Although last election saw a close race, the Liberal candidate was a popular local city councillor. She isn’t running again. The Liberal candidate is an unknown. Plus, the Con candidate is a young lawyer who many predict will do better than the previous Con candidate… taking votes from the Libs. Not saying McDonough will walk away with it, but the conditions on the ground point to another NDP victory.

Alexa MacDodough should hold this seat fairly easily if present voting patterns hold.I will predict a 5000 vote win.

The trend of the graph above and the results of the lastest Omnifacts Bristol poll for Atlantic Canada which indicate NDP support falling coupled with surprisingly narrow victories for Alexa McD. in the last two elctions, would seem to point to a Liberal triumph in Halifax this time.

I think Alexa will be able to pull this off. But I’m just one person, she’ll need a few thousand more ppl like me.

People in Halifax are eager for change. 13 years of having a third party representative in a Liberal government has seen this city left behind. You can’t punish the Liberals by reelecting Alexa. This time it’s Andrew House.

Funny. Halifax has a low employment rate, improving public transit, movement on our polluted harbour, but because Alexa isn’t at the trough, House thinks it’s time for a change.

House doesn’t have a shot at this riding. The rest of Nova Scotia might boot out the crooks and vote in the bigots, but Halifax is too multicultural for that.

It’ll all depend on whether the NDP can get out the vote, and if soft socialists are misdirected by this talk of a conservative majority, and vote Liberal in error, thinking that the Tory tide is affecting all ridings. But the NDP should hold this one.

Halifax employment is not from any of her pork projects, public transit is municipal, and the movement isn’t because of her. If you mean to say people should be happy, that’s fair enough.

If she wins it’s because of her status. She’s been around here for so long even old PC families vote for her.

As a former Nova Scotian I ask that you consider the tax load on all of our communities if you go down that NDP road.

Support the Conservatives. Have a real voice in Ottawa. It is time for a change. Don’t believe the spin against the libs or the ndp. Harper is a GOOD HONEST HARD WORKING man and you won’t be sorry.

As a supporter of the Consvatives I’ll accept a certain level of criticsm as being fair against the Conservatives, although I might not agree with it myself. Much like, I suspect most open minded supporters of the other major parties would do.

what institution do you speak of?

NDP win here

While I didn’t say every Canadian voter who choses to park their vote with the Conservatives is a bigot, I do think that talking about the beliefs of the candidates is very relevant. There is a conservatives candidate, Jason Kenney, who has called Nelson Mandela a terrorist; Most Conservative candidates belief that human rights should be decided by voters instead of our courts; and in our national media, the Conservative Party always talks about the special interest groups (minority populations) that keep the Liberals in power as if the religious groups that work on Conservative campaigns were not the same thing.

I wonder if the environment as an issue will be a factor in this riding? While I know that some Green Party supporters are conservatives, I think most are left-leaning, and might vote for Alexa this time to make sure there’s a voice in Ottawa who will fight the Conservative’s attempts to back out of Kyoto.

The Sierra Club of Canada has released their report of the answers each of the five national parties gave to their questions, and the NDP and Greens led by a wide margin:

Green Party 97, NDP 91, Liberal 53, Bloc 46, and Conservative 31.

http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/media/item.shtml?x=915

Halifax has a massive (and I mean massive) gay population who head to the polls to make things happen… and why wouldn’t they cast every ounce of support to the only (with the exception of Dawn Sloane and Maureen MacDonald) local politician to not only give them the time of day but to take an active interest in their affairs. Alexa can win on those votes alone.

At the end of the day, the results in Halifax will be pretty darn close. The Conservatives were definitely getting their supporters out at the advance polls. While I do not think House will be close enough to win, he may allow MacKinnon to do so. If not this time, Alexa will be out the next go ’round [if she doesn’t retire first].

Just to clarify, if someone held the position that segregation was ok and I said it was wrong, I guess that’s just a “disagreement”. How dare I not be tolerant of that person! And those who oppose SSM… if you want to hold the exact same position as the KKK on that issue, go right ahead. But that says a lot. I’d certainly be embarrassed by it.

It’s a shame that the Liberal Party and the NDP are so critical of the Constitution In particular I refer to sections 91 and 92 of the Consititution which very clearly state that Canada is a Confederation and not a unitary state.

Segregation? KKK? This blog is for election predictions, not a forum for promoting extreme views on homosexual “marriage”.

I voted Liberal last time in this riding and was surprised that Alexa only took it by 1000! I’m not in this riding any longer but it will be hers again-conservatives don’t have a chance-Harper is a wolf in sheep’s clothing

This is about election predictions and that’s why it was brought up that the Conservative candidate in this race is a bigot. Not my problem if he and others like him share the same position on marriage as certain hate groups. Sad, but a fact.

Michael Oddy, the leader of the Nova Scotia Green Party, has just advised Green Party voters to switch their vote to the NDP. If half the people listen to him, that should be about an extra thousand votes for Alexa in this riding.

Michael Oddy has just recently been fired as interim leader of the GPNS due to those comments and generally working to undermine the party in order to support the NDP. He was not speaking for the party but for himself when he made those comments.

I am all for ” SSM “, someone who is gay should have the opportunity to be as unhappy as all the married people out there. But for someone to compare the views of some members of a party (on an issue that has supporters and detractors in all parties) to that of a hate group is a reflection of the person making the comparison. Bent.

Murray, they have the exact same position on the issue of marriage. That’s a fact. If it embarrasses people, so be it. Maybe it should make people reflect on their position.

