How Long For Harper?

[deremac]

I dont think that they will win the next election. Iam hoping he does well but i cant see the liberals and ndp backing him on anything and once glimpse of weakness and we will be back at the polls

[no yu begin wher i end]

2 years at the most.

[Cherry Poppin' Daddy]

At least two years. The Liberals are in no position to run another campaign, given their massive debt and lack of leader.

[Azalroth]

1 - 2 years....i'm going for 1.5 years, seems to be the norm now a days.

[borntohula]

i give him a week

[rebellious_L]

it is hard to say until we see who the next liberal leader will be. If it turns out to be someone like Hedy Fry, then I think Harper will win next election, as long as he doensnt impose any super right wing social legislation.

[Moonlight_Graham]

about 2 years. Canadians don't want another election in another year, so this minority gov't will last longer than the last. 1.5 - 2 years seems like a good estimate.

[Matt]

The Liberals currently have a leader, Bill Graham, he may be an interim leader but so was Trudeau in the '79 or '80 election, it's not really a big deal.

 

Hedy Fry is unlikely to be the leader, I haven't even heard anything mentioned about her taking part in the race.

 

The frontrunners are:

 

Michael Ignatieff: The former Havard professor who won his riding in the last election. However, he has the problem of condoning "soft" torture in some instances.

 

Belinda Stronach The former Conservative leader hopeful, and former government minister in the Martin government. She faces a couple problems though, one she's considered fairly inexperienced in politics, and there are still lingering questions over why she crossed the floor to the Liberals.

 

Scott Brison: Former Progressive Conservative leadership hopeful, he crossed the floor to the Liberals very shortly after the merge between the Alliance and PCs. He's been elected on the east coast since 1997, except for a brief time when he gave up his seat so Joe Clark could sit in parliment until a general election could be called. He's won his typically Conservative riding quite handily twice as a Liberal, both times by quite wide margins as well. He is also an openly gay candidate, and a couple years younger than Belinda.

 

Bob Rae: He is a former NDP Premier in Ontario, and he handled the Liberal inquiry into the Air India trial. He is also former federal NDPer though too, and he is not overly popular for his time as Premier of Ontario.

 

Other names that have been mentioned as possibilites are Stephane Dion, and Ken Dryden.

[garsk]

it all depends on how long the liberals can get a good new leader, might be a few years, might be longer, i am thinking longer, it is easier to be in opposition then in power, and the liberal need to regroup baddly.

[rebellious_L]

Bill Graham is a loser. I think any of the first three would be tolerable, but I heard the other day that Ken Dryden is considering running. Now that would be cool.

[ecnarf]

1 - 2 years....i'm going for 1.5 years, seems to be the norm now a days.

How the hell is it the norm? Only one government lasted 1.5 years, and Harper is in a stronger position than the Liberals were.

[no yu begin wher i end]

The last few minorities didn't even last that long, I don't think. Kim Campbell, Joe Clark, and John Turner didn't spend any more than a year in office.

[Matt]

Bill Graham is only an interim leader, so he can't run to become the leader, also it is likely the leadership campaign will happen in late 2006 or early 2007...

[Russell]

So long as neither Rae or Stronach win, I'm happy. I'd take anybody, even Hitler, over those two.

[nag95]

it better not be too long...but i'll have to say 1-2 years...i dont know to see what he can do i guess...probably nothing much, but whatever

[guitarchick]

It's already been to long.

[Crusader]

This is just making me look better and better as a political candidate.

 

2007, vote Anton.

[guitarchick]

I'd vote anton as long as he let me swim in his pool. hahah

[Ravenous Yam]

Canada needs a populist party.

[Doc]

Harper can't impose far right social conservatism. There are just some things that people aren't going to want to change, and he had to put a muzzle on most of the extreme social conservatives during the campaign as it was to ensure they didn't screw up the result. I voted 1-2 years, and that's barring him trying to screw around with anything most people consider the norm now, ie. gay marriage.

 

Grudgingly he seems to be doing some things alright, although I would question his pre-election platform stances on transparency in government (not allowing cabinet members to address the media) and ethical governance (the whole 'Emerson' thing). Of the two, the cabinet minister issue is the one that I find distressing.

 

D

[glo]

I said 3-4 because I think this gov might grow on us. I don't think the liberals will come back into power for another couple elections. They've screwed up pretty badly, so the NDP probably has a better chance of getting in next election, though I'll still vote Conservative.

 

 

 

 

P.S. I really hope everyone here voted.

[Ravenous itchy]

The NDP have no hope of fooling enough people into letting them in power. Enough people realise that they are way too clueless to be able to run a government.

[Russell]

Canada needs a populist party.

We have (or have had) several.

 

Unfortunately, Canada's provincial makeup doesn't lend well to national populist parties.

[supercanuk]

mmmaaannnn Harper is Fuckin' up! I never liked the guy, and all these secret deals and for defense and softwood lumber basically giving the American's a pass, i dunno, i hope he doesnt have much more than a year. Personally i want to start the Anti-Harper party just to have him shut the fuck up!

[Kyle86]

i think he's needlessly shooting himself in the foot with the whole flag issue.