Vote or Die

It's federal election time in less than 10 hours!!! If you're not registered to vote yet, NEVER FEAR! YOU CAN STILL CAST YOUR BALLOT!!! The best part? It's super easy. Just follow these neat steps:

1) Locate your polling station by entering your postal code here.

2) Go to said polling station and present them with either:

a) A piece of government ID with your photo and CURRENT address; OR

b) A piece of ID to confirm your IDENTITY (e.g: an out of province drivers license; credit/debit card with your name; passport; SIN card) AND a piece of official type mail (like a credit card statement or a utility bill) with your ADDRESS. Go here for the full list of accepted ID.

3) Collect your ballot from the nice poll worker (remember to smile!) and VOTE! TA DAAAA!!!!

If you're still on the fence about voting, remember all of those people in this world who would quite literally die to have the right that we so easily take for granted. Exercise your franchise!

I Don't Even Know Anymore...

While I think it's ridiculous that this is even being discussed in the news, I have to vent my absolute rage at the idiots at CTV. Did someone lobotomize Mike Duffy in his sleep or is he really that clueless? In what backwards world where night is day and dogs and cats get along did he think it was appropriate to convene a panel of experts to discuss "campaign fatigue" after airing Dion's "gaffe" all over prime time national television?

I know some of you don't get the pleasure of watching CTV Atlantic on a regular basis, but let me tell you, Dion is not the first to have fallen victim to Steve Murphy's abhorrent interviewing skills. The question was poorly worded, Dion has been going flat out for almost a month, and when he realized he had misunderstood the question he asked if he could start over. This is not a huge crime and most certainly not worth the amount of coverage it has been getting.

I don't agree with Andrew Coyne about much, but I think he gets it right here.

Liveblogging the English Debate

I know this is late, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to put it up. Considering I have been driving my friends batty with a brazillion Facebook messages/e-mails/texts a day regarding the three elections that are going on (Halifax gets a municipal election, dontcha know) I figured I should start up the old bloggy blog again.

This is my first attempt at liveblogging...please be kind. Also, any confusion between my commentary and the words of actual party leaders is purely my fault.

10:04: Harper just used 30 seconds of his 45 second intro to directly attack Dion’s economic plan from last night. Wowsers.

10:11: May: “You really should read the OECD report on Canada’s economy”. Zing!

10:26: Did Harper just say “lazy faire”? I have to believe it was a slip of the tongue.

10:30: I love this table setting idea. I really do. Why didn’t we do this years ago?

10:33: Environment, here we go. Dion looks instantly more energized.

10:37: Wow. Dion is getting really hard core on the “Harper is a liar” line.

10:39: Oh Gilles Duceppe…each province having its own environment plan? Are you serious? Green house gases don’t stop at borders. Although, points for attempting to stay relevant.

10:41: I think this is the second time Layton has compared Harper to Bush. 2004 called, Jack, and it wants its insult back.

10:43: Ah, the magic word, Kyoto. You can talk targets all you like, Steve, but you can’t run from the fact that they are lower than internationally agreed targets.

10:43: Bush count: 3...this time from May. Oh, 4. I’m glad she called Duceppe out on his ridiculousness.

10:45: I don’t disagree with what Dion is saying, but he slips into professorial mode when he talks about the environment, and I can’t be entirely confident people aren’t just tuning him out.

10:46: Third question: Candace Jacobs lives in Quebec and can’t find a pediatrician. What are the leaders going to do about the doctor shortage in Canada?

• Layton: Increase doctors and nurses. Forgive docs student debts if they stay in family medicine for 10 years.

• Duceppe: Health is a provincial jurisdiction. Re: health, it’s a matter of Ottawa knows best. Ottawa should focus on aboriginal health and food inspection and stay out of the provinces.

• May: Our doc shortage is directly b/c o the 1993 cuts. We have to reinvest in health care now. No student debts, more beds.

• Dion: 5 million Canadians don’t have a GP. Our docs and nurses are aging (50 year average) at the same time our pop is aging and needs more care. Ottawa needs to be part of the solution in partnership w/ the provinces

• Harper: Agrees with May. Nasty Liberals cut everything in the 90s and now the Conservatives have to clean up the mess. They HAVE been working with the provinces, providing w/ record amounts of money. Also assitional measures to help with doctor recruitment

Layton: Harper, do you think Canadians forget? You lead a citizens group whose main objective was to privatize health care. The NDP hearts Tommy Douglas. It’ll stop the tax cuts to Exxon and give the money to health care and pharmacare.

