Politics?

[cowman]

If Stephen Harper takes them down soon, how do you see an election unfolding? Will it be a Conservative minority or a Liberal minority? Or do you possibly see someone getting a majority?
What do you think will be accomplished by the results you think will happen?
My own thought is that the Conservatives will win a slim minority. I doubt Ontario will go Conservative in any meaningful way, but I think the BLOC will pretty well wipe out the Liberals in Quebec thus paving the way for a Conservative minority? This could be a good thing or it could be the start of the end for Canada?
I also think you will see the Liberal party come out swinging at Alberta and all it stands for? They will sacrifice every western Liberal to hold the heartland in Ontario?
For a western seperatist the ideal situation would be for the Liberals to get back in, preferably as a majority! Then the prairies might finally realize "We can't win this game". If Canadians vote back in a total den of thieves just so they can continue to **** us then what does that say about Canada?
In the Calgary Sun a couple of days ago they quoted some people on the street on this very thing! The general attitude was if the Liberals won the next election, it was time to go! How does everyone here view that suggestion?

[ALLFARMER]

Canda is a mess cowman. WE have politicians calling each other names, politicians acting like buffoons in order to discredit each other, and Jack Layton buddying up to Paul Martin one week and today he is saying that the Liberals aren't fit to govern.
What in heck to you suppose the rest of the world thinks of us ?
Alberta will take a beating in an election campaign, and Martin will pull out all stops to discredit our health system, our Conservative government etc.

I, for one, am sick of all the crap, and wish that everyone that chooses to run for political office anywhere in this country would sign a pledge to put the needs of the public first and not engage in any activities that bring shame or embarassment to the people they serve.

Will it ever happen....NO...but it would sure be nice if it did.

[dferguson]

Would any of you folks in the West care to take a minute and enlighten us Atlantic Canadians (Atlanticans?) on Stephen Harper's stand on rural, especially ag issues? We know not much about him, except that he opposed having the packers books opened and that he thinks Maritimers are uneducated,welfare dependant scum, with no work ethic. We could forgive him (never forget) for this, if he made a sincere effort to get to know us, and gave us the opportunity vice versa. Perhaps if he came to visit. A kitchen party or two, or a ceilidh (kaylee) in Cape Breton. Those folks would loosen him up. After a night at "The Creamery" in Port Hawksbury he'd be like a back window bobble head dog, down on all four with his nose bouncing off the carpet. Send him on down. Any excuse, long lost inheritance, whatever. We'll send him back....When we're done with him.

[cakadu]

Sadly, dferguson, other than what you catch in the news, I have never really seen any type of ag policy coming from the Reform/Alliance/Conservatives. Other than the announcement a couple of weeks back that they were going to be seeking intervenor status in the court case in Montana, they have said nothing about agriculture that I am aware of. Maybe at the meeting with Emrald's MP something may have been said, but for the most part, they are silent on any type of ag policy because it is the vote on Bay Street that they are seeking, not the rural vote - even though many of their sitting MP's come from rural ridings.

[cakadu]

My MP is a farmer and his son is a third generation on the same cow/calf operation in the Whitecourt area. He certainly understands the plight of the livestock industry and agriculture in general and in private discussions with him he does indicate that there is a good agriculture framework should the Conservatives be elected. I do think that a lot of what Harper says is taken out of context, and I would certainly look for him to be campaigning hard in the Maritimes. I have met the man and he is a very brilliant fellow but very shy, and I think this advisers are telling him to ensure that he doesn't say or do anything that will give the Liberal media the opportunity to crucify him this time around.

Give me a quite, thinker any day over Layton,s 'pick me, pick me buffoonery !!!'.

I do think that if Peter Mackay was the leader he would stand a better chance of getting seats in the east.

I just hope that whenver the election happens people will get out and vote and use their God given brains before they make their X !!

[cakadu]

Your MP is certainly different than ours then Emrald. For the longest time he has been bleating about how bad Kyoto is and over the past year or so he has done a complete 180 and is now in essence supporting it.

If the Conservatives do have a sound ag policy, then I think that they should be putting it out there now to let people know about it instead of waiting to see if they win or not.

I agree with you emrald, we have to vote using logic and reason and put the "X" in the box on that basis. It seems to me that with every election that we have (at least since I've been able to vote) there is less and less clear choice out there.

[dferguson]

Our MP is Bill Casey,a good, steady guy who keeps up to date on ag issues. Peter Mackay is MP next riding east. After his treatment of Orchard during PC leadership convention I don't know if people trust him too much. Beyond making a deal he did not intend keeping, he made a deal he didn't have to make. Sleazy and stupid, too?

[cakadu]

As a "way out there" thought, how far outside the realm of possibility is it that the Bloc takes a real stronghold this time around? We've all seen in elections where the vote has been split and an unlikely candidate comes up the middle - is there any possibility at all that this could be the Bloc? Quebec is responsible for the lion's share of seats in the election, probably equal to Ontario, so could Quebec's punting of the Liberals actually amount to something? I shudder to think about the ramifications if something like that were to happen.

Let's face it, Ontario will be split between the Liberals that they know and don't trust, versus the Conservatives that they don't know and don't trust. The Atlantic provinces are more or less like the West, they may add to the vote, but they certainly don't have much of an influence.

I'm sure that even this time around, Anne McLellan must be wondering about her seat and how long she'll be able to keep it warm.

[dferguson]

Anne Maclellan is a Nova Scotia transplant. Hope she's doing her best out there.

[dferguson]

dferguson, please don't make me answer that question !!!!!

Do you want her back ???????

She did squeak in the past two elections, however the fellow that nearly beat her last year will run against her again whenever the election is called, so who knows what will happen. I tend to agree with you on your comments about Peter MacKay. I really think that there is a lot of potential back stabbing going on inside the Conservative Caucus....likely in the rest of them as well !

[dferguson]

Please correct me if i'm wrong.
The federal assistance programs seem to be slanted toward the feedlot sector at the expense of the cow/calf operator.A good number of feedlot cattle in the west are owned by the packing plants. These plants are selling boneless meat into a record high market in the us.Is this situation causing any frustration among western cow/calf operators? Any backlash from taxpayers? Opposition from polititions?

[dferguson]

Politicians?

[dferguson]

Oh yes !!!! All you have to do is read the posts on the Beef site here on agriville and you will sense the frustration. A lack of slaughter capacity for the OTM cattle and the monopoly by Cargill,Tyson etc.

[dferguson]

Yes I see , particularly on "Just wondering" thread. We don'thave the big feedlots here, obviously, and the provincial gov. programs have been helpful to the cow/calf sector but, in the face of machinery replacement costs and fuel and fert. increases it will be difficult to continue.

[dferguson]

Don't know what you pay for power/hydro there dferguson but in Alberta the cost has risen considerably over the past few years, fuel and fertilizer costs have gone up too. It is increasingly more difficult for producers to continue to remain viable. Many farmers here have turned to off farm jobs to try and keep going.