AW: Which they are you referring to?, the Conservatives who support SSM, or the Conservatives who oppose it, or could ” they ” be the Liberals who support SSM or the Liberals who oppose it, or could you be referring to the NDP supporters who support SSM or the NDP supporters who do not support SSM. They DO exist, they are just afraid to express their opinion for fear the might be viewed by their high minded colleagues as supporting those awful right wingers, or even worse…… gasp……not a true believer in the N D P way.

Keep in mind I support SSM.

AW: So the NDP supporters who are on the fence or who do not support SSM are biggots?

Yes, they are Murray. Totally.

Just curious Murray… what would you call one group wanting to deny extending the rights and privileges they enjoy to another group of people? Now, don’t think straight/gay, think white/black or male/female. To me, it’s pretty clear.

Can I ask you something Aaron? I don’t think most people dispute the idea that SS couples should have the same rights in terms of law (rights of spouses, etc). But I think some church-goers are afraid of, say, a SS couple sueing a church if it refuses to marry them. What I want to know is, is this a possiblity? I mean, the concept of ‘marriage’ predates ’state’ marriage laws, doesn’t it? “Marriage” in traditional churches is considered between man and woman–this is the ‘law’ if you will, ot that church? Would SS couples want to dispute the teaching of a church–and then take it to the state (ie Supreme Court) to decide on?

AW: Back yo my original question, are the NDP supporters who are soft or oppse SSM bigots?

oops, asked and answered, thanks for that.

AW: are far as denying rights, maybe marriage isn’t a ” right “.

Well, marriage COULD be a right, in a church/religion whose God espoused same-sex marriage, (if God’s blessing is what the SS couple is looking for). Not being a church-going person myself, and having been married with a civil service (in another country) I am just kind of confused. Doesn’t EVERYONE who gets married in Canada have to apply for a licence from City hall or something, anyway? Isn’t THAT the ticket that gives people their ‘rights’ (spousal rights, etc) in any event?

That is what its about, TDB. Civil marriage. Though I do know some chuches are fine with same-gender marriage. Murray, getting a driver’s license isn’t a right. How about to exclude certain groups on that? Still wrong. And marriage gives a couple hundreds of legal rights that legal experts say civil unions couldn’t match. As a black man who grew up in the 50s and experienced the “separate but equal” way, sory to say it isn’t acceptable.

TDB, i also think we have to look at the church as not always being right. There is a total separation of church and state which in the end protects churches. but I’ll guess that several years down the road, churches will open up to gay couples. But that battle will go on in the church (well, some churches are fine now with it). I know some within the Christian Church used the bible to support slavery and segregation years ago. And when I read someone mentioning the klan, it thought right on. Any group who hates me as a person because the colour of my skin and then hates gay people for who they isnt a coincidence. That was what made me really look into gay people. We always knew gay people. My wife worked with a gay man. I thought live and let live and not much about their rights. Then on the news I saw the klan rally against gay marraige. I woke up! I’m an older straight black man who now makes a point not just to fight racism, but any kind of discrimnation and bigoty. We have to answer the prophets call in the book of Micah to Do justice, love mercy and go humbly with your god.

“I’m an older straight black man who now makes a point not just to fight racism, but any kind of discrimnation and bigoty”

If only everyone could be as open minded as you-I admire that….

Ah the inconsistencies of the left. They support “rights” for special interest groups and yet deny them for human beings developing in the womb.

HI Jack
If its about Civil marriage then why is there still so much debate? It’s a fait accompli in Canada. I was under the impression that the gay community (some) wanted something more (hence, my question about the church blessings)

You say we have to think that the church is not always right…but that’s a slippery slope. I know in the past that the Christian Bible was subverted for racist purposes, but thst is not the same as the issue with respect to SSM; the Bible says that a marriage is between a man and a woman (I think anyway). How can you tread on people’s long-held religious beliefs, of which marriage is, I think, I cornerstone? Why would any SSM couple WANT to, anyway (why would they ant THEIR blessing)?

I know that the Book of Mormon stated that Blacks were the son of Cain, and were cursed. But then in 1978, the President of the Mormon Church had a revelation saying that Blacks were, in effect, not cursed. As odd as it all sounds to me, my point is that the major reversal in Mormon Doctrine came about from within the CHurch, and the US government did not intervene, so far as I know. I just don’t know if I’d feel comfortable if my government was forced by a vocal lobby to force a church to change its religion. If it happens it happens from within…Everyone else has the option of thinking what they like about that religion, in the meantime.

That being said, I sure hope we don’t legalize polygamy and polyandry.

Hi, TDB. It’s about civil marriage. That is what the SSM bill was about. But candidates want to reverse it. That is why there is a fuss. So, we’re talking about civil marriage. Just like what my wife and I had. Not too many churches would marry us. Am I seeing a pattern?

Polygamy is a different debate. I think someone earlier mentioned or in another forum about being gay is much like a persons gender or race. I certainly know I did not pick to me straight. And I did not choose to be black. When I look at the information and talk to our gay friends they tell me the same thing. One said if he cut off his penis and became a monk, he’d still he gay. I laughed but I thought about me being in the same boat. He’s right. People who want to marry several others is not an identifiable inherited characteristic. That is why to me its simple and I do not see a slippery slope. However, it will be interesting to see how the polgamy debate goes especially with religious groups. Many non christian support polygamy. We had people say they need to protect religion freedom from SSM. What about polgamy and religious freedom? It will be an interesting debate. Though nothing to do with gays being able to marry.

macDonough

Halifax is the same stinking city stuck 40 years behind the rest of Canada that it was when I joined the RCN. The harbour has even more sewage in it now. A Tory Govt in Ottawa will make them clean up their act. Ha hahahaha. About time.