10:52: Harper has never used a private clinic. Neither has May. Layton doesn’t know why Harper wants to dismantle a system he himself uses. Layton went to Shouldice clinic once (a private clinic? I'm not in on the Upper Canada reference), apparently he used his OHIP card though. He says Harper should check with Tommy Douglas’s daughter…I’m confused.

10:53: Dion: Decreasing waiting lists is a Conservative broken promise.

10:54: May: There are evil international pressures that want to ruin our healthcare system. NAFTA chapter 11 will be the end of us all. Universal healthcare is a sacred trust the US wants to exploit. May also doesn’t believe in private clinics covered by provincial health systems. The Greens think the spectre of erosion is too great.

10:56: Duceppe: Provincial jurisdiction…we don’t need your stinking money Ottawa. Don’t just keep calling us up at 3:00am when you have cash, and then leaving us waiting by the phone when you don’t. The need is always there baby…fix the fiscal imbalance.

10:57: Layton: Calls Harper out on skating over aboriginal health issues. Good for you.

10:58: Question Four: DaleAnne Potter is an artist and has artist friends. What does the arts mean to each leader and what funding will you give to it?

• Duceppe: He bleeds arts. He knows it well. Harper made cuts to the cultural sector. Bad! How could he recognize the nation of Quebec and then cut the cultural soul right out of it?!

• May: Arts and culture=democracy. Censorship is bad. RICHARD FLORIDA CREATIVE CLASS!!! YAY!!!!! It’s importance to the economic sector to have arts and culture. We need to protect our Canadian identity from the encroaching US.

• Dion: The arts brings beauty. It stimulates us all. It's a big industry with a big economic return, not just a luxury.

• Harper: He enjoys the arts and plays the piano. His wife’s family is very artistic, he’s very humble about the musical ability on his side. $500 tax credit for every child to be enrolled in artistic programmes.

• Layton: Olivia is a sculptor. Harper is ironic. Most people in the arts can’t send their kids to piano lessons, ha! Our artists are the poorest people in the country. Make their first $20,000 on copyright materials and residuals tax free.

11:03: Question from TVO Steve, the Moderator: Are the Conservatives barbarians?

• Dion: The cuts to the arts were done underhandedly. You also didn’t say it was because the arts were inefficient, it’s because you don’t like them!

• Duceppe: I am lost on what he is saying...

• Harper: The budget for arts and culture has gone up. They’ve just moved the money around to more efficient programmes is all. They only cut ineffective programmes…trust him, even the director of La Cavallier said so.

• May: Doesn’t think that Harper hates the arts, or particularly supports them. Somehow this train of thought has morphed into the fact that Harper has some super computer that knows about every voter...

• Layton: Harper is trying to censor people who he doesn’t like and is suppressing freedom of expression.

Harper: is bringing up the director of La Cavallier (sp?) again…I think it’s the only artist he knows.

11:10: Question Five: Sameer Thaver is from Markham. He watches the news and there’s lots of crime. What are you going to do about the rate of violent crime?

• May: Violent crime isn’t going up, just the media focus on it. Ban handguns, give judges stricter instructions re: violent crimes. Shout out to rifle owners (just so they know she knows that they aren’t the bad guys).

• Dion: Poverty, addiction, mental illness. Give police the tools they need.

• Harper: There are increases in gang and drug violence. Tougher sentences for young offenders who do this. Oh, they’ll also prevent crime too…they’ll help youth who are getting into gangs…unless they commit property crime, they want tougher sentences for that too.

• Layton: 3 people were killed by stray bullets this year in his riding. Ban handguns, except for in the hands of the police.

• Duceppe: Quebec has the best record of any province, especially with regard to young offenders. Instead of punishing YOs, we should educate them better. We need to hit the “real criminals” hard. What about the victims…something about employment insurance for them.

• May: John Kennedy found that young offenders were often not literate. This shows that we need to invest in our kids when they’re young. Harper cut $17 million in literacy.

Harper: No, the program didn’t teach people to read, that’s why we cut it. We differ with everyone else in that we think we should give harsher sentences to YOs with violent crime.

Layton: $400/child/year so that low income families can get a real start in life. We’re not sure how though…he didn’t tell us.

Dion: Harper hates judicial independence, Dion does not. Even Nunn J. from NS thinks you’re crazy and he wrote the report on youth crime!

Harper: No, YOU’RE wrong. We’re letting judges have more ability re: sentencing. We also think house arrest sucks, it’s because of house arrest that property crime is going up. (Ed note: huh?)

Duceppe: We have a different legal system in Quebec, your plan does not work for us.

May: Minimum sentences don’t deter crime. Your crime package will only cost more money and not do anything. Youth can’t vote, drink or drive; why would you put them in jail with adults?

Layton: The number of aboriginal Canadians in jail is a national disgrace and so are the conditions in aboriginal communties. We need to do something about it.

Harper: [apparently not hearing Layton because this point has nothing to do with aboriginal incarceration rates] People aren’t in jail for long enough!

Dion: Increasing the incarceration rate isn’t going to do anything. Layton, why did you kill the Kelowna Accord if you care about aboriginal Canadians so much?

Layton: We did not! You were the ones that kept Harper in gov’t for so long…what are you doing running for PM if you can’t even be leader of the opposition?

11:23: Question Six: Barmak Salam is an Afghan-Canadian. Harper, how do you justify pulling out of Afghanistan in 2011 when the Taliban is reorganizing?

• Harper: By 2011, Canada will have been in Afghanistan for 10 years. He disagrees that we can stay indefinitely. We need to train Afgan army and police so they can take over security of the country. We can't do this without a deadline.

[Break for closing statements in the US Vice Presidential debate...I know, I know, but double debate duty is hard!]

11:33: Bush count: 5. Granted, I could have missed some in my flip to PBS.

11:34: Jack Layton, what the hell are you talking about? Taking troops out of Afghanistan and investing the money in Make Poverty History will help Afghanis? Maybe I shouldn't have flipped channels, now I have no idea what is going on.

Harper: Shot at Dion re: flip flopping on an end date. Yawn.

Bush count: 6

11:35: Question Seven: Dennis Peter is a retiree building a shed in his Toronto backyard. What is the first thing you’re going to do when you get into office…and no bullfeathers or bafflebrained answers, you hear?!

• Layton: Job creation in key sectors of the economy. More money.

• Duceppe: Is under no illusions that he will be prime minister. This helps him evade the question. He will ask whoever the PM is to help the people in the manufacturing sector, our seniors, and to apply Kyoto (what?! Kyoto? Weren't you just talking about provincial environmental strategies) and recognize the Quebec nation.

• May: Wants to help Dennis build the shed. She can multi task so as PM she’ll do a lot of things. Top at the list is fixing our electoral system to a system of proportional representation. We also need to deal with carbon emissions.

• Dion: Prepare an economic and fiscal update to help protect the money of Canadian. He will also have a kick ass cabinet.

• Harper: Manage Canada in the economic crisis; he might even be able to cut taxes while he does it!

11:43: I’m convinced they chose this question so that the leaders can talk about ANYTHING THEY WANT. We just went from federal/provincial relations to the environment to tax cuts. Oh, and now income splitting amongst married couples….May wants to know why Harper hates married couples. Carbon taxes will give us the $5 billion we need to allow for income splitting.

11:46: Harper: “Let me explain income trusts to you…” We are now officially in gong show mode.

11:47: Question Eight: Aimee Cameron hasn’t voted in the last couple of federal elections because she doesn’t like broken promises. How can a frustrated young voter like Aimee know who to trust?

• May: She has been a lawyer, and then a politican, she’s pretty much the paparazzi in terms of the dregs of society ladder. People will only have confidence in politicians if they ignore political parties. Canadians need to demand better of their politicians all the time.

• Dion: All the parties aren’t the same Aimee. Chretien didn’t go to Iraq, Harper would have.

• Harper: We’re a peaceful democracy, yay! Look at our platform ( May helpfully points out that no one knows where it is). Look at what we did before, we’re super great!

• Layton: Brings up Harper’s sweater again…Jack, you are not funny. We have had the same parties in power for a long time, best to go with the devil you don’t know. The issues of the kitchen table will be at the cabinet table with an NDP government.

11:52: TVO Moderator Steve elaborates on the question. If circumstances change, shouldn’t politicians be able to change their minds on issues?

