Category: Canadian politics

Republicans Have 10 Point Lead in Latest Gallup Poll

With the 2010 midterms quickly approaching, the Republicans have jumped out to a commanding 10 point lead for the race to control Congress. It looks like a good year to be a Republican.

Source: Gallup

The last Gallup weekly generic ballot average before Labor Day underscores the fast-evolving conventional wisdom that the GOP is poised to make significant gains in this fall’s midterm congressional elections. Gallup’s generic ballot has historically proven an excellent predictor of the national vote for Congress, and the national vote in turn is an excellent predictor of House seats won and lost. Republicans’ presumed turnout advantage, combined with their current 10-point registered-voter lead, suggests the potential for a major “wave” election in which the Republicans gain a large number of seats from the Democrats and in the process take back control of the House.

August 31, 2010
Voter Discontent Could Boost Ontario PCs Fortunes

Voters in the province of Ontario are tired of being overtaxed and just treated as another source of revenue for an ever- ballooning government bureaucracy. Ontarians now want a return to fiscal sanity and a strong hand on the teller of government.

Source Toronto Sun

Voters know what they don’t want: They’re tired of posturing, dirty tricks and taxation.

The pollsters at Ipsos- Reid have been plumbing the depths of voter wrath — and have come up with some surprising numbers.

For the first time since he was re-elected in 2007, Dalton McGuinty is trailing the PC leader in the polls.

Ipsos figures show the PCs at 36%, have a narrow lead over the Liberals, at 35%.

The NDP is at 18% and Greens are at 11%.

Sure, a slim 1% margin hardly makes Tory Tim Hudak a shoo-in for the premier, but it gives the Tories a needed boost.

That figure isn’t the most important one. On every question, the Tories were ahead. A whopping 64% of those polled want a change in government.

What’s most surprising about the figures is that Hudak is largely unknown. It’s not so much Hudak they’re voting for as it is McGuinty they’re voting against.

They want anyone but him.

August 29, 2010
Tasha Kheiriddin on Home Grown Terrorists

In the age of the Internet and mass communication terrorism and extremist ideologies can now be exported with a click of the mouse. This creates an unique situation where countries now have to face threats from internal and external forces.

With the advent of the Internet, terrorism is truly a global enterprise. Many terrorist organizations are using complex social media and Internet strategies to reach out and convert their new recruits in western countries like Canada. These sobering facts should make us even more aware of future threats to our security.

Source national Post

As details emerge about the terror plot foiled this week by the RCMP, parts of the story would make a perfect comedy, if the subtext weren’t so serious. From Canadian Idol to radical Islam, the journey of Kurram- Syed Sher is a curious one indeed. One day, he’s moon walking in front of Sass Jordan; fast-forward a few years, and he’s plotting to blow up Ottawa. Gee, had he got to the finals, would things have been different? We can only wonder.

But Mr. Sher is not alone in his new role as a “home-grown” terrorist. Richard Reid, the infamous British-born shoe bomber, converted to Islam after a stint in prison. Three of the four terrorists who carried out the British suicide bombings of 2005 were born in England, and grew up in West Yorkshire. The Toronto 18 hailed from Scarborough and Mississauga.

August 27, 2010