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[Canada] Politics of the Democratic Friedmanite Republic of the Government of Harper

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    PhyphorPhyphor Building Planet Busters Tasting FruitRegistered User regular
    Imperfect wrote: »
    I'm sort of glad that we're getting rid of the penny, but I disagree with the way they're doing it.

    Just wait for the price changes so that the nickel rounding rules work in corporation's favours. Sure, they claim that they've done studies that their rounding method doesn't lead to "systemic price increases", but corporate tax cuts were supposed to lead to lower prices overall, and said corporations just pocketed that money.

    I'm a pessimist in this respect.

    Meh, it's never more than 2 cents either way. And it still only applies for cash purchases

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    MorgensternMorgenstern ICH BIN DER PESTVOGEL DU KAMPFAFFE!Registered User regular
    Katimavik and their 14 million gets cut? Yea, definitely not cut because it's a Liberal legacy program. No-sir-ee. Better make sure the Cadets get their 200 million though.

    “Every time we walk along a beach some ancient urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments or scavenging among seaweed and whitened timbers like the homesick refugees of a long war.” - Loren Eiseley
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    MackenzierMackenzier Gold Star Police Ninja Lurking... less than usual.Registered User regular
    I guess I'm just an odd one in that not only do I like pennies, but I hate nickels. I do collect pennies though and it is somewhat saddening that there will be no more to collect after this year. I can only go backwards now and it is damned hard to find them (without paying through the nose) once you approach 1900.

    Steam: Mackenzier
    FFRK: 9rRG
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    Al_watAl_wat Registered User regular
    Pennies are stupid and cost more than they are worth. Its a no brainer, get rid of them.

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    ComahawkComahawk Registered User regular
    Katimavik and their 14 million gets cut? Yea, definitely not cut because it's a Liberal legacy program. No-sir-ee. Better make sure the Cadets get their 200 million though.

    In the decisions defence: I have never heard of Katimavik before you mentioned it here, and Cadets are a heavily rooted organization in Canadian society that has helped a lot of kids.

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    ImperfectImperfect Toronto, Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    Lemme chime in as having heard wonderful things about both Katimavik and Cadets. I have friends who have gone through each and emerged with good tales, good friends, and a better sense of independence.

    Honestly, Katimavik was always one of those Neat Things Canada Has to me. I'll be really sad to see it go.

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    CaedwyrCaedwyr Registered User regular
    So, the one item that caught my eye was the 7.5 million cut to Elections Canada... maybe there's a good reason, but the optics don't look good.

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    CorporateGoonCorporateGoon Registered User regular
    Caedwyr wrote: »
    So, the one item that caught my eye was the 7.5 million cut to Elections Canada... maybe there's a good reason, but the optics don't look good.

    It certainly doesn't look good. However, now that we're in a majority situation, Elections Canada won't need to constantly be prepared for an election, so they probably don't need as many permanent staff or whatever.
    Boring7 wrote: »
    Richy wrote: »
    And so it begins to begin.

    Legal challenges in 7 narrowly-Conservative voter-suppressed ridings. If they are all accepted and Conservatives lose all seven elections, that brings Harper's majority down to 4 seats. Four more ridings and we're back in minority territory.

    And we only need 32 ridings challenged, lost by the Conservatives, and all swept up by the NDP to bring us to an NDP minority government!

    What are the odds Harper does something quasi-illegal (or just illegal) like declare the challenges invalid because of unicorns or something?

    Also, have they tried arresting or harassing political enemies yet?

    Harper can declare the challenges anything he wants, and it won't make any difference. This is entirely within the domain of the courts, now. The Tories will no doubt appeal any decisions that don't go their way, but the Supreme Court is supposed to hear those "without delay" so I don't think they can tie it up in procedural matters forever.

    However, in the event of any by-elections, Harper doesn't have to set the date for six months, and I can guarantee that he'll hold off as long as possible.

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    The EnderThe Ender Registered User regular
    Pennies are stupid and cost more than they are worth. Its a no brainer, get rid of them.

    Pennies are the quanta unit for our currency. I thought this was a joke when I first heard about it.

    How mind-blowingly fucking retarded do you have to be, Mr. Harper? 'DERP IT TOO EXPENSIVE DERP!'

    What about the GST claw-back? Was that too expensive? What about the useless interceptor jets? Were those too expensive? What about your private learjet rides across the fucking country with complimentary caviare? Were those too expensive?

