I think the Liberals will keep this seat. The conservaties came second by more 12% in 2004. The People of Peterborough will not switch to a conservative even with this new slate of candidates.

It would be a shame to see this riding remain red considering the scandals that have run rampant. Here is an opportunity to secure a new candidate who can make changes within the new Conservative government.

What good will Peterborough gain with a Liberal member in opposition?

After years of no change we are at the point where we can make real progress.

Agree that the Liberals will keep this seat. Peter Adams was extremely well liked in the community, and that shows with the 12% gap of the Liberals over the Conservatives in the last election. Mr. Del Mastro is very young and inexperienced, and it could work against him in this election. Diane Lloyd has quite a bit of experience through the school board. Granted the Conservative momentum is good at this point in the campaign, but the riding will stay Liberal this time around albeit a lot closer in the final numbers.

I think the choice for this riding is clear as day. Aiden Wiechula of the Marijuana Party obviously has the best hair. Who could resist?

The Liberals definitely deserve a good kicking this time around and maybe some time in opposition in a minority government situation will scare some vision into them again but PLEASE let’s not have a political moron like Del Mastro win this seat! The Conservatives have some good people in their party in Peterborough but Del Mastro and his hand picked ‘team’ seem to represent all that is wrong with the neo-cons within the ranks of Harper’s party. Shallow, vicious, void of policy, incapable of articulate thought and already adopting the swagger of being in office for too long. If they take this seat then you might as well close the Peterborough MP office in Ottawa because it will be the laughing stock of parliament.

Dean Del Mastro will win this seat. He is incredibly intelligent and cares about the people in this riding. He would be an excellent MP and would actually do something for the riding. It is about time the liberals got the butt kicking they deserve. Elect a conservative!

I would have to disagree with the statement that Dean is “incredibly intelligent.” He is, after all, a used car salesman and I don’t want to stereotype but this makes him pretty damned slick. He knows what the people want to hear and he delivers it without any real depth to his arguments. He spouts catch phrases and sound bites in speeches and debates to waste time when he doesn’t really know the answer to a question. He is a cheap politician to the core and if we truly want to see a change in the government, perhaps we shouldn’t always see everything in blue and red. Get informed about your other choices as well.

Dean Del Mastro will win this seat.
He is inteligent , well spoken and honest.
He is not a used car salesman as suggested, he owns a dealership. Lloyd is a nobody. Just drive around and look at the number of CPC on private property. It will be a tdy win.

As an example of Del Mastro’s ‘intelligence’ he said, in response to a question about how students can handle student loan debts, that such a debt makes people work harder to pay it off. I’m not joking. In response to a question about the causes and effects of the growing rate of poverty he said that he understands poverty because he used to be poor. He rolls his eyes like a child during all-candidates debates and has no political experience whatsoever. Diane Lloyd has been an elected school trustee for five years. Linda Slavin has been involved in the community for years and years. PLEASE, Peterborough, don’t let this classic political caricature into office. He is already demonstrating a dismissive, arrogant and divisive attitude towards some voters and he ISN’T EVEN IN OFFICE YET!. He would be a DISASTER for Peterborough.

Dear Mr. Parkes, if you are going to quote me then at least get the quote right. Perhaps you should inform folks that your views are skewed by your own desire to seek public office.

Those of you on here who are suggesting that the Liberals will keep this seat are either Liberals yourselves trying to create a little world in your head where the Liberals win all the time and can steal forever, or, you’re already in that little world and struggling to read the poll numbers as your ship gets the bottom blown out of it and it sinks into the abyss.

Conservatives have a HUGE lead in Eastern Ontario, and in case you didn’t notice, Peterborough happens to be there. Oh I forgot, you’re too worried about drowining in RCMP investigations and poll numbers to realize. Sorry guys, but if you’re going to ignore reality..well..nevermind…you’re liberals…nothing new there.

Dean,

Great comment! I applaud you for taking the initive and running for office, and running so well I might add! I have been so impressed by all the signs I have seen up for you when I visit, as I am no longer living in Ptbo, and think it will be so refreshing to see someone young and ambitious working hard to put Peterbrough finally in the spot light in Ottawa! It has been too long since Ptbo has had real representation in the House. Use your youth to your advantage, and dont let anyone tear you down for it! All the best, you are doing great!!

