. See for yourself:


2008

Voter turnout: 13,832,972 of 23,401,064 registered voters (59.1%)

Bloc - 50 seats - 16.2% of seats - 1,379,565 votes - 10%

Conservative - 143 seats - 46.4% of seats - 5,205,334 votes - 37.6%

Green - 0 seats - 0% of seats - 940,474 votes - 6.8%

Liberal - 76 seats - 24.7% of seats - 3,629,990 votes - 26.2%

NDP - 37 seats - 12% of seats - 2,517,075 votes - 18.2%

Independent - 2 seats - 0.7% of seats - 89,524 votes - 0.7%


2006

Voter turnout: 14,908,703 of 23,054,615 registered voters (64.7%)

Bloc - 51 seats - 16.6% of seats - 1,553,201 votes - 10.5%

Conservative - 124 seats - 40.3% of seats - 5,374,071 votes - 36.3%

Green - 0 seats - 0% of seats - 664,068 votes - 4.5%

Liberal - 103 seats - 33.4% of seats - 4,479,415 votes - 30.2%

NDP - 29 seats - 9.4% of seats - 2,589,597 votes - 17.5%

Independent - 1 seat - 0.3% of seats - 76,696 votes - 0.5%


My predictions vs the election results


Prediction - Election

CPC - 115 - 143

Lib - 86 - 78

NDP - 51 - 37

Bloc - 53 - 48

Green - 0 - 0

Ind - 2 - 2


Analysis

Regarding my predictions ...

Regarding the NDP - There were 14 close races I gave to the NDP due to their upward trend in the polls. But, this trend was soft and only yielded a small percentage gain. So, most of these seats went to the other main contestant - in most cases, this was a Conservative candidate.

Regarding the Conservatives. See above.
Also, I, and many others overestimated how the Liberals would do.
If you only look at the seats won or lost, you would think that there were a lot of people who switched their voting preference from the Liberals to the Conservatives.

However, when you look at raw numbers of voters and the turnouts and compare 2006 to 2008, you see that less people voted for each of the major parties. And, whereas for these parties, there was a slight drop in voter turnout, for the Liberals, there was a significant drop of almost 850,000 voters.

Why such a big drop in voter turnout? IMHO voters were disillusioned with parliament, with the leaders, with what they offered, and, most of all, with the performance and lack of leadership (Dion) the Liberals offered. So, Liberals, especially soft Liberals, became un-decided and decided not to vote.

I would say that the Liberals abstaining or being absent from so many votes in Parliament (and not standing up for what they were elected to do), and Dion's lack of leadership resulted in a lot of people becoming exacerbated in the whole political process.

So, the Conservatives end up with more seats. The NDP end up with more seats. The Bloc stay about the same. The Greens pick up no seats since their support is still too low and is not focused enough in any ridings. And 2 very strong independents get in.


New Parliament

What will happen? Much of the same?

If the Liberals intend to gain back the trust of supporters, they will have to get a new leader and start to stand up against the Conservatives in parliament (in other words, return to being an official opposition party). If they don't, they will lose all credibility and really bomb in the next election.

The Conservatives will continue to push their agenda, but it all depends on the Liberals. If they decide to get a new strong leader and be an opposition party, then the Conservatives will either end up forcing another election soon, or, they will tone things down and try to get what they can done in parliament.

The NDP will continue to stand up for their ideals, try to get what they can done for Canadians, and oppose the Conservatives when they disagree with them.

The Bloc will continue to be the Bloc - generally agreeable on things with the NDP and the Liberals, but siding with the Conservatives when it comes to getting things for Quebec (which includes more decentralization of power/transferring power to the provinces).

The Green Party saw a gain of 2.3% in popular vote. They will continue to work at becoming a viable alternative party.

Newfoundland, Toronto and Montreal now all have one thing in common - no Conservatives! You can bet that these places will get nothing from the new government.

Edmonton-Strathcona

With a non-Conservative (NDP - Linda Duncan) winning a seat in Alberta, could this be the beginning of an erosion of the Conservative power in that province?