    Of course not. If it's a fascist program or a psuedoscientific initiative or for the sake of some shit smear politician's comfort, then it's never too expensive. But if it's a logical sunk cost for the mint, well then obviously that's too much money! BIG GOV DERP DERP!


    Whatever, I fucking give up. Our country is being run by people who ought to be wearing Depends and rocking back & forth in an asylum, but because DERP! DEMOCRACY! DERP! we let our fucking retarded general populace choose who makes the important decisions. Oh well. I guess the average piece of shit Canadian is gonna figure out the hard way what a bad idea that was in about 40~ years.

    With Love and Courage
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    TenekTenek Registered User regular
    The Ender wrote: »
    Pennies are stupid and cost more than they are worth. Its a no brainer, get rid of them.

    Pennies are the quanta unit for our currency. I thought this was a joke when I first heard about it.

    How mind-blowingly fucking retarded do you have to be, Mr. Harper? 'DERP IT TOO EXPENSIVE DERP!'

    What about the GST claw-back? Was that too expensive? What about the useless interceptor jets? Were those too expensive? What about your private learjet rides across the fucking country with complimentary caviare? Were those too expensive?

    Of course not. If it's a fascist program or a psuedoscientific initiative or for the sake of some shit smear politician's comfort, then it's never too expensive. But if it's a logical sunk cost for the mint, well then obviously that's too much money! BIG GOV DERP DERP!


    Whatever, I fucking give up. Our country is being run by people who ought to be wearing Depends and rocking back & forth in an asylum, but because DERP! DEMOCRACY! DERP! we let our fucking retarded general populace choose who makes the important decisions. Oh well. I guess the average piece of shit Canadian is gonna figure out the hard way what a bad idea that was in about 40~ years.

    Uh... I think that's a bit over the top. We did fine without a unit of currency as worthless as the penny for a very long time. Unless you want to completely reset the currency system so the penny and dollar are worth 2, 5, 10x their current value this is a perfectly valid solution. The only difficulty is rounding to the nearest 5 cents instead of nearest 1.

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    RichyRichy Registered User regular
    I'm speechless. I really am. We have a government that's cutting out Canadian programs, freezing Canadian salaries, slashing Candian pensions, and for what? Well apparently so he can literally and blatantly funnel money to the USA.

    sig.gif
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    PhyphorPhyphor Building Planet Busters Tasting FruitRegistered User regular
    The Ender wrote: »
    Pennies are stupid and cost more than they are worth. Its a no brainer, get rid of them.

    Pennies are the quanta unit for our currency. I thought this was a joke when I first heard about it.

    How mind-blowingly fucking retarded do you have to be, Mr. Harper? 'DERP IT TOO EXPENSIVE DERP!'

    What about the GST claw-back? Was that too expensive? What about the useless interceptor jets? Were those too expensive? What about your private learjet rides across the fucking country with complimentary caviare? Were those too expensive?

    Of course not. If it's a fascist program or a psuedoscientific initiative or for the sake of some shit smear politician's comfort, then it's never too expensive. But if it's a logical sunk cost for the mint, well then obviously that's too much money! BIG GOV DERP DERP!


    Whatever, I fucking give up. Our country is being run by people who ought to be wearing Depends and rocking back & forth in an asylum, but because DERP! DEMOCRACY! DERP! we let our fucking retarded general populace choose who makes the important decisions. Oh well. I guess the average piece of shit Canadian is gonna figure out the hard way what a bad idea that was in about 40~ years.

    Dude relax. They're just not minting them anymore. CC/debit transactions? Still in pennies. Your bank account? Still in pennies. All existing pennies? Still valid. Cash purchases at the register? Rounded. I can't remember the last time I actually spent one

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    RichyRichy Registered User regular
    "Phyphor wrote: »
    Dude relax. They're just not minting them anymore. CC/debit transactions? Still in pennies. Your bank account? Still in pennies. All existing pennies? Still valid. Cash purchases at the register? Rounded. I can't remember the last time I actually spent one

    I do. The cafeteria on campus is cash only. Lunch, including taxes, comes to $7.04. So any time I forget to bring exact change, I end up with a pocket of change because of those four bloody pennies. Good riddance to them.


