I know some of you cringe when a political thread gets started, but I always try to keep mine tongue-in-cheek.....
Have you seen the latest Ignatieff "Attack Ad" ? The one where they claim that when he was away, the only thing Iggy missed about Canada was Algonquin Park ?
I don't know about you, but that's not necessarily a bad thing to me.

Formerly Foxco, Now ?????

Southern Georgian Bay
Ontario

I did see Ignatieff in Algonquin once, he was at the end of my rod as I was fishing for bottom sucking dwellers!

I will have to vote for Ignatieff's local candidate, since he loves Algonquin Park.

I really hate attack adds from any party. If I see one it makes me look at the party who funded it a lot more closely. It usually leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth regarding the party who funded it.

Slag style politics do not work with me...

Actually, they do but with the opposite reaction from the intended reaction.

Depending on the election and issues, I have voted for the Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, and the Green Party. Through out every election, I always look toward the platform of the party not their attacks on other candidates.

The fact that there is not even an election on the horizon is disappointing to me as a follower of politics.

The Conservatives would like me to vote for their (local) candidate because of the Liberal leader's absence from Canada....

HMMMM.. Attack add,,,, Liberal leader likes Algonquin....

Politics have told me, that if one candidate (party) likes something the other candidate (party) must be against it. Ignatieff, pro Algonquin. Harper con Algonquin.

I really don't see why politics must be discussed on a board such as this one.
Unless it is regarding issues affecting the park.

If "Political Party X" wants to make "X Decision" regarding the park it should definitely be discussed.

If not it has no relevance.

Of course my vote is always open. I will weigh what my local candidates have to say, and what their party platform is.

I hate being told what to think and vote accordingly.

There isn't a single individual in Canadian politics worthy of Canada.

Wow.....I really didn't mean for this type of response....
I guess that I view politicians as a necessary evil. We need them as part of the democratic process we all hold so dear. Because they are fairly high profile they're easy targets.
There are some decent ones out there, you know.....
If I have a problem with a political party or a politician in general, I will use whatever means I have to let them know. Now, this in the past has resulted in a lengthy and uncomfortable phone call from one of my MP's aides when I called to make my views known, and a very unpleasant call from the mayor of my town, who was once my principal and a man I considered a friend, when I wrote a letter to the editor of our local paper to express my frustration at the lack of co-operation from said mayor and his council when I was trying to organize a kids' triathlon. My point is that I won't just sit around and bitch - I'll try to do something about it.. Sometimes that something will amount to little more than tilting at windmills, but I'll try just the same. I won't just write off all politicians as useless.
I do think that politics has a place on this forum. While this is Barry's forum, and I appreciate and respect what he is doing even though I have become an infrequent visitor to the site, anything that people want to discuss that is both reasonable and in some way relating to AP is relevant to the board. I do think that Ignatieff's comment is relevant, and it says far more about Stephen Harper's advisors than it does about Ignatieff.
I started a thread during the election about which leader you would want to paddle with. The responses ranged from the amusing (the spirit in which the thread was intended), to those who had to bring up the whole "keep politics out of this." It's sad to see that some people are either so apathetic or ill-advised (or both) about politics in this country. Huge sacrifices have been made to preserve our democratic way of life....maybe these sacrifices were made well before many of us on this forum were born, but I feel that it's mandatory that everyone takes an interest in the political process. We may find certain aspects of the process distasteful, but we owe it to those others and ourselves to be informed. Holding political office is not akin to a blank cheque - we have to constantly hold them accountable.
And Dano, while I can take a joke just as much as the next guy, I found your comment to be pretty juvenile.
I'm wary of Ignatieff if only because we don't really know all that much about him (although the Harperites are doing their best to take care of that), but I wouldn't compare him to some of the worst tin-pot dictators the term you used is usually reserved for.

Formerly Foxco, Now ?????

Southern Georgian Bay
Ontario

"I did see Ignatieff in Algonquin once, he was at the end of my rod as I was fishing for bottom sucking dwellers!"

LOL!
You beat me to it!!!!

"Slag style politics do not work with me..."

Me too. In fact, they tend to drive me in the opposite direction. Come to think of it, I could have sworn these kinds of ads were illegal in Canada. I filed a complaint with the CRTC, but I doubt anything will be done about it.

"There isn't a single individual in Canadian politics worthy of Canada."

Funny you should mention that. I had planned on running as an independant in the last federal election, until I found out I would have had to run against Bob Rae. I just don't have the resources to fight that kind of branding power.

I've really got to move out of Toronto.

"I started a thread during the election about which leader you would want to paddle with. The responses ranged from the amusing (the spirit in which the thread was intended), to those who had to bring up the whole "keep politics out of this." It's sad to see that some people are either so apathetic or ill-advised (or both) about politics in this country."

I remember the thread and replied to it. I was also amused by some of the responses.
It was relevant to the intent of this board and topical.

Unfortunately religion and politics tend to cause fights.

Can't we all just get along?

I should add the above post was mine (drsmooth). I'm trying to figure out this whole logging in thing.

Hey Foxco, as I, you are allowed to have your opinion and I respect that...so I guess I wasn't "politicaly correct" in my statement concerning politicians, but mind you, compared to most people, I was polite!!

Not a problem, Dano....after watching the performance of the federal natural resources minister this week, I'm tempted to agree with Preacher about the quality (or lack thereof) of our current crop of "leaders".

Formerly Foxco, Now ?????

Southern Georgian Bay
Ontario

.....now this Ahmadinejad character in Iran could definitely be called a "bottom feeder"

see the paid-off local bottom feeders
passing themselves off as leaders
kiss the ladies shake hands with the fellows
open for business like a cheap bordello


-Bruce Cockburn

Formerly Foxco, Now ?????

Southern Georgian Bay
Ontario