What Canadians Can Look Forward Too

- More Conservative scandals
- More war - Continued killing of civilians in Afghanistan for American oil interests, costing us billions more in tax dollars, and hundreds more Canadian soldiers' lives
- Health and social services reduced and thus costing you more money overall
- More attempts to criminalize women, and outlaw gays
- No new childcare spaces, no new affordable housing, and no help for the poor
- No support for natives
- Increased deregulation of all sorts of things, resulting in a reduction of the safety of our health and our finances
- More attempts to turn our healthcare system into an American style one (where only the rich can afford healthcare, and more and more go bankrupt and are driven into poverty)
- Increased pollution, and embarrassment on the world stage as the Conservatives continue to block progress to reduce pollution
- A further increase of our national debt and increases in the yearly deficit as the Conservatives continue to give our money away to big corporations in the forms of tax breaks
- Increased unemployment as the Conservatives do nothing in our relations to the USA, other countries and big corporations.
- A crumbling infrastructure due to lack of federal funding (because of the Conservatives giving away our money to the big corporations)
- Continued biased news reporting that hides the truth due to the fact that the Main Stream Media, the major media companies, ARE big corporations who stand to gain much money from the Harper government.
- There's lots more bad things I could list here. Feel free to add them on in comments.

The good thing that might come of all this may be that Canadians finally begin to see what a mistake they have made in electing a Harper government (albeit a minority one) twice in a row and turf the bums out next election. Look what happened to the Conservatives after 2 terms of the Mulroney government - and he was popular, with majority governments.


Tuesday 14 October 2008

Canada Election 2008 Predictions

Here are my predictions based on the last polls and polling trends:

Seats


Conservatives: 115
Liberals: 86
NDP: 51
Bloc: 53
Independent: 2
Green: 0

NL: Con 2, Lib 4, NDP 1
PE: Lib 4
NS: Con 1, Lib 5, NDP 4, Ind 1
NB: Con 2, Lib 7, NDP 1
QC: Con 7, Lib 13, NDP 1, Bloc 53, Ind 1
ON: Con 45, Lib 39, NDP 21
MB: Con 6, Lib 3, NDP 5
SK: Con 10, Lib 1, NDP 3
AB: Con 27, NDP 1
BC: Con 15, Lib 8, NDP 13
Yukon: Lib 1
Western Arctic: NDP 1
Nunavut: Lib 1

[Correction: I've made the corrections above. The error was: MB should have been Con 6, Lib 3 (not 2) and NDP 5 (not 6). This changes the totals to Con 115, Lib 86, NDP 51, Bloc 53 and indepedent 2.]