    Seriously, minting money that's worth less than the cost of minting it is pants-on-head retarded. And they're so worthless that stores are leaving them in open trays next to the cash registers for anyone to take, and that most people seeing one on the street wouldn't even bother to bend down and pick it up. The penny is the archetype of wasteful government spending. My only shock is that it took us this long to get rid of it.

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    BlazeFireBlazeFire Registered User regular
    Ender, with such a positive outlook on your fellow Canadians I'm sure you are a ball to be around.

    Lots of countries have gotten rid of their "quanta unit" and been okay with it. I'm pretty sure this is the least-worrisome thing that was presented in the budget. You and the coin collector are the only two people I have heard disliking the penny going away.

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    LaOsLaOs SaskatoonRegistered User regular
    Richy wrote: »
    "Phyphor wrote: »
    Dude relax. They're just not minting them anymore. CC/debit transactions? Still in pennies. Your bank account? Still in pennies. All existing pennies? Still valid. Cash purchases at the register? Rounded. I can't remember the last time I actually spent one

    I do. The cafeteria on campus is cash only. Lunch, including taxes, comes to $7.04. So any time I forget to bring exact change, I end up with a pocket of change because of those four bloody pennies. Good riddance to them.
    In that situation you're going to receive all of one fewer coins than previously. wow!


    That said, I think axing the penny is a great move and really, really shake my head at all the opposition I'm hearing/seeing on Facebook and in comments in local news articles and whatnot. Luckily, most of it is just emotional vague feeling-ness junk, but then every now and then someone explodes over the issue (like The Ender here) and I just sigh.

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    hippofanthippofant ティンク Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Richy wrote: »
    "Phyphor wrote: »
    Dude relax. They're just not minting them anymore. CC/debit transactions? Still in pennies. Your bank account? Still in pennies. All existing pennies? Still valid. Cash purchases at the register? Rounded. I can't remember the last time I actually spent one

    I do. The cafeteria on campus is cash only. Lunch, including taxes, comes to $7.04. So any time I forget to bring exact change, I end up with a pocket of change because of those four bloody pennies. Good riddance to them.


    Seriously, minting money that's worth less than the cost of minting it is pants-on-head retarded. And they're so worthless that stores are leaving them in open trays next to the cash registers for anyone to take, and that most people seeing one on the street wouldn't even bother to bend down and pick it up. The penny is the archetype of wasteful government spending. My only shock is that it took us this long to get rid of it.

    Lunch was $6.23 pre-tax? HST applies right? Weird. I wish retailers would just fucking include the tax in their prices and then round those fuckers off. Problem SOLVED.

    hippofant on
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    CanadianWolverineCanadianWolverine Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Getting rid of penny? Good riddance.

    Loathe to say anything that might sound like praise for the Cons currently in power? Very much so.

    Manipulated. Elections.

    I am this close to ... with the amount of rage I have for the Cons. I want to type more but I would probably end up in jail/prison and it wouldn't go well for my family if I did.

    CanadianWolverine on
    steam_sig.png
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    Nova_CNova_C I have the need The need for speedRegistered User regular
    Yeah, I'm all for getting rid of the penny and the long gun registry, but neither is worth these jerk offs being in power.

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    The EnderThe Ender Registered User regular
    That said, I think axing the penny is a great move and really, really shake my head at all the opposition I'm hearing/seeing on Facebook and in comments in local news articles and whatnot. Luckily, most of it is just emotional vague feeling-ness junk, but then every now and then someone explodes over the issue (like The Ender here) and I just sigh.

    That was not actually what made me rage yesterday - what made me rage was the declaration that regulatory bodies now have a 2 year deadline, from the start of a project, to review it for pitfalls / environmental impact. That's a joke.

    And it's being retroactively applied to already existing projects.


    Then penny thing was just some bullshit topping to go alongside it. They're just trolling at this point - the penny is wasteful spending! Showering themselves with wealth, of course, is not wasteful spending at all. Euhuhuhuhuhuhu.

    With Love and Courage
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    2 Marcus 2 Ravens2 Marcus 2 Ravens CanadaRegistered User regular
    Comahawk wrote: »
    Katimavik and their 14 million gets cut? Yea, definitely not cut because it's a Liberal legacy program. No-sir-ee. Better make sure the Cadets get their 200 million though.

    In the decisions defence: I have never heard of Katimavik before you mentioned it here, and Cadets are a heavily rooted organization in Canadian society that has helped a lot of kids.

    More than thirty thousand Canadians have joined the Katimavik program. It's positive effect on its alumni and the communities they helped is immeasurable.