Nice to know that you read these blogs, Dean. I don’t really understand your logic. How is it that me running for a city council seat this November would distort my view of the legitimacy of your candidacy? I am not a member of any political party and support the best person, not the party, so you can’t say my comments are typical partisan reaction. My observations of your ability are gleaned from my own experience with you, what I’ve read in the paper, seen on tv and heard from others so forgive me if I’ve got it wrong. You see you refused to even talk to me when I requested five minutes with you. Your ‘handler’, himself running for office, made sure of that and even bragged to me about denying others access to you. He said that he had turned away dozens of people. Why do you suppose he did that? I think that his actions are the actions of someone who is allowing his own political ambitions to interfere with a voters right to have access to a candidate who is seeking public office. But even the political strategic sense of that is not clear. You, yourself, arranged to meet me at your headquarters and then never showed up. Why is that? I left messages to call me but you never did. Why is that? Do you think a person who is running for a city council seat has no merit in seeking an audience with you? Or am I not the right type of voter? Or have you been advised that I am not the right type of voter? And why is it that you choose this forum as the only way of contacting me? Why couldn’t you have picked up the phone and talked for five minutes about federal/municipal relations with someone who wants to represent Peterborough in municipal politics? Again, have your ‘handlers’ advised you that this will somehow hurt your electoral chances? Or did your ‘handler’ feel that it would hurt his? And if so, why? To deny access to me makes no political strategic sense and to agree with this demonstrates what I’ve been saying about you as a candidate. You have no proper sense of right and wrong when it comes to the job of representing EVERYONE in Peterborough. You or your genius strategist might have felt I was a hard core Liberal or NDP supporter but the fact is that the last party I was ever involved with was the Alliance party. I helped out with Eric Mann’s nomination years ago. There is no political savvy in turning away voters. It’s called plain old arrogance. I know that there are some decent people in the Conservative party, people who would do a good job in Ottawa, but you are not one of them. Is your refusal to simply talk with me and your decision to only react on a blog what Harper would call accountability? Is it integrity? Does it demonstrate political ability? I don’t think so. It demonstrates someone who is simply not up to the job, someone who simply adds fuel to the fire when it comes to creating cynicism in the minds of voters about the whole partisan, infantile, shallow game of politics. You should be ashamed but you probably aren’t capable of that. Better ask your ‘handler’ if you should respond.

Parkes: Dean is not a car salesman; he owns the dealership and chairman to the Suzuki Canada Dealer Advisory Board.

You don’t know Dean, and implying that Dean only represents the rich/homeowners is a boldfaced lie and an insult to people like me. I am not rich – I am a young single mother and a Trent university student. I do not own a home. During this election I have come to know Dean well. He is compassionate and has taken the time to talk to people from many different walks of life – including me and other students who are in the same financial position that I am.

Danielle: You obviously know the same Dean I know. I have no ideae what Dean Parkes is blathering about.

(edited) Apparently you both (Roy Wilson & Danielle) know the Dean that talks to people so I can only guess that I have been excluded from that elite group for reasons you both don’t know or for reasons that Dean won’t/can’t explain. Danielle, you are right. I have not met Dean and so I only have newspaper articles, tv appearances, third hand information and facts on his business background to judge him on and maybe this is wrong. But I ask you, why didn’t Dean’s team think I was the ‘right’ type of person to talk to? Isn’t the fact that I haven’t met Dean his and his team’s fault rather than mine? And what do you think of the calibre of a candidate who won’t sit down for five minutes with someone but who will justify his actions on a blog? Do you think that is the sign of a man of substance? And do you think his criticism of me, that my comments are ’skewed’ because I am running for political office, actually makes any sense? When this is all over I think Dean will no doubt return to doing what he does best - selling cars. I’m sure he’s good at it.

When this is all over I think Dean will no doubt return to doing what he does best - selling cars. I’m sure he’s good at it.
________________________

:)No he will be Peterboroughs fed rep in Ottawa and you will still be a wannabee that wont make it even in municipal politics.

And Lloyd will go back to the Board of education and sell Real Estate. Slaven will do who knows what ,. Who cares.

I’d also be happy if this blog reflected more opinions from other people in Peterborough about the issues that concern them. What would a great MP be? I think a great MP would work ‘outside the box’ and not be tied down to party rules and would do something to bring different industries to Peterborough. We need a more diverse economic base here and I hope whoever wins works hard to do that.

I was born in Peterborough, live elsewhere now but follow developments in this riding quite closely. It’s a very interesting riding with three parties all likely to get over 20% of the popular vote, and any of the three would have been capable of winning if the campaign had gone their way. At this point, it seems to be a horse race between the two parties … which raises the tensions from people from both sides who have strong opinions … as both of you, Joel and Roy, seem to have!! It’s no secret where your sentiments are! But what a fascinating race … with a mixture of relative inexperience (at least at the federal level), youth, varying business and local political experience (like school boards), etc. Should be a long evening on Monday. But hey, the dialogue — within respectful boundaries — is stimulating. It would be a shame to see it deteriorate in this riding to the level that has occurred in the Newmarket-Aurora riding re. Belinda Stronach, or — to a lesser extent — in the Kings-Hants Nova Scotia riding re. Scott Brison. Having said that, I’d enjoy sitting at the next table if the two of you decide to have coffee together!