Ridings

NL 7
Avalon Conservative
Bonavista--Gander--Grand Falls--Windsor Liberal
Humber--St. Barbe--Baie Verte Liberal
Labrador Liberal
Random--Burin--St. George's Liberal
St. John's East NDP
St. John's South--Mount Pearl Conservative
PE 4
Cardigan Liberal
Charlottetown Liberal
Egmont Liberal
Malpeque Liberal
NS 11
Cape Breton--Canso Liberal
Central Nova Conservative
Cumberland--Colchester--Musquodoboit Valley independent
Dartmouth--Cole Harbour NDP
Halifax NDP
Halifax West Liberal
Kings--Hants Liberal
Sackville--Eastern Shore NDP
South Shore--St. Margaret's NDP
Sydney--Victoria Liberal
West Nova Liberal
NB 10
Acadie--Bathurst NDP
Beauséjour Liberal
Fredericton Liberal
Fundy Royal Conservative
Madawaska--Restigouche Liberal
Miramichi Liberal
Moncton--Riverview--Dieppe Liberal
New Brunswick Southwest Conservative
Saint John Liberal
Tobique--Mactaquac Liberal
QC 75
Abitibi--Baie-James--Nunavik--Eeyou Bloc
Abitibi--Témiscamingue Bloc
Ahuntsic Bloc
Alfred-Pellan Bloc
Argenteuil--Papineau--Mirabel Bloc
Bas-Richelieu--Nicolet--Bécancour Bloc
Beauce Conservative
Beauharnois--Salaberry Bloc
Beauport--Limoilou Bloc
Berthier--Maskinongé Bloc
Bourassa Liberal
Brome--Missisquoi Bloc
Brossard--La Prairie Bloc
Chambly--Borduas Bloc
Charlesbourg--Haute-Saint-Charles Bloc
Châteauguay--Saint-Constant Bloc
Chicoutimi--Le Fjord Bloc
Compton--Stanstead Bloc
Drummond Bloc
Gaspésie--Îles-de-la-Madeleine Bloc
Gatineau Bloc
Haute-Gaspésie--La Mitis--Matane--Matapédia Bloc
Hochelaga Bloc
Honoré-Mercier Liberal
Hull--Aylmer Liberal
Jeanne-Le Ber Bloc
Joliette Bloc
Jonquière--Alma Conservative
La Pointe-de-l'Île Bloc
Lac-Saint-Louis Liberal
LaSalle--Émard Liberal
Laurentides--Labelle Bloc
Laurier--Sainte-Marie Bloc
Laval Bloc
Laval--Les Îles Liberal
Lévis--Bellechasse Conservative
Longueuil--Pierre-Boucher Bloc
Lotbinière--Chutes-de-la-Chaudière Conservative
Louis-Hébert Bloc
Louis-Saint-Laurent Conservative
Manicouagan Bloc
Marc-Aurèle-Fortin Bloc
Mégantic--L'Érable Conservative
Montcalm Bloc
Montmagny--L'Islet--Kamouraska--Rivière-du-Loup Bloc
Montmorency--Charlevoix--Haute-Côte-Nord Bloc
Mount Royal Liberal
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce--Lachine Liberal
Outremont NDP
Papineau Liberal
Pierrefonds--Dollard Liberal
Pontiac Bloc
Portneuf--Jacques-Cartier independent
Québec Bloc
Repentigny Bloc
Richmond--Arthabaska Bloc
Rimouski-Neigette--Témiscouata--Les Basques Bloc
Rivière-des-Mille-Îles Bloc
Rivière-du-Nord Bloc
Roberval--Lac-Saint-Jean Conservative
Rosemont--La Petite-Patrie Bloc
Saint-Bruno--Saint-Hubert Bloc
Saint-Hyacinthe--Bagot Bloc
Saint-Jean Bloc
Saint-Lambert Bloc
Saint-Laurent--Cartierville Liberal
Saint-Léonard--Saint-Michel Liberal
Saint-Maurice--Champlain Bloc
Shefford Bloc
Sherbrooke Bloc
Terrebonne--Blainville Bloc
Trois-Rivières Bloc
Vaudreuil-Soulanges Bloc
Verchères--Les Patriotes Bloc
Westmount--Ville-Marie Liberal
ON 106
Ajax--Pickering Liberal
Algoma--Manitoulin--Kapuskasing NDP
Ancaster--Dundas--Flamborough--Westdale Conservative
Barrie Conservative
Beaches--East York NDP
Bramalea--Gore--Malton Liberal
Brampton West Liberal
Brampton--Springdale Liberal
Brant Conservative
Bruce--Grey--Owen Sound Conservative
Burlington Conservative
Cambridge Conservative
Carleton--Mississippi Mills Conservative
Chatham-Kent--Essex Conservative
Davenport Liberal
Don Valley East Liberal
Don Valley West Liberal
Dufferin--Caledon Conservative
Durham Conservative
Eglinton--Lawrence Liberal
Elgin--Middlesex--London Conservative
Essex Conservative
Etobicoke Centre Liberal
Etobicoke North Liberal
Etobicoke--Lakeshore Liberal
Glengarry--Prescott--Russell Conservative
Guelph Liberal
Haldimand--Norfolk Conservative
Haliburton--Kawartha Lakes--Brock Conservative
Halton Conservative
Hamilton Centre NDP
Hamilton East--Stoney Creek NDP
Hamilton Mountain NDP
Huron--Bruce Conservative
Kenora NDP
Kingston and the Islands Liberal
Kitchener Centre Liberal
Kitchener--Conestoga Conservative
Kitchener--Waterloo Liberal
Lambton--Kent--Middlesex Conservative
Lanark--Frontenac--Lennox and Addington Conservative
Leeds--Grenville Conservative
London North Centre Liberal
London West Conservative
London--Fanshawe NDP
Markham--Unionville Liberal
Mississauga East--Cooksville Liberal
Mississauga South Conservative
Mississauga--Brampton South Liberal