    Just because you haven't heard of it, doesn't mean it isn't valuable.

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    RichyRichy Registered User regular
    Comahawk wrote: »
    Katimavik and their 14 million gets cut? Yea, definitely not cut because it's a Liberal legacy program. No-sir-ee. Better make sure the Cadets get their 200 million though.

    In the decisions defence: I have never heard of Katimavik before you mentioned it here, and Cadets are a heavily rooted organization in Canadian society that has helped a lot of kids.

    More than thirty thousand Canadians have joined the Katimavik program. It's positive effect on its alumni and the communities they helped is immeasurable.

    Just because you haven't heard of it, doesn't mean it isn't valuable.

    I'm trying to be on your side here, but... 30,000 Canadians is your argument? In a country of over 30,000,000 people, that's less than 0.1% of the population. That's not a very convincing statistic.

    sig.gif
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    2 Marcus 2 Ravens2 Marcus 2 Ravens CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Richy wrote: »
    Comahawk wrote: »
    Katimavik and their 14 million gets cut? Yea, definitely not cut because it's a Liberal legacy program. No-sir-ee. Better make sure the Cadets get their 200 million though.

    In the decisions defence: I have never heard of Katimavik before you mentioned it here, and Cadets are a heavily rooted organization in Canadian society that has helped a lot of kids.

    More than thirty thousand Canadians have joined the Katimavik program. It's positive effect on its alumni and the communities they helped is immeasurable.

    Just because you haven't heard of it, doesn't mean it isn't valuable.

    I'm trying to be on your side here, but... 30,000 Canadians is your argument? In a country of over 30,000,000 people, that's less than 0.1% of the population. That's not a very convincing statistic.

    It's a relatively small program, averaging a thousand Canadians each year. But why are you reducing it to a statistic?

    A house of ten youth move into a small community and do constant volunteer work, bettering themselves and the community at once. In a small town, having ten young people on hand to volunteer is very significant.

    You're looking at it the wrong way. 30,000 isn't a high number compared to the entire population of Canada, but those 30,000 do a lot of great work on a relatively low budget. Why put an end to that? It's only a positive thing, and it's remained consistently successful over the years.

    2 Marcus 2 Ravens on
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    MackenzierMackenzier Gold Star Police Ninja Lurking... less than usual.Registered User regular
    BlazeFire wrote: »
    Ender, with such a positive outlook on your fellow Canadians I'm sure you are a ball to be around.

    Lots of countries have gotten rid of their "quanta unit" and been okay with it. I'm pretty sure this is the least-worrisome thing that was presented in the budget. You and the coin collector are the only two people I have heard disliking the penny going away.

    In my own defense, I am Scottish; penny pinching is practically written into my DNA. :P

    I understand the fact that most everyone else finds them to be a nuisance and that the cost to mint them is slowly approaching twice what they are actually valued at. In the vein of unnecessarily minted coinage, I wonder how much it costs to mint the nearly half a million $0.50 pieces that are produced each year...

    Steam: Mackenzier
    FFRK: 9rRG
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    hippofanthippofant ティンク Registered User regular
    I'm pretty sure the penny thing is just a red herring to distract people from the rest of the budget. Maybe not ENTIRELY so, but its strategic advantage is plain and obvious now.

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    MackenzierMackenzier Gold Star Police Ninja Lurking... less than usual.Registered User regular
    hippofant wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure the penny thing is just a red herring to distract people from the rest of the budget. Maybe not ENTIRELY so, but its strategic advantage is plain and obvious now.

    Something able to take up news copy whilst remaining fairly innocuous? Sounds about right.

    Steam: Mackenzier
    FFRK: 9rRG
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    NODeNODe Registered User regular
    hippofant wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure the penny thing is just a red herring to distract people from the rest of the budget. Maybe not ENTIRELY so, but its strategic advantage is plain and obvious now.

    It absolutely is. Just look at this thread alone.
    This whole budget is brilliantly designed and is exactly how Harper works. Divide and conquer. Don't do anything big enough and immediate enough to motivate any large group of people against the government. Just keep slicing away piece by piece. It's always someone elses problem.
    Categorizing this government as stupid in any way is a huge mistake.

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    Boring7Boring7 Registered User regular
    So I decided to email Harper for the lulz.

    Subject: "Keep up the good work!"