Whats truly sick is the lack of support on this site at least, for Linda Slavin and the NDP. The only major party that actually looks beyond the electoral mandate, and cares about the future health of my children, and their children, and nobody cares because all they can think about is a tax cut, an unsustainable one at that. Tell me, where are these billions and billions of dollars in tax cuts going to come from, it couldn’t be the medical system, or education transfers could it?

What gives Mr Harper the right to back out of the only treaty the majority of the world has decided on to protect our future, in the interest of a bunch of oil companies. Kyoto has its problems, but if anything those problems are that it doesn’t go far enough. We are going to need to make serious changes in the ways we live if we want to continue to be able to live anywhere close to the way we currently do on this planet, thinking otherwise is simply delusional. I haven’t encountered one anti-Kyoto scientist that isn’t industry funded. On most environmental issues dealing with pollution and sustainable living, the Conservatives, and even the Liberals, have far worse track records than the NDP.

Health Care: whats the only party that has as a leader someone who has on more than one occasion publicly expressed his desire for the elimination of the entire Canada Health Act? If you guessed Stephen Harper, you are correct, but no, everyone just gobbles up Harper’s promise to support a government health care system. Why does anyone honestly believe the entire Reformatory party has suddenly changed its spots on this issue? Maybe Harper won’t destroy the health care system, but he sure as hell will make it more difficult to operate, and will start the path towards a two tier system, which under NAFTA’s chapter 11, does have the possibility of leaving our Government liable for charges of lost profits to insurance companies for having a monopoly on treating Canadians. Speaking of leopards who can’t change their spots, isn’t there a whole other host of awful things that have been said by reformatory MPs, such as Rob Anders labelling Nelson Mandela a terrorist, Harper calling Liberals west of Winnipeg ghettoized Asians or praising the lieing sack of **** Republican neoconservatives for inspiring Harper and the Reform party..these are not random made up quotations, they are on record, and regardless of all the garbage about fear politics, we should be concerned about electing someone like that to run this country. Canadians can do so much better than Dean Del Mastro or Paul Martin.

Farmers: why would a farmer with any knowledge of history or politics vote for any party which would put grain monopolies and large corporate agribusiness before their small, struggling farm operations. I implore any rural voters to have a chat with Linda Slavin about the NDP’s farm program which would actually do something to help family farmers, rather than ensuring market prices continue to shaft the family farmer. If you think the Conservatives will solve that issue, then I have some swamp land in Florida I’d like to give to you.

Lastly, same sex marriage. I’m getting married in the not too distant future, to a woman. Now we’re not having a Christian marriage at all, we’re adopting the legal definition of marriage. Does this make our marriage somehow less special than that of someone who is Christian? How arrogant anyone is who thinks that. Why do you and your party of bigots have such trouble with allowing two people who love each other to get married. First of all nobody is forcing your church to marry anyone you don’t want to, and also, nobody is forcing Mr Harper to marry a man.

Dave,

I agree with your view that the NDP is the best choice for Peterborough, and for the country as a whole. Of the Candidates presented in the Peterborough riding, Linda Slavin is the most experienced and engaged in the issues most pressing to the riding’s residents. Linda has 30 years of experience in community activism and is a veteran of the local political scene. On Monday, January 23, vote Linda Slavin, NDP.

I agree, Linda Slavin is the most experienced and capabale candidate for Peterborough. She’s lived here for decades and has really contributed to the community, particularly at Trent and through KWIC. And I see she is very worldly and has done some very meaningful work in Ecuador and South Africa.

Personally I might not agree with each and every policy and opinion of her and the NDP, but that’s democracy, you find a compromise and simply choose the best person. With her background and intellect I would certainly be pleased to see her as the MP for Peterborough.

I don’t think this one would even be a race if Peter Adams, who was the best MP this riding has ever had, retired. It’s too bad really because the people of this riding are going to be roped into electing yet another Conservative Car Salesman who has created quite an empire for himself with his old mans money.

While we are on the topic of Conservative MPs from Peterborough that were once car salesman, why don’t we step back and review the previous two.
BILL DOMM- Car salesman, Apsley area. Sole intention of purpose was to bring back the death penalty to Canada, was laughed out of the House of Commons on numerous occasions. Was MP for over 12 years and his constiuancy office was closed for 11 and a half of them.
KEITH BROWN- Car Salesman Peterborough area, still owns the title of most corrupt Peterboroughian ever. By the time he was out of office, he was so disliked his own mother even hated him.

So Peterborough wants another Conservative Car Salesman in office? No thanks! I am sticking with the Liberals and Diane Lloyd since they are the only ones who have truly cared about being responsible to this community.

Remember that in order to by pass central Canada’s alienation of the “West”, the rallying cry was “We want in!”. And for many ridings in the West getting in didn’t mean having a Liberal MP to bully us with the official party line no matter how corrupt intusive,or expensive it was.

No matter how frustrating, it’s not been without amusement.

Relatives of mine are in the academic community in Peterborough. In order to rationalize their compulsion to always vote left to family in the West, they explained that they always
“voted for the most intelligent candidate in the riding”.

It took until the last election to wonder how this was determined. Shortly after the writ was dropped I asked(on the phone)
if the candidates in the riding had published their IQs yet.

Somewhat perplexed, my sister said no and asked why I was asking such a question. I said without that info how could they make the big decision.

The response was as icey as it was adamant: “We know!”.

People should vote for the best person in the riding. If people think that they should vote for a car salesman because there is corruption all through the Liberal party then I think it is just the excuse they were looking for to vote Conservative anyway. There is no way that the Liberal party as a nation wide entity filled with thousands upon thousands of volunteers and elected politicians sat down one day and said let’s see how we can steal money in Quebec. No doubt there were some very crooked people in the Liberal party who deserve long jail time for what they did but they are only a few and they do not represent the party. But is the ad scandal the real basis for Conservative support or is it because of things like anti-choice and homophobia? I think it is the latter. Linda Slavin has absolutely no hope of victory in this riding although she is a decent person who has given her life to worthy causes. I think she will still be there when the smoke has cleared and will still fight the good fight for the disadvantaged in Peterborough but a vote for her is actually a vote for Dean Del Mastro. Diane Lloyd is an intelligent person who has worked for years on the local school board and who has volunteered for years in athletics for young people. What has Dean Del Mastro done for the community? Sold Suzuki’s. He is riding the wave of need for change without earning his place at the front of the line. The arrogance that his campaign team has demonstrated has left many people in Peterborough dismayed. Dismayed because this calibre of person is even on the ballot. Even if Harper were to win in a minority government situation it will have to be a coalition with the NDP and can anyone see that lasting for very long? And, in that precarious political scenario that would require complicated negotiations and tactics, can anyone see a person like Dean Del Mastro being put into any type of position of responsibility with absolutely no political experience? And can anyone see a person like Dean Del Mastro coming up with new ideas to help Peterborough change its economic base and diversify for the future? The only people who will say that they think Dean Del Mastro is a man who could help Peterborough are the same people who would vote for any Conservative candidate in order to fulfil their morality-based agenda of no same-sex marriages and no abortions. If a dog were running they would vote Conservative and say that the dog was a good person for Peterborough. Peterborough’s only hope for quality representation is Diane Lloyd. She would be someone who will talk with any voter, not just the ones she thinks deserve her attention. There is no question that the Liberal party needs some soul searching and needs to re-define itself but this accusation that it is a corrupt entity through and through is unsupportable and is just the excuse the reactionary elements of the community were looking for to support their own socially conservative agenda. It is now up to the NDP voters in the riding. Do you want to go down with the ship in yet another noble but pointless defeat or do you want to stop the neo-cons in Peterborough from helping to create a George Bush political landscape in Canada?

- just want to point out how screamingly funny it is to see *candidates* commenting on an election prediction sight! To Mr. Delmastro… you’ve got to learn to take criticism and just relax… Even if you win this riding, no matter how popular you are, *most* of the people will not support you! It’s just par for the course dude!

Kyoto is mainly just another excuse to extend government authority and intrusion.

Yes, the climate has been warming but then it always does between ice ages. Having come out of the Little Ice Age it is just as warm now as it was in the late 1200s.

Christians used the doctine of Original Sin to control their flocks; today’s control freaks have created the similar expedient of human-caused global warming.

One more reason for defeating the intellectually corrupt Liberals

Bob,

your argument would be plausible if governments were actually taking action on Kyoto, rather than just talking talk. Since they’re not, I don’t see much room for extension of government authority.

That being said, you’re right that climate change could be a natural process. However, let’s say some years down the road we discover this, but we had in fact begun to actually act on our incredible ecological bankruptcy around 2006 or so. We’d have a society with less cancer, less smog, more prime farmland, less toxic food and water, and - GET THIS - a way higher degree of efficiency because we’d be in a position to manage the energy crisis we’d be in the midst of. We’d therefore be competing with China and India, and quite a ways ahead of most of the Western world.