Mississauga--Erindale Conservative
Mississauga--Streetsville Liberal
Nepean--Carleton Conservative
Newmarket--Aurora Liberal
Niagara Falls Conservative
Niagara West--Glanbrook Conservative
Nickel Belt NDP
Nipissing--Timiskaming Liberal
Northumberland--Quinte West Conservative
Oak Ridges--Markham Liberal
Oakville Conservative
Oshawa NDP
Ottawa Centre NDP
Ottawa South Liberal
Ottawa West--Nepean Conservative
Ottawa--Orléans Conservative
Ottawa--Vanier Liberal
Oxford Conservative
Parkdale--High Park NDP
Parry Sound--Muskoka Conservative
Perth--Wellington Conservative
Peterborough Conservative
Pickering--Scarborough East Liberal
Prince Edward--Hastings Conservative
Renfrew--Nipissing--Pembroke Conservative
Richmond Hill Liberal
Sarnia--Lambton Conservative
Sault Ste. Marie NDP
Scarborough Centre Liberal
Scarborough Southwest Liberal
Scarborough--Agincourt Liberal
Scarborough--Guildwood Liberal
Scarborough--Rouge River Liberal
Simcoe North Conservative
Simcoe--Grey Conservative
St. Catharines Conservative
St. Paul's Liberal
Stormont--Dundas--South Glengarry Conservative
Sudbury NDP
Thornhill Liberal
Thunder Bay--Rainy River NDP
Thunder Bay--Superior North NDP
Timmins--James Bay NDP
Toronto Centre Liberal
Toronto--Danforth NDP
Trinity--Spadina NDP
Vaughan Liberal
Welland NDP
Wellington--Halton Hills Conservative
Whitby--Oshawa Conservative
Willowdale Liberal
Windsor West NDP
Windsor--Tecumseh NDP
York Centre Liberal
York South--Weston Liberal
York West Liberal
York--Simcoe Conservative
MB 14
Brandon--Souris Conservative
Charleswood--St. James--Assiniboia Conservative
Churchill NDP
Dauphin--Swan River--Marquette Conservative
Elmwood--Transcona NDP
Kildonan--St. Paul Conservative
Portage--Lisgar Conservative
Provencher Conservative
Saint Boniface Liberal
Selkirk--Interlake NDP
Winnipeg Centre NDP
Winnipeg North NDP
Winnipeg South Liberal
Winnipeg South Centre Liberal
SK 14
Battlefords--Lloydminster Conservative
Blackstrap Conservative
Cypress Hills--Grasslands Conservative
Desnethé--Missinippi--Churchill River Conservative
Palliser NDP
Prince Albert Conservative
Regina--Lumsden--Lake Centre Conservative
Regina--Qu'Appelle NDP
Saskatoon--Humboldt Conservative
Saskatoon--Rosetown--Biggar NDP
Saskatoon--Wanuskewin Conservative
Souris--Moose Mountain Conservative
Wascana Liberal
Yorkton--Melville Conservative
AB 28
Calgary Centre Conservative
Calgary Centre-North Conservative
Calgary East Conservative
Calgary Northeast Conservative
Calgary Southeast Conservative
Calgary Southwest Conservative
Calgary West Conservative
Calgary--Nose Hill Conservative
Crowfoot Conservative
Edmonton Centre Conservative
Edmonton East Conservative
Edmonton--Leduc Conservative
Edmonton--Mill Woods--Beaumont Conservative
Edmonton--Sherwood Park Conservative
Edmonton--Spruce Grove Conservative
Edmonton--St. Albert Conservative
Edmonton--Strathcona NDP
Fort McMurray--Athabasca Conservative
Lethbridge Conservative
Macleod Conservative
Medicine Hat Conservative
Peace River Conservative
Red Deer Conservative
Vegreville--Wainwright Conservative
Westlock--St. Paul Conservative
Wetaskiwin Conservative
Wild Rose Conservative
Yellowhead Conservative
BC 36
Abbotsford Conservative
British Columbia Southern Interior NDP
Burnaby--Douglas NDP
Burnaby--New Westminster NDP
Cariboo--Prince George Conservative
Chilliwack--Fraser Canyon Conservative
Delta--Richmond East Conservative
Esquimalt--Juan de Fuca NDP
Fleetwood--Port Kells Conservative
Kamloops--Thompson--Cariboo Conservative
Kelowna--Lake Country Conservative
Kootenay--Columbia Conservative
Langley Conservative
Nanaimo--Alberni Conservative
Nanaimo--Cowichan NDP
New Westminster--Coquitlam NDP
Newton--North Delta NDP
North Vancouver Liberal
Okanagan--Coquihalla Conservative
Okanagan--Shuswap Conservative
Pitt Meadows--Maple Ridge--Mission NDP
Port Moody--Westwood--Port Coquitlam Conservative
Prince George--Peace River Conservative
Richmond Liberal
Saanich--Gulf Islands Liberal
Skeena--Bulkley Valley NDP
South Surrey--White Rock--Cloverdale Conservative
Surrey North NDP
Vancouver Centre Liberal
Vancouver East NDP
Vancouver Island North NDP
Vancouver Kingsway Liberal
Vancouver Quadra Liberal
Vancouver South Liberal
Victoria NDP
West Vancouver--Sunshine Coast--Sea to Sky Country Liberal
YK 1
Yukon Liberal
WA 1
Western Arctic NDP
NU 1
Nunavut Liberal

