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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: average joe who wrote (722672)	1/23/2006 10:32:05 AM
From: Sedohr Nod	Respond to of 769667

Good humor is where you find it......keep looking...;>)

To: average joe who wrote (722672)	1/23/2006 10:34:50 AM
From: goldworldnet	Respond to of 769667

Harper May Win Canada Election as Voters Seek to Punish Martin Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- bloomberg.com Stephen Harper may lead Canada's Conservative Party to its first election victory in 18 years today, as polls show voters are ready to oust Prime Minister Paul Martin over corruption within his Liberal Party. The Conservatives have led in every poll since Jan. 1 by pledging to cut taxes and clean up government after Liberal officials received kickbacks for government contracts. A Jan. 19 poll by SES Research put Conservative support at 36 percent, to 29 percent for the Liberals, winners of three out of every four elections the past century. ``Once a generation, Canadians get exceedingly cross with Liberals' egregiously high sense of entitlement and kick them out of office for their own rehabilitation,'' said Ian Stewart, a political science professor at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. The polls indicate Harper is close to the 40 percent support generally needed to win 155 seats in the House of Commons and form a majority government. That would end the parliamentary stalemate that fueled the fastest spending increase in two decades under Martin, 67, who sought support from opposition parties to keep his minority government in power. ``The Liberals are being blown out of the water,'' said Nelson Wiseman, a professor at the University of Toronto. ``The only thing we're discussing now is whether the Conservatives are going to form a majority or a minority.'' Voting Hours Polling hours will be staggered across six time zones, opening in the eastern province of Newfoundland at 8:30 a.m. (7 a.m. New York time) and closing in the western province of British Columbia 15 hours later. Preliminary results will be aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and CTV as voting ends in each region, starting after 7 p.m. New York time when polls close in Newfoundland. About 22.7 million registered voters will elect members of parliament for 308 seats in the House of Commons in Ottawa. The leader of the party with the most seats becomes the prime minister. If Harper fails to win a majority, his government may get bogged down in the same horse trading with opposition parties that handicapped Martin's government, leading to new elections within two years, said Yves Belanger, a political scientist at the University de Quebec in Montreal. Canada has only had nine minority governments since 1867, lasting on average 18 months. ``This government will probably have enough support to stay in place for at least one and a half or two years, but hardly more,'' said Belanger, who expects the Conservatives to win about 145 seats. ``They're going to be isolated and will have to make concessions.'' Partners Unlike the Liberals, who have turned to the socialist New Democratic Party for support, the Conservatives have no natural allies. The Bloc Quebecois, which promotes separation of Quebec from Canada, have said they will only support government laws that are favorable to the province. Harper, 46, is an economist and former lobbyist from the oil-rich Western province of Alberta who has described himself as a ``small government'' Conservative. After losing to Martin in the 2004 election, he sought to broaden his appeal in Eastern Canada by softening his pledge to reduce the role of government, laying out a platform of new spending for families, health care and immigrants to undermine Liberal efforts to label him as a member of the ``radical right.'' Harper also favors cutting taxes for corporations, would allow domestic banks to merge under certain conditions and supports lifting foreign ownership limits in industries such as telecommunications. The party has highlighted a 2 percentage point cut in the federal sales tax as its ``priority'' on economic issues, and pledged to scrap capital gains taxes. Economy The winning party will inherit a strong economy, bolstered by rising prices for oil, natural gas and metals such as nickel and gold. The world's eighth-largest economy grew at its fastest pace in a year during the third quarter, and expanded at an annual rate of 3.1 percent in October. Canada is the lone Group of Seven country with a balanced budget, helping bolster the currency to its highest in 14 years. The dollar has been little changed since the election was called Nov. 29, trading at 86.77 U.S. cents on Jan. 20. The currency has gained about 13 percent against the U.S. dollar over Martin's 25-month tenure as prime minister. Temperatures are expected to be warmer than normal today, helping boost voter turnout in the first winter election in 26 years. The Toronto forecast is for a high of 3 degrees Celsius (37 degrees Fahrenheit), according to Environment Canada. Canada, among the world's five oldest continuous democracies, saw turnout fall to a record low of 61 percent in 2004, in part because disgruntled Liberal voters stayed home. * * *