Attention those who live in Calgary West Riding

[Neil4Speed]

I have been living in this riding for quite a while, if any of you guys know our MP is the infamous Rob Anders. He is widely unpopular for his ridiculous ultra-right views, and has been more or less muzzled by his party.

Hence, when the effort

www.ourcalgarywest.com

came up, I was intriquged and started following this effort pretty close. Yesterday got to meet the one who is spearheading this effort, Donna Kennedy Glans. It was really nice speaking with her and it appears that she really cares about the riding.

Anyone here who is in the riding and a member of the conservative party should really come out to the AGM on Saturday at 2PM at Montgomery school.

Any thoughts guys?

[canuckcarguy]

I like Rob Anders. Though I'm not in his riding anyway.

[method]

Anything to get one of the most embarassing MPs kicked out of this riding.

[spikerS]

I have been living in bowness for 6 years now, and hate wanting to vote conservative, but having Rob Anders' name attached to it.

In the last election, i honestly thought about voting liberal just to get Anders out, but my conservatisim got the better of me.

[Neil4Speed]

If any of you are conservative members, come out to the AGM on Saturday.

[Eleanor]

Originally posted by spikers
In the last election, i honestly thought about voting liberal just to get Anders out, but my conservatisim got the better of me.

I bet you're one of thousands. Most people see Conservative and couldn't care if it said Adolf Hitler next to it.

[zipdoa]

Originally posted by Eleanor
I bet you're one of thousands. Most people see Conservative and couldn't care if it said Adolf Hitler next to it.

Agreed. This guy is a fucking idiot, but that doesn't matter as long as those 'bleeding heart liberals' don't get into power . Good to see someone is trying to do something about it!

[kertejud2]

Originally posted by canuckcarguy
I like Rob Anders. Though I'm not in his riding anyway.

Yeah, yeah, we know. You're a conservative caricature, the act is getting old.

[canuckcarguy]

Originally posted by kertejud2


Yeah, yeah, we know. You're a conservative caricature, the act is getting old.

Sure, I'm a right wing guy. But there's plenty of right wingers I don't respect, and plenty of left wingers I do.

I agree with certain things that Rob Anders has supported. He was harshly critical of China's hosting of the Olympic games, feeling that China has a deplorable record on human rights. Hard to totally fault him on that opinion. He didn't like China's exclusion of Falun Gong from the games. I agree with Anders that they should enjoy the same freedom of religion and association that we enjoy here in North America. I also agree with his position in support of a free Tibet.

Anders also voted, 5 years ago, with a BQ proposition that promoted Quebec Nationhood. This was years before the Harper government made a similar motion. He was the only Tory to support that initiative, which is consistent with my own belief in stronger regional governments and weaker central governments.

I don't agree with the statements attributed to him tying foreign aid to Christian faith initiatives, although to be fair, he denies having made these specific statements, and his record in support of Buddhism as it relates to Tibetan independence somewhat belies these attributed statements anyway.

Truthfully, I just don't get what the big fuss is? Despite all of the very vocal opposition to him, even in his own riding, his level of support goes up with every election, so he must be doing something right? (Or I guess I should say, something well).

[Eleanor]

^ You're right, I do agree with a lot of what Rob Anders has done, but I am absolutely disgusted by some of the stuff he's done too.

His "support" is not really his, it's his party's. As I've already mentioned in this thread, people don't vote for Rob Anders, they vote for the Conservatives.

Further reading on Rob for those who are interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Anders

[ZenOps]

He is truely representