IntenseDebate - Rose21

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Ignatieff's "party of ... · 0 replies · +1 points

"As opposed to everything coming down from PMO"

This is not correct. The Harper government has been very deliberately attempting to disentangle the Federal gov. from areas of provincial mandate. This is called decentralization. One of his goals is to allow greater autonomy across the country. I think that makes sense.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Canada 150: Towards a ... · 0 replies · +1 points

"There is more support out there for the possibility of a coalition than Harper & co. would have us think. "

Maybe . . . but I am inclined to think that there are just enough Liberal supporters who do not favour a coalition with the NDP to give Harper his majority. Any formal arrangement with the NDP prior to or during an election would see a number of right-leaning Liberal and uncommitted voters voting for Harper. That's why Ignatieff has to say he is not favouring a coalition. But this issue for sure will be raised by the Conservatives, so the question of coalition -- or not -- will be on the table one way or another.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Canada 150: Towards a ... · 1 reply · -1 points

Re: "I, too, would like to know how it was irresponsible. "
What was irresponsible was that Dion explicitly rejected the idea of a coalition during the election. The tradition in Canada is that the party with the MOST votes governs -- or at least is given the opportunity for a decent period of time. Even in countries like Germany, the primary party in the coalition government is the party with the MOST votes. This, of course, does not rule out a coalition after the next election, but voters need to know that that's in the offing BEFORE they vote . . . you don't spring it on them AFTER the vote.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Canada 150: Towards a ... · 1 reply · +2 points

The Court Challenges program was originally set up to test the Charter. It was never intended to be free legal aid for special interest groups -- forever. It is twenty years on, we've tested the Charter. Time to move on.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Canada 150: Towards a ... · 1 reply · +1 points

"I still say it's not going to get you many female votes by singling women workers out."

I say this is a non issue with most voters, including women. Of course women support pay equity in principle, but women also pay taxes and are most interested in policies that they view are beneficial for them and their families. Pay equity for public servants is not a high priority on anyone's list -- except maybe those who would stand to benefit directly.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Canada 150: Towards a ... · 0 replies · +2 points

Women in jobs in unionized shops get paid what men do, depending on the job. What female job categories are you talking about? Nurses have their own union (no pay equity issues there). Women teachers are on the same pay scale as men. We don't have secretaries anymore -- or the ones that we do are more office managers. So what are these "women's jobs" that we need equal pay for.?

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Canada 150: Towards a ... · 0 replies · +3 points

I do not believe that "such large disparities" still remain -- in part because men and women are basically pegged to the same wage scale. Previous "pay equity" claims were based on comparisons of different jobs that nevertheless seemed to be at the same level of difficulty . . . e.g. librarians (women) and archivists (men) -- not sure these same gender-specific job categories still exit. I don't think most women especially care about the pay equity issue in the public service, in part because these people are already well paid -- it would be like that fiasco with McGuinty's tax people getting huge severance packages, even though they all still have jobs.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - The dirty little secre... · 2 replies · +1 points

Attack ads (or even just ads) outside of a campaign is at least in part due to the minority government circumstance. Minority government means you have to be defining yourself and the opposition all the time -- and always ready for an election. My view is that ALL parties will use negative ads to their advantage -- why not? Some ads, however, are just more convincing than others. If CPC's ad against Dion was effective, it is because it contained some element of truth that struck a chord with voters.

15 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Why Michael Ignatieff ... · 0 replies · +1 points

Your accusations regarding Harper and his government are nothing but outdated and unsubstantiated cliches. You have taken your own prejudices against Conservatives and erroneously pretend this reflects Canadian views -- wrong, wrong. Harper has the respect of many Canadians, he is not anti-gay and the secrecy thing at this point is just silly. You need to update your thinking.

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