Monday 13 October 2008

Thursday 9 October 2008

Voting Recommendations - Canada Election 2008

The following are my strategic voting recommendations for some specific ridings in order to keep the Conservatives out. My preference is for the NDP, but where they have too little support in the polls, I've chosen another party.

These recommendations are based on the latest polls in ridings (using the data listed at voteforenvironment.ca) Oct. 9, 2008. Some of these ridings seem to have a clear winner, but things can change between now and election day. The important thing is that you get out and maintain your right to vote and help the NDP, or the lesser of evils, get more seats than the Conservatives.


Nova Scotia
Central Nova - vote for Mary Louise Lorefice, NDP
Unlike what the main stream media (MSM), the Liberal Party and the Green Party think, the NDP stand the best chance of wresting this riding from the Conservatives. The Liberals decided to not run a candidate in this riding to help Elizabeth May, Green Party leader, gain a seat. However, records show, that this has always been a two-way race between the NDP and the Conservatives. The COMBINED support of Liberals and Greens in this riding does not even add up to the support the NDP have here. To stop the Conservatives here, progressives should vote NDP.

Quebec
Outremont - vote for Thomas Mulcair, NDP
Currently, the NDP is way out in front of the Liberal candidate here. The other parties have little support. Vote NDP here.


Ontario
Barrie - vote for Rick Jones, Lib
This is a close race between Rick Jones and Patrick Brown, Con. The NDP support is far to low for them to take this seat, so, hold your nose and vote Liberal here.

Simcoe North - vote for Steve Clarke, LIb
This is a close race between Steve Clarke and Bruce Stanton, Con. The NDP support is far to low for them to take this seat, so, hold your nose and vote Liberal here.

Oshawa - vote for Mike Shields, NDP
A very tight two-way race between the NDP and the Conservatives here. Liberals should vote NDP here to keep the Cons out.

