But I guess we’ll all find out on October 19th.
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It could also shed an awkward spotlight on the constitutional role played by Governor General David Johnston who is Queen Elizabeth II’s representative in this member of the British Commonwealth.
But many diplomats and Canadian experts say Ottawa has isolated itself through a combination of extreme positions and miscalculations. The Canadian dollar is already trading at near 11-year lows.
Thomas Mulcair is readying himself to be the prime minister of Canada and ensuring our worldwide allies are aware he’s ready to step up to the plate.
“Change the politics, not the climate”, said one protest sign.
There was a heated exchange between Trudeau and Harper over the government’s move to revoke citizenship from dual Canadians convicted of terrorism.
Instead of strengthening public pensions, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives raised the age of eligibility for OAS and GIS from 65 to 67.
He would likely lose the first vote in the House of Commons after the election which would be a vote on the so-called Speech from the Throne in which the new government lays out its policies. Harper found a way to turn jeers into cheers. “That’s fair?” Mulcair said to the Liberal leader. Stephen Harper managed to stay out of any major trouble and reinforced his image as a “tough-on-terror” prime minister. “What the country needs what the governor general must look for is evidence of a stable government” he said.
May was the first to be critical of Harper’s response to the Syrian crisis, saying we need to take in at least 25,000 refugees and “do more to end the conflict”. He credited his father with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a policy of multiculturalism, and the pursuit of bilingualism-“which means, Mr. Mulcair”, he said, throwing a glance the NDP leader’s way, “saying the same thing in French as you say in English”. One created to bring support to C-24 and the Harper government.
Under Harper, trade ties have also been uneven.
The three parties have for much of the campaign been locked in a virtual tie, though in the last few days Mulcair’s New Democratic Party (NDP) fell several points behind.
Mulcair accused the Conservative leader of using code language to single out Muslims as being the threat. When Thomas Mulcair invoked the elder Trudeau’s use of the War Measures Act in his criticism of the Liberals’ tack on Bill C-51, the younger Trudeau pounced, declaring how proud he was to be his father’s son.
A lack of clarity on who was in the driver’s seat “is negative for GDP growth and unemployment” said Canadian economist David Madani at Capital Economics. Justin Trudeau said he plans on reducing trade barriers by improving border infrastructure and streamlining cargo inspection.
Johnston’s office said in a statement that while various scenarios can arise if no party wins a majority it “will not hypothesize on potential courses of action” he may take adding it was inappropriate to speculate on what he would do if party leaders called him about other power-sharing arrangements.
Harper quickly dismissed the assertion and went on to say how both the NDP and Liberal plan to cancel a combat mission in Iraq would do far more damage to the relationship.
Harper said he’d consulted with his own officials, and with worldwide institutions like the World Bank and approved the arrival of 10,000 additional refugees – the same number as the USA, a country 10 times Canada’s size. “We would have been there in the headlines of the world like Greece”.
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Before the leaders took to their podiums, about 150 protesters from activist group No One Is Illegal placed banners on the sidewalk with the names of migrants who had died, and chanted “Refugees welcome!” “Even if he (Harper) were to appeal to the Queen Buckingham Palace would refer it straight back to the governor general”.
