Debates

[cottonpicken]

The American one was fun to watch. Trump was accused of calling women fat stupid pigs or something to that effect and he said only Rosie oddonel nearly fell off the couch.

What a circus.

[mustardman]

Watched it last nite with generator on as power out. Well moderated debate, no one trying to outshot the other.
No clear winner, but Elizabeth May proved she Should be in All debates as she knows Details On every subject from fighting Isil to senate reform.

[TOM4CWB]

I agree Brave.

With fixed election date in Canada... what else did folks expect? With this option it does mean campaigning Will begin earlier... even a baboon could see this coming.

Just because longer campaign period... does not need to cost more as spending is more spread out... not having to mean totals must be greater.

All political parties have had 4 years to prepare... Conservatives did prepare... I call sour g****s and whiners on ND/Libs who complain; they don't work harder and get their voters to give more.

PM Harper is exactly right that Elections Canada NEEDS to oversee what happens leading up to the election...

this is not rocket science...

reasonable compared to USA who spend billions as a form of entertainment??? Isn't that what we saw last night with the GOP debate? Great job first class debates... both were entertaining and truthful.

[farmaholic]

EVERYONE needs to do a little critical thinking now and then. You know who you are!!!

[foragefarmer]

Braveheart

"(one of the best PMs ever)"

Is it any wonder you stepped up to defend Freewheat. I must have hit close to home with my comments that you came out swinging so quickly. It's not my fault you guys want to support Harper, the only PM to have two recessions in six years and still think he's the greatest.

Braveheart how can you not see this????

[freewheat]

I did not mean to insult anyone, for the record. I am simply saying we all knew an election would happen this fall.

How many times does one have to say the following: Harper is not a super hero. He is not perfect. There are many things he does I disagree with. I bet if my dad were alive and farming with me, we would have the same issues.

But he is the best for the time of now, and he is certainly the best of the bunch of would be folks.

I am not sure about May. Did y'all see her performance while stoned at the media gala? Not sure we want her running anything! lol

Mulcair stated yesterday that a mom at home is OT helpful to the family. lol

Personally, Harper has done more good than harm for me. I have listed these things before. Anyone here us a tfsa? Have kids? Have guns? Enjoy freedom?

My personal thought is folks get fatigued no matter who is in office or what they have accomplished. and that is fine. I just hope for all of our sakes, that whoever wins, our freedoms, our tax rates, our safety stays intact.

[stonepicker]

Why is it that when someone doesn't agree with a left-leaner, that the leftie, when he knows he has nothing to stand on, right away resorts to name-calling, anger, accusations, character defamation etc.? There should be a study done on this!?

[mbratrud]

I love how everyone clinging to recessions... and that he finally admitted to it!!! Sheesh like it was and intervention and the PM finally admitted he has a problem.. lol.. The PM in a sense is the CEO of a large company is it not their Job to talk up the company and put on a positive spin in difficult times. Would we have been better off if Harper was crying doom and gloom for the last 6 months to really amplify the effects of falling energy prices that are totally out of any individuals control. Would anyone else have done it different? For the most part the additional deficit was to prevent job losses in Ontario. Can you imagine what it would have cost Mulcair to keep the 400,000 manufacturing jobs that were lost that he blames Harper for. I really wonder what our financial picture would look like today if we had a different government the past 4 years. I am skeptical to say the least it would be better.

I certainly don't think Stephen Harper is the best PM this country has to offer, and I wish we had a better talent pool in front of us. The problem is we don't.

I think as producers this election could possibly have a larger impact on the farm than torching the CWB. The environmental and taxation policies (which some are needed possibly) could hit farms hard.

I am paying attention to the options, and quite frankly maybe its time for a minority government. I hope we are careful who is in charge and who holds the balance of power.

No doubt its going to be a real election!

[freewheat]

I think Mulcair should be asked more about his French citizenship, non?

[riders2010]

Ya if elections canada did oversee things we wouldn't have all those pathetic attack Trudeau adds paid by American oil companies. Which by the way they re pushing a lot if people on the fence towards Trudeau.

Trudeau won the debate hands down. The picture the reform nut balls oil representatives portrayed of someone who couldn't speak or think on his feet turned out to be complete nonsense. I thought he may stumble to be honest but he actually looked the most composed and someone the average canadian could relate to.

Mulclair looked like he never completely let go of the terd in his pants, and wasn't sure what to do with it. That really surprised me as in the house he s probably one of the best debaters there is. Perhaps he was thrown off by Trudeau catching him on the 15 minimum wage only for gov workers.

Harper was all oil as usual. He s almost threatenning everyone if the oil collapses the country is doomed. Well ya duh if you base your entire country on one commodity that people in the Middle East can burry you with this is what you get. Nothing wrong with having oil industry but if you subsidized many other industries as much as oil it would take us a lot further.

Jmo lol

Trumps Rosie comments were beyond histarical,
The media want to destroy him but he's the one destroying his opponents because he s unscripted and real. He is correct you don't always have to be politically correct and sometimes we all say he wrong thing.

[dmlfarmer]

No Tom, a longer election period does cost more! This early election call will cost taxpayers many millions more.

The reason, as soon as an election is called election Canada has to open offices in all 338 ridings to monitor the election. This means higher costs of leasing office space, and higher staff costs.

Secondly, Harper's Fair Election Act passed last year eliminated the previous hard limit of $25 million per party campaign limit and in fact increased that limit by $685,000 per day for every day over the minimum 37 day election period. The real problem is taxpayers are on the hook for 50% of a parties campaign costs. So Harpers 78 day election means taxpayers have to fork over (78-37)X$685,000/2 for each party that spends the maximum allowable.

Then too, taxpayers end up paying 60% of very candidates campaign costs and the allowable limit per candidate is also increased over a longer election period.

I am not sure why you are trying to mislead this forum by saying the longer election will not cost more but your claim to this effect is BS.

[fjlip]

Have to agree with each leader sometime, NONE of them all the time. Great NON shouting, NO speaking over each other debate! Thanks Macleans, good format/moderating. Now hope the FACT checkers can tell us which leader is a LYING, they can all be right about "the fact is".

[cottonpicken]

Anybody else almost throw their tv through the front window when they where talking about pipelines?

[perfecho]

DML for PM.....

[samhill]

WTH. might as well chime in. Mulcair kinda eerie strange facial expressions, but likely a good opposition leader. Trudeau surprisingly good with facts and likes to go for the throat, but surprisingly good only means better than I thot he was.
Harper looks/acts like a prime minister and I think it's a tough job in this country the way we're spread out and so diverse. Certainly the best on international affairs, I think the best on the senate. The senate needs to be independent and effective. Lots of other stuff. Harper.
Maybe like Maurice Richard as HNIC commentator-"My brudder Henri, get no goals and no assists, only 2 penalties, but he play good game, I give him 1st star."