London-Fanshawe - vote for Irene Mathyssen, NDP
NDP is the front runner in the polls. Cons and Libs are tied in second. Liberals should vote NDP here to keep the Cons out.

Thunder Bay-Superior North - vote for Bruce Hyer, NDP
NDP leads in the polls here with the Liberals in second. Vote NDP.


Toronto
Trinity-Spadina - vote for Olivia Chow, NDP
Olivia is out in front here. Second place is Liberal. Let's keep a great MP in office. Vote for Olivia Chow

Toronto-Danforth - vote for Jack Layton, NDP
Jack is far in the lead here. Let's send the best of the leaders back to parliament. Vote Jack.

Parkdale-High Park - vote for Peggy Nash, NDP
This is a fairly close race between Peggy Nash and Gerrard Kennedy, Lib. Throughout the campaign, Peggy has been ahead in the polls.

Beaches-East York - vote for Marilyn Churley, NDP
This is a very tight race between Marilyn Churley and Maria Minna, Lib. Marilyn is a seasoned politician and environmentalist, while Maria has been a do-nothing MP for years. Help make a difference and vote Marilyn a seat in parliament.


Alberta
Edmonton-Strathcona - vote for Linda Duncan, NDP
This is a close two-way race between Linda Duncan and Rahim Jaffer, Con. Liberals should vote NDP here to keep the Cons out.


BC
New Westminster-Coquitlam - vote for Dawn Black, NDP
A very tight two-way race between the NDP and the Conservatives. Vote NDP and re-elect Dawn Black.

Surrey North - vote for Rachid Arab, NDP
This is a race between the NDP and the Conservatives. The NDP are currently in front in the polls. Re-elect the NDP to this riding.

Vancouver Island North - vote for Catherine Bell, NDP
A very tight race between the NDP and the Conservatives. Re-elect Catherine Bell, NDP.

Vancouver Kingsway - vote for Don Davies, NDP
A tight two-way race between the NDP and the Liberals. This is the riding that saw the winner of the last election, David Emerson, cross the floor from the Liberals to join the Conservative Party. Vote for the NDP here.

Sunday 5 October 2008

Who won the debate? Watch this.

NDP offers the best childcare plan

TheStar.com - No licensed child care for majority of Canadian kids
An NDP government in Ottawa would elevate child care to the same status as medicare by introducing legislation, similar to the Canada Health Act, that would make federal spending on high-quality, affordable and accessible child care the law of the land, Layton said. The NDP would also keep the Harper "baby bonus" but invest $1.45 billion in the first year of a mandate to create 150,000 new spaces, growing to 220,000 spots annually as federal finances allowed.

Harper will wreck economy

TheStar.com - Harper will wreck economy, Layton charges

Look what Harper has done already: taken a surplus and turned it into a deficit by giving away 50 billion dollars to already wealthy corporations.


Canada risks a U.S.-style economic crisis if the Conservatives are re-elected, NDP Leader Jack Layton says.

Layton said Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's outdated economic policies of huge corporate tax cuts reflect those of the United States that have led to the near economic collapse there.

"Stephen Harper's understanding of the economy is simply based on old ideas that you give giant tax cut to huge corporations and somehow everything will work out," said Layton, speaking today to a partisan rally at a golf course overlooking the city.

"Well we have seen that model before and we are watching it self-destruct south of the border. We can't afford in Canada to have that kind of economic orthodoxy for four more years in the House of Commons with a Prime Minister who doesn't get it."

Layton said Canada is already reeling from the loss of 400,000 manufacturing jobs in the past five years, adding that many of these same people are in desperate financial straits wondering how they are going to pay the bills and mortgage.

"This is exactly what happened in the United States. More and more people couldn't cover those basic costs and the 'real' economy began to falter long before the crisis we have seen in the last couple of weeks," he said.

Saturday 4 October 2008

Which party best represents your views in the 2008 federal election?

TheStar.com Party Game

Take this short quiz to find out which party best represents your views.