That’s just if climate change isn’t human-caused. If it is, well, clearly we were prescient for a change.

That doesn’t mean vote Liberal, though. A green future doesn’t have to mean a future of even bigger and more paternalistic government. Regulation, yes, but regulation in line with the libertarian maxim of personal liberties to the point that they don’t harm others.

Although I’ve got my suspicions about Jim Harris, it’s Green politics that (I’m hoping, at least) will be the 21st century alternative to hypercapitalism. And in Peterborough, Brent Wood seems to be a great candidate. Hopefully, a great MP a couple elections down the road.

So it’s intellectual corruption, Bob? A whole politically party is intellectually corrupt? And here I thought you were a reasonable voice in this blog. There are good and bad Tories. God and bad Liberals. Good and bad NDPers. To call a whole political movement intellectually corrupt is an unsupportabe position. It’s just typical partisan sniping. I’m not a member of any party and I’m glad because partisanship can make you blind to the good in people. I’m sure there are good Tories in Peterborough. In fact I know there are some people who would have been excellent, and I mean excellent, candidates. Dean Del Mastro is not one of them. He is trying to slip into office on the crest of a wave crying out for change. As for your global warming comment, I don’t think it’s helpful. I didn’t see very much on that subject in this Peterborough election. I did hear Del Mastro say that the Canadian military could patrol the North more efficiently now that some of the passages up there have been opened up because of global warming. So, by your logic, is Del Mastro, by admitting to the effects of global warming, saying he is a control freak who wants to control his flock? You provided a voice of reasoned restraint to me earlier in this blog which I was glad of. Allow me to return the favour. Stay above the fray and engage in articulate debate.

One other comment here and this one is directed to the person who runs this site. Why did your polling prediction chart at the top of this page stop on January 14? Other sites have figures up to the 21st.

Diane Lloyd would do nothing but tow the party line, and it is doubtful she would get anything done for Peterborough. At debates, she speaks with little emotion and reads constantly from notes. She loses her temper and speaks to the audience in a rude disrespectful manner. She is clueless! She spoke about the submarines bought from the British as if she was proud of this purchase. I challenge her to express her pride in the submarines to the son and widow of Lieut. Chris Saunders, the sailor who died as a result of the fire on that submarine.

Newsflash for Diane: just because someone questions Belinda Stronach’s motives for crossing the floor doesn’t mean they are sexist. Had Belinda been a male, most people, both NDP and conservative, would still have considered her sneaky. Maybe the dislike stems from the fact that she betrayed her constituents when she crossed the floor. Many of the people who volunteered on her campaign felt hurt that she would do this after all the hard work they put in. Others who crossed the floor were almost as bad - except they didn’t get an important cabinet post as an incentive for crossing.

A vote for the NDP is NOT a wasted vote. Slavin speaks well, is intelligent, and appeals to people who have left-of-center values but don’t want to vote for a corrupt party. Linda Slavin has expressed original ideas that would truly help Peterborough. Her events are always well attended – the NDP in Peterborough is growing and I can see this riding painted orange in the future. You are awesome Linda, keep at it!

Dean Del Mastro performs a heck of a lot better than Diane Lloyd. And if it comes to choosing between an inept Lloyd who would sit on the backbench and answer “how high?” to Martin’s every “Jump” or Del Mastro, I would pick Del Mastro. He isn’t afraid to speak up, and does so with a great deal more conviction than I have seen from Diane. The conservatives will actually DO something for the GPA – fund the DNA cluster, the Oval in Lakefield, and assure more funding to the Trent-Severn.

The Liberal “boat” is sinking (about as low as their ethics) and I sure wouldn’t want to be on it. Their volunteers might not be corrupt, but the leadership is, and we shouldn’t reward Martin’s behaviour with another term in office.

“Kyoto is mainly just another excuse to
extend government authority and intrusion.”

Thats the stupidest and most ignorant thing I’ve ever heard. The science around Kyoto has proven we’re pumping greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere at a rate never seen before. They can monitor by scraping CO2 off icebergs from tens of thousands of years ago to see perfectly well that this is a unique situation. Kyoto’s science is the most peer reviewed piece of science there is, and the small amount of anti-Kyoto science is laughed at in the scientific community. Furhtermore anti-Kyoto science isn’t even objective science since its predominantly industry funded. But no, you’re quite content to deny that so you can drive around in your big ugly SUV and drive the price of the gas that remains even sky higher with your self centred habits. Its ignorant people like you who are putting future generations of my family and your family at jeopardy. Ever heard of returning something back the way you found it? Thats clearly not what human kind is doing to this planet. Typical conservative, who cares about the present, the future can deal with it.

