Posted by murrisk on November 05, 2000 at 14:42:21:
In Reply to: RE if anybody cares posted by Mike on November 04, 2000 at 20:28:49:
The Liberals currently form the federal government and under Jean Chretien, the prime minister, are aiming to make it three governments in a row. The Liberal party is centre to centre left. Chretien presents as an upright, principled politician and as "the little guy from Shawinigan" a riding
in Quebec. Pronumciation tip: the Q in Quebec is pronounced as a K. Chretin is in his late 60's, has a pronounced speech impediment, is an astute politician and has a very high personal approval rating. Stockwell Day, leader of the newly formed Canadian Alliance, is in his late 40's and was
the Finance Minister for Alberta prior to becoming leader of the Canadian Alliance. The Alliance is trying to become a centre right national party as opposed to a right wing party. The Progressive Conservative party formed the two governments prior to the Liberals taking power. The leader is Joe Clarke (mid 50's) who has been around a very
long time. He is probably best exemplified by the cartoon which shows him walking around under a private rain shower while all around him the sun is shining. The New Democratic party is lead by Alexa McDonagh (mid 50's). Traditionally the Labor-Socialist party, it is a platform waiting for
competent, inspired leadership. The Bloc Quebecois leader is Gilles Duceppe (late 50's/early 60's). It is primarily a Quebec separatist party. In Canada, French are called Francophones and English are called Anglophones. All others are called Allophones. The suffix phone has nothing to do
with communication. Indeed many consider the lack of communication to be the hallmark of the various ___phones. Currently, the polls show the parties as follows: Liberals 42%; Canadian Alliance 29%; Bloc Quebecois 10%; New Democrates 9% and Progressive Conservatives 8%.