• Layton: Conflates the Liberals and the Conservatives…better go with the NDP. He also really wants us to know that Harper will give Exxon a tax break if he becomes PM again.

• May: Jack didn’t answer the question…she will. “If you’re going to change your mind, you have to be honest about it.” I love Elizabeth May.

• Duceppe: (Ed Note: GIVE IT A REST!!!!!!!!!! Quebec’s seat at UNESCO, really?!)

ANNNNDDDDD we’re done. Phew.

Off Highway Madness

Last week the Minister of Health Promotions, Barry Barnett, announced that the province would be shelling out $230,000 to fund a programme that would help young children learn to ride ATVs safely. This initiative was to be administered by the ATV Association of Nova Scotia, a not for profit organization. At the time I thought that there were far better ways to spend near to a quarter million dollars, but the rural vote is important to the Tories, and there are a hell of a lot of people in rural Nova Scotia who own Off Highway Vehicles.

Then today, on one of my many obsessive checks of the updated headlines, I see this. Our illustrious Premier, in his infinite wisdom has ASKED FOR THE MONEY BACK. His reasoning? Well, he just plum didn't even know that the money was being spent until he read it in the paper over his morning coffee the next day...you know, at home, in the Land of Obliviousness. It's right next to Nail-in-the-Coffin-of-my-Political-Careerville. I won't regale you with the string of expletives that came out of my mouth when I read this, but let's just say the workers at the dockyard next to my house would have been proud.

Here's why this is so astounding: A) You can't tell me that a $230,000 expenditure through Health Promotions didn't get put to Cabinet. Junior ministers can't look sideways without
asking for Cabinet approval. This has got to be one of the worst excuses this administration has come up with. Where's the press person you got to cook up that "ice cream run" that Judy Streatch's son was on that no one seemed to question? Get that kid in, at least he/she knows how to spin a tale. B) If, for just a second, one believes that the Premier really DID find out this information though the press, what the HELL are you doing letting that kind of expenditure go through without going to Cabinet?! Especially on an issue that has been as divisive as ATVs. No matter how it's presented, you lose on every bloody count Rodney.

"But Jen," I hear you call out "didn't you just say that the programme was a bad way to burn $230,000." Yes, yes I did...but this isn't recalling ministerial vehicles back into the government fleet we're talking about here, this is shutting down an entire programme that the government itself isn't even running. ATVANS spent a lot of time and energy setting up this programme. There are 66 ATVs and 8 trailers ready to hit a closed course near you as early as next week. You can't just pull the funding from a not for profit like that and leave them high and dry.

I'm so done with Rodney and his merry band of incapable ministers. I hope this spells the end of incompetent Tory rule in Nova Scotia for a long time.

This is what happens when your press secretary is asleep at the wheel

You know, when a Chinese director publicly announces that your governments proposed film funding bill is worse than the censorship in his home country (you know...the communist dictatorship)...there's not much spin you can put on that to make it sound good.

This week, Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee denounced Bill C-10 (the C stands for "censorship"!), the proposed Conservative bill that would deny tax credits to Canadian made films that are deemed "offensive to the public". How that is defined is, in the true Conservative fashion of the moment, delightfully vague. If I were a betting woman, however, I would think that films about teenage lesbian relationships (Lost and Delerious), car crash fetishism (Crash) and child abuse and incest (The Sweet Hereafter) probably wouldn't pass the test. Incidentally, all of these films have won critical acclaim for Canadian filmmakers, even garnering Oscar nods. But who wants that, right? I mean it's not like Canada is generally known for its innovative and edgy film...wait, what's that? Oh...nevermind.

The absolute gem of the whole thing, though, is Canadian Heritage Minister Josee Verner's response. Upon hearing about Lee's comments, the illustrious Minister issued a release, stating that she was "surprised" at his remarks. She also noted that, as a non-Canadian, he wouldn't be eligible for the tax credits anyway...

*cricket*

SERIOUSLY?! This bill has raised the ire of everyone in the Canadian film industry for months, and when someone calls it censorship you say you're "surprised" and that in any event he wouldn't be eligible anyway? What kind of comment is that? You are officially garnering international attention for your boneheaded legislation and this is all you can come up with?

I'm usually a little bit more eloquent when I rail against this government's actions, but in this case, being blunt is the best way to go. Bill C-10 is crap, pure and simple.