Dave
I have a degree in geophysics and my website www.institutionaladvisors.com includes a review of the history of ice ages and the blessings of the interglacial periods.

Also two Canadian researchers have definately proven that the so-called “Hockey Stick” of global temps over the past 1000 years is incorrect and fraudulently derived.

What are you going to trust? The actual history of climate or
“peer-reviewed” ravings of contol freaks?

It was bad enough when highly motivated missionaries were touring the globe hell-bent on saving souls.

Now a secular priesthood of control freaks are out to save the planet.

Why it’s enough to to give cant a bad name, or at best a gopher the heartburn.

Many in the earth sciences know that human-kind causation of global warming is politically-peer-reviewed garbage.

Dave– it’s time to change your religion.

Bob, I really don’t think you can compare Canada to brutal dictatorships of Eastern Europe. As usual, people with little substance to their point of view will create a hypothetical model that they can then safely tear apart. It’s called intellectual cowardice. We’re talking Canada here and Diane Lloyd, Dean Del Mastro and Linda Slavin in particular. Just where North Korea and Cuba come into this is anyone’s guess. I didn’t think you were this extreme, Bob. You are obviously a Conservative trying to support your team and that is democracy. But please don’t compare our society to dictatorships of the past. If Harper gets in will you ask him to dismantle the system he runs or will you suddenly see the light and realise that it was just not run the way you like? And please don’t call your theories Political Reality 101. It’s more like Comparitive Conspiracy Theories 101. For all of you NDP voters who are reading this please take note. People like Bob will become the new intelligentsia of Canada. He is the Canadian equivalent of the “Darwin’s theory of evolution is just a theory” brigade. The people who try to get the neo-con concept of intelligent design taught as if it were science. You NDP voters have got to help elect Diane Lloyd and eliminate the possibility of the Dean Del Mastro’s, the ‘Bob’s’, the Stockwell Days and the Karl Rove’s of the Conservative Party from having any influence on your future. Please, please, please don’t waste your vote on Monday. We all have to work together to keep people like Bob and Dean Del Mastro away from government.

I’m going to believe distinguished prize winning scientists of the David Suzuki genre, not ones who make their money from stock speculation or should I say gambling. The real junk science is the anti-Kyoto propoganda. Those who value consumption-on-crack lifestyles at the expense of everyone else on the planet. If ever person on earth was to live the same lifestyle as we do in North America, it would take an extra six planet earths to sustain us.

This claimed debunking of the ‘hockey stick’ theory needs to be in itself debunked. http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=11 has a list of myths that are spread in the anti-Kyoto propoganda about climate change and in this site, the hockey stick theory. There are many many many documents that prove what you said to be what it is, wrong. Anti kyoto “scientists” spend all their time looking for just one tiny little loophole they can throw their propoganda through, and when real scientists close that loop, the propogandists just reach deeper into their industry funded pockets to funnel their disinformation across society anyway.

Joel

I’m a neo-nineteenth century liberal, and rather than resorting to the ad hominem approach of attacking you oppenent by name calling rather than rebutting the position.

My position is that 20th century liberalism has become quite the opposite to 19th century liberalism.

Now Joel, what are you really arguing against? Me or the ideals of limited government and sovereingty of the individual.

By the way, the only countries now with monoplies on state health care are North Korea, Cuba and “Ottawa”.

Please provide this site with you critique of 19th century liberalism.

Hey Bob. I’m really not up on my 19th Century liberalism so I’ll have to pass on that one. I think the Conservatives are a neo-con party. I think Dean Del Mastro is not up to any sort of complex job let alone one as MP and I base this on my own observations of the guy and what I’ve read and heard and seen on tv. I think the NDP have no chance here although I do think Linda Slavin is a decent human being. I think Diane Lloyd is an intelligent and politically experienced person who would be a great MP for Peterborough. NDP supporters should re-consider before they split the left of centre vote and let a guy like Del Mastro into office. He will not represent all of Peterborough, only those he thinks derserve to be represented. Even at this I don’t think he will do a good job. As for your ramblings about sovereignty of the individual and 19th versus 20th Century liberalism why I or anyone else for that matter engage you. You have created a premise and think that the simple act of doing so lends it validity. How absurd. Why should I engage? It sounds like pseudo nonsense. Save it for the people who you think can be fooled. Why not give us all your insights into the complexities of Dean Del Mastro? I’d love to see just what it is in this man that you think deserves our vote.

