| Commentary |
| This Glen P. Robbins and ZEUS poll confirms 'again' the Prime Minister of Canada's popularity (based on "important International matters"). Virtually every respondent who supported the "Conservative" label answered
"Yes" to question #1. That is a pretty solid base. Prime Minister Harper's ability to make
decisions on International matters in a clear and pragmatic way received instant political success (any support over 40% is a 'win'; and over 45% is a 'big' win in Canadian federal politics). |
| At least one respondent from every other party from question #2 answered "Yes" to question #1. This
is troublesome for Opposition parties-who are seriously asking if Canada should go to a
presidential/parliamentary system--with the Senate becoming a more visible political entity to the
Canadian public. This latter endeavour ought to be an outcome of a reflection of the public vote in
the next Federal election (i.e. 10% Green vote--10% members in the Senate--these will be additional
Senators to those who are there presently (I am not going to waste further time with the wasteful
wishes of a democratic Senate)--and the party will appoint their representative(s) sufficient to
realize on that representative condition of new appointments from a total pool of appointees equal
to one half the current number in the Senate). Mr. Harper may not favour this approach--but it is a
better-more intelligent design for the future of the country--and he has done nothing to make the
Senate more accountable to Canadians. |
| PM Harper "Yes"-BC (40%); Alta-Sask-Man-(49%); Ontario (43%); Quebec (26%); Atlantic Provinces
(40%). |
| The Conservative party label continues to hold it's base for the Prime Minister--while Michael
Ignatieff's 'Liberals' struggle forward--hoping to "Paddle to the Sea" (--and what will happen if
Justin Trudeau decides to move to ZEUS? |
| The New Democrat label continues to lean on Liberals--waiting for any further crack in its
armour-while it hungrily eyes a slightly larger 'Green' pool post Copenhagen. The Bloc Quebecois
give little ground in the province of Quebec--while Quebec premier Jean Charest -- looks to
Robbinsesque political techniques to save his party from the Bloc's provincial counterparts--the
Parti Quebecois--who will move for "reconfigured economic, social, and environmental relations with
Ottawa"---and Glen P. Robbins--British Columbia's $6 billion dollar man gets set to run across the
province of British Columbia --/-- raising provincial awareness--to force Ottawa to pay it's fair
share to the province of British Columbia for transfer of provincial HST income to the federal government bank account. |
| Conservative label support by province- BC (34%); Alta-Sask-Man (45%); Ontario (35%); Quebec (17%);
Atlantic provinces (34%) |
| Most - but not all Conservative label supporters--answered "No" to question #3. Greens and Liberals gave some breathing room--while New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois label supporters answered "Yes"
(and Liberals and Greens primarily answered "Yes"). |
| This issue grows beyond the issue of torture-which fundamentally is not acceptable as a method of
warfare under the Geneva convention. Although the vast majority of Canadians are not sympathetic to
the Taliban--per se--there is an understanding that torturing Afghan's of any sort--is not going to
help the overall cause-not to mention the implications for Canadian soldier prisoners of war. |
| Internationally, countries will not perceive us to be fair arbiters--if we are seen to be abusive
cheaters no matter the realities of war at ground level. Bad faith, cheating -- at any political
level--including the environment--will not be helpful. It will appear to others that we are Tar
Sand --dirty oil producing--dark torturers of people. Again, this will not be helpful. |
| Canadians are more inclined to be of the opinion that Canada's carbon footprint ought to be measured
against the carbon footprint of other nations--while a sizable minority is of the opinion that it
ought to be on a per person (per capita) basis. A per capita calculation would almost certainly be
far more expensive to Canada than a measurement of our countries carbon footprint relative to
other larger countries like the United States or China. |
| What we might expect in New Year-- |
| If Prime Minister Harper is compelled to perogue government (Glen's editing: correct spelling is prorogued--sorry I didn't think it was worth spell checking I guess) (shut it down)-because of the pressure
of the Peter McKay Afghan torture fiasco--and the desire to keep the Opposition in the dark over
government held secrets into the matter--{after already perogueing (sp) government last year}--will this
action be acceptable to Canadians--still not wanting an election--yet, but increasingly frustrated
at the lack of accountability of a Conservative government that first won government on the basis of
it's desire to further accountability principles--where did this occur--? |
| If this can be answered--than maybe Harper can keep his party in sight of majority
territory--otherwise this plus his pragatic decision to follow U.S. President Obama's lead on the
environment--may loosen his grip on Canadians support and if this is the case--the PM and his party
could fall to 30-31% --giving ground to all Opposition parties--and putting the party in a difficult
position. |
| The other option on the McKay matter is to provide the relevant documents to the Opposition -- and
allowing the press to due its due diligence ---it's best diligence -- lest the press be forced to sprinkle
articles with speculation and unnamed sources. |