    Comments: "I just wanted to say, as a fat Texan who's tired of the fags and minorities getting their asses wiped by their betters, good job. Your attacks on the socialist and pansy-ass liberals ruining and queering up your country are an inspiration to us all. You are turning Canada from America's forgettable communist hat into a real country almost as good as Real America. Now if you could just get English as your only official language like us and tell the "Quebecois" to stop being cheese-eating surrender monkeys we could probably do something about the muslim socialists that are trying to take over the world. "

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    psyck0psyck0 Registered User regular
    I think you give it away when you spell "quebecois" correctly and use proper grammar, but bravo!

    Play Smash Bros 3DS with me! 4399-1034-5444
    steam_sig.png
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    ComahawkComahawk Registered User regular
    Boring7 wrote: »
    So I decided to email Harper for the lulz.

    Subject: "Keep up the good work!"

    Comments: "I just wanted to say, as a fat Texan who's tired of the fags and minorities getting their asses wiped by their betters, good job. Your attacks on the socialist and pansy-ass liberals ruining and queering up your country are an inspiration to us all. You are turning Canada from America's forgettable communist hat into a real country almost as good as Real America. Now if you could just get English as your only official language like us and tell the "Quebecois" to stop being cheese-eating surrender monkeys we could probably do something about the muslim socialists that are trying to take over the world. "

    You sure showed him!

    Next your should like an anti-Harper image/status on Facebook!

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    AzioAzio Registered User regular
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    LucidLucid Registered User regular
    Comahawk wrote: »

    You sure showed him!

    Next your should like an anti-Harper image/status on Facebook!

    Maybe you missed this;
    Boring7 wrote: »
    So I decided to email Harper for the lulz.

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    RichyRichy Registered User regular
    Azio wrote: »
    Wow, I can't believe Trudeau won.

    Also, this is what bipartisanship should look like.

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    CorporateGoonCorporateGoon Registered User regular
    It wasn't really a fair fight since Trudeau's been boxing for twenty years. Brazeau has some martial arts training, but it's not really the same thing. And don't go giving them any ideas, or we'll see Baird and Mulcair duking it out in the parking lot on a weekly basis.

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    Gnome-InterruptusGnome-Interruptus Registered User regular
    hippofant wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure the penny thing is just a red herring to distract people from the rest of the budget. Maybe not ENTIRELY so, but its strategic advantage is plain and obvious now.

    The penny thing is actually an insidious plot by the Harper government to promote Nickelback.

    steam_sig.png
    MWO: Adamski
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    Nova_CNova_C I have the need The need for speedRegistered User regular
    hippofant wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure the penny thing is just a red herring to distract people from the rest of the budget. Maybe not ENTIRELY so, but its strategic advantage is plain and obvious now.

    The penny thing is actually an insidious plot by the Harper government to promote Nickelback.

    We're through the looking glass here, people.

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    DeciusDecius I'm old! I'm fat! I'M BLUE!Registered User regular
    Nova_C wrote: »
    The penny thing is actually an insidious plot by the Harper government to promote Nickelback.

    We're through the looking glass here, people.

    Sorry I had to steal that. It was too funny to not put on Twitter/Facebook.

    camo_sig2.png
    I never finish anyth
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    Al_watAl_wat Registered User regular
    So is it looking like Wild Rose might actually win in Alberta?

    Figures. There is actually a conservative I like in Alberta and it becomes a hotly contested election

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    hawkboxhawkbox Registered User regular
    Well My fervent hope there is they split things enough that at least some form of negotiation has to happen on shit. Rather than the usual ram it through our Conservatives are so good at out here.

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    NODeNODe Registered User regular
    hawkbox wrote: »
    Well My fervent hope there is they split things enough that at least some form of negotiation has to happen on shit. Rather than the usual ram it through our Conservatives are so good at out here.

    PCs: We'd like to propose a bill that discourages doctors from treating poor people, or people with expensive and/or boring ailments. Can we count on your support?
    WR: Well, can we throw something in there that legally declares the LGBT community to be "inhuman monsters" and make them wear name tags declaring that truth?
    PCs: I don't see why not.

    COMPROMISE

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    RichyRichy Registered User regular
    The Alberta campaign has just started. There's still three weeks left to go.

    It could be that the WR peak is the boost the PC needed. They can use the threat of a far-right WR government to attract and motivate voters everywhere from the left to right-of-centre.

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This discussion has been closed.