By the way, I see the poll is now reflecting what I’ve heard all along for the last week. That Lloyd has caught up and gone beyond Del Mastro. Any of you can see that the NDP do not have a chance at this riding. Please vote Liberal and stop Del Mastro from getting this riding. He’s the guy who said that the military should protect the North and that the job would be easier now because of global warming. If this is wrong then correct me, Dean. It’s been on tv. This is the intellect of the car salesman who wants to represent our town. Please, if you vote NDP, don’t waste it this time. Help the country and put in someone for Peterborough who is at least on the NDP side most of the time. Please send the expensive campaign machinery of the Del Mastro team back to the Suzuki car lot where they belong, not Ottawa. Please vote for Diane Lloyd.

“Now Joel, what are you really arguing against? Me or the ideals of limited government and sovereingty of the individual.”

I see you’re engaging in some Lockian philosophy here, and assume that human nature is entirely wholesome as long as its left to himself. I have a different conception of human nature, and I believe that laws and institutions are necessary to ensure that you and I do not infringe on each other’s rights.

Sovereignty of the individual has nothing to do with it. The language around freedom used by neocons is misleading. By electing a government with the desires I want in a government, I am content that the policies of that government will be democratic ones, FREELY chosen by the people (something that doesn’t happen in our antiquated electoral system). Part of my freedom, is to ensure that powerful powerful interests don’t trample on my rights as an individual. An NDP or Liberal government, are most likely to protect my rights, over the rights of some large, undemocratic corporation. I did not vote Wal Mart into office, but it is increasingly corporations like Wal Mart, big banks, and oil companies who are influencing the direction of this country under the small C conservative Liberals. The conservative’s have a much higher amount of money that is donated to them than to the Liberal party, by large corporations.

As someone who is not made of loads of money, I would prefer a government that looks out for my freedoms by ensuring powerful corporations allow me to freely live my life. Part of this includes my individual right to a clean environment, and the rights of my future children and their children to inherit a world in the same or better condition than it was the way I got it.

YOU GUYS ARE SO BUSY ARGUING ABOUT THE ELECTION. YOU FORGET WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THAT PETERBOROUGH HAD AN ELECTION!

What is bad for Peterborough is for the last 12 years Adams has ruled supreme! Thats bad for Peterborough! Because the Liberals took this riding for granted! Because of it Adams was passed over as Minister of Human Resources for the detestable Belinda Stronach!

If Lloyd gets in it will kill the notion we are a Bell Weather Riding because we will be in the opposition benches. Probably a good thing for Peterborough for a bit. I think its a little sad if Lloyd gets in she really hasn’t run a good campaign. Not nearly as efficient as Del Mastro. Lloyd’s background isn’t impressive and Federal Liberals here in this riding are too cocky! If Del Mastro gets in it proves that if you work hard you can actually beat the Liberal Machine in this community. Sadly, Linda Slavin will likely be passed over. Which is sad because it proves Peterborough has no loyalty to “homegrown talent”. Let face it Slavin is the best person for the job. But just because she is NDP she likely will not get elected. It shows that Peterborough is still not a “progressive community” in certain areas and not willing to take risks outside of the norm for the country. That’s bad for Peterborough on just about every level.

Dave
The government that is big enough to give you every thing you want is also big enough to take it all away.

That’s an oldy but a goody on arbitrary power.

One of the better ones on the intrusive state is by Bastiat in France around 1850:

“The welfare state is the great fiction whereby every one trys to live at the expense of every one else.”

By the way, check your sources on campaign contributions. For decades, big business has poured huge amounts of money into Liberal coffers because that’s where the power has been.

Conservative contributions have been to the largest part from the grass roots.

It’s well-known on Bay Sreet that every time the Liberal Party’s contributions are dwindling, Finance Minister Goodale starts talking about allowing bank mergers.And, mygod, how the money flows to the Liberal bagmen, and ladies.

Socialism is so “yesterday”.

Yeah, socialism is so yesterday. But whats today is socialism for the rich in the form of big tax cuts, and free enterprise for the rest of us who get screwed at their expense. Anyone who thinks the NDP is a socialist party needs to look at their platform. They have plenty of programs for small businesses, and for farmeres, they’re the only ones who will do something about the fact that grain monopolies and big agribusiness prevent the small farmer from being able to compete. All the parties are planning a whole wack of spending, the only difference is the Conservatives can’t afford it. The last time a government came into power with this type of planning, the weatlhy wheeler dealers got the tax cuts, the rest of us got screwed, and we had a massive defecit in the hundreds of billions of dollars to pay off. Harper’s tax cuts are also unsustainable. Either he’s lieing and isn’t going to spend the money he’s claimed he’s going to spend (somewhere to the tune of seventy billion dollars), or he’s going to plunge us into defecit. According to Elections Canada, the Reformatories have twice the campaign war chest to dig from than the Liberals, and many of these ‘individuals’ are simply wealthy owners of corporations, that much is well known. Its well known amongst the CD Howe Institute, the Fraser Institute and the Canadian Council of Cheif Executives plus all the other extreme right wing think tanks, that the largest area of support is directed at the Conservatives.

Actually, upon more elaboration, lets talk some more about freedoms. How about the fact that there are a bunch of born again Christians going around town talking about how we should all be born again and vote for “God’s party” the Conservative party. I have the freedom to choose whatever religion I want, and I don’t expect my government and its redneck MPs to shove their version of religion down my throat. Preventing gays from marrying is sick and immoral to many Canadians, and trying to reopen the debate over abortions as many loudmouth social conservatives in the Conservative caucus wish to do, is also something htat is immoral and wrong. Women are going to get abortions, its just a matter of if they do it safely, or if they do it in a back alley as Stephen Harper’s caucus seems to wish.

I think a Liberal candidate would have to be pretty damn good to earn the votes of NDPers and Greens. And Ms. Lloyd isn’t that good. Most NDPs and Greens would probably agree that both Ms. Lloyd and Mr. del Mastro are pretty poor candidates and not the best people to represent Peterborough. Therefore, why vote for either of them? Should they support the Liberals instead of the NDP or Greens, so they can defeat the Conservatives? No, because the party hasn’t earned their support and neither has the candidate.

Perhaps if the local Liberals had nominated a popular local dignitary or hero of some sort, a person who you could belive in and be inspired by, then yes they might be worth voting for. But I don’t think that’s the case. And frankly the most inspiring person is Linda Slavin.

Therefore why waste your vote on the Liberals. Vote NDP or Green, and send a message that it is the electoral system that is most corrupt. The more votes our other parties get in this election, the more it will show just how diverse peoples’ beliefs and opinions are in this country, and that they shouldn’t be sidelined by a first-past-the-post system.

Whether it’s more 3rd party seats in the house or more 3rd party votes in each riding, such support will be extremely meaningful. If NDP and Green votes flock to the Liberals, again, the analysts and historians will look back at this riding and this election as yet another example of the NDP and Green Party receiving a low percentage of votes, which ‘obviously’ means they don’t have much support. Rather, if people would stop voting strategically and vote with their hearts, they would truly reflect the accurate level of support for all of Canada’s parties.

Well I’m leaving the house right now to vote, I came here hoping to see if it was liberal or NDP i would be voting for. My soul wants me to vote for the NDP, linda you are the clear best person to represent peterborough. I have watched del mastro at debates and I personally have found nothing but flash, no substance, but I’m still lost, it would seem here it’s a two hourse race… what to do? I really wish there was at least one local poll to let voters like myself who understand that a conservative MP means regressing on social issues all for tax cuts, missle defence, and withdrawal from kyoto.

I guess I’ll toss a coin.

Glen MacVichie

This morning - election day - there was Dean Del Mastro and his entourage on the median opposite the north end car wash waving placards and signs. Election Canada says it’s not illegal to “greet” people on election day as long as you are not trying to influence the vote. so a sea of conservative signs waving as you are driving in on voting day is not trying to influence the vote? well, Mr. Del Mastro, it may not be illegal, but it certainly raises questions. I really hope that this is not indicative of the type of leadership that can be expected from you.

Mr. Parkes seems very judgemental. I have two questions for him. What does Joel Parkes do for a living? And (2) how many people does he employ? (thus bring financial benefit to others in Peterborough area).

There is value in all work Mr. Parkes. A car salesman and a car dealer owner both offer value to the community just as your work as a XXXXXX has value. Now fill in the blank and start showing respect to other occupations.

Good luck in November Joel, i can see you a flair for impressing people.

Dean Del Mastro won. :)

Please, Please… the only good news is there is no possible way the Dean Del Mastro could ever be picked for a cabinet post, and thank god the conservatives are lame ducks in office, this wasn’t about us liking the conservatives, it is about us slapping the liberals on the wrist. I predict another election within 8-10 months and a return to a liberal majority for some stability. We are not a right wing country, and this will not be a right wing government, if the liberals shed this arrogance of power, and re-exam why they have won the vast majority of elections in this country, maybe because Canadians are liberal. O’ and in the end Linda you did get my vote, but I do think this was the best result you’ll get in Peterborough, I will be voting liberal next time as long as Ralph Goodall isn’t leading the party.

Glen

They said that the last time about Linda Slavin as well Glen! Frank McKenna and Ralph Goodale have much in common. Give them the keys to the Finance Department but never the keys to the PM’s door!

More people in my neighbour voted NDP as well. It just wasn’t the student votes as the Conservatives would have you believe!

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