If someone is going to be called a pirate in this situation...

Does anyone else find it terribly ironic that the Sea Shepherd Society is invoking the law of the sea as if it were gospel and verse while they themselves proudly boast the scuttling of Norweigian and Japanese whaling ships? While I hyperlinked to their website, you could also take a stroll down to Sydney Harbour for the proof...they have the names and countries of the ships they have sank on the side of the Farley Mowat. Something about those in glass houses...or in ships painted black and flying the Jolly Roger...

While I can believe that the Farley Mowat may not have been within Canada's 12 nautical mile territorial waters, as the Coast Guard suggests, it most certainly wasn't in the high seas. How can I be certain? Well, because the high seas is the area outside the two HUNDRED nautical mile limit. Now, that seems like a bit of a discrepancy, doesn't it? Yes, yes it does.

xoxo

Mike Smit is getting roughly 1,000 hits a day on his blog during the elections. This stuff is getting CRAZAY!

I think the advent of online discussion about DSU elections has lead to the increased cattiness and mudslinging during this election. I know Mike was blogging last year, but this people have really caught on; anonymity is a beautiful thing, apparently. It is, as I mentioned in a comment on Mike's latest post, now entirely like an episode of Gossip Girl.

Sighted: TG and CL not speaking to each other.

VAJ seems to be taking everything personally while DB keeps his cool.

Will KA's efforts to one up KO backfire?

Poor MC, he doesn't know what he's getting himself into.

xoxo
gossipgirl


Sadly, I haven't been able to make it to any of the election forums, and won't be able to make it to the Presidential one tonight due to some unfortunate time conflicts with the debating national championships that are being held at Dal. I have, however, been reading the website updates. Many thanks to Mike Smit for the comprehensive list.

John Hillman

Hillman himself admits that his original intention was to be the joke candidate. Then, Debogorski took that rug right out from under him. Instead of slinking off, defeated in his attempt to have a lark, Hillman has realized that he has unwittingly become the "official opposition", as he puts it, to the sitting VPs that are running for President. As a result, he has fashioned a platform that is, for someone with no experience on the DSU, actually quite astute. Hillman obviously cares about students, and while some of his platform promises show his obvious inexperience (his idea to use his first month of pay to fund some sort of event that will attract students to engage in the Union, comes to mind), others show quite a bit of intuition towards student needs.

John Hillman isn't just trying to be a viable candidate, he IS one.

Courtney Larkin

Larkin has been keeping us up to date via her Facebook page. Her "Campaign-Trail Play-by-Play doesn't tell me much more about her platform, but she takes the time on her discussion board to elaborate on questions asked during the candidate forums. This is a pretty smart move on her part, as she can take all the time in the world to refine her answers.

Dan Boyle

Dan Boyle has been doing some great updates on his website. They range from clarification of platform pieces, to reactions from forums and the Gazette. His writing is generally, with a few exceptions, quite pithy and always articulate. For someone who is running for the top Communications Officer job of the Union, I count this as a good thing.


Kris Osmond

Kris has posted a few "clarifications" of things he said during forums on his blog. Dude, that's fine, just don't call them clarifications. It makes you sound unsure of yourself. Osmond obviously knows something about the event planning and marketing side of the DSU, but he can't back peddle every time someone questions him or disagrees with what he says.


Krista Ali

All the pink and pastels on this blog hurt my eyes. Krista is another one that has taken the opportunity to flesh out her answers to forum questions. There's a lot there about society nights at the Grawood and T Room, what should be done about it etc. If you're interested in that kind of stuff, give it a read.

Eric Snow

Eric has been updating his website pretty regularly with debriefs from candidate forums as well as his own thoughts on how councilors can better serve the union. I think it's important that Senators talk about that sort of thing as they are very much in a position to take a lead role in that regard.

Yannick Tremblay

Yannick is running unopposed and is still updating his blog. If that's not dedication, I don't know what is. Also, I think, more than in past Yannick has really tried to push grad student issues beyond "Helllooooo, we're over here...usually marking your assignments..." Evidence of this can be found on his post about how grad students can improve their presentation skills.

Thus endeth the candidates who have been updating their websites/Facebook groups on a regular basis.

Tonight is the Presidential candidate forum at the Grawood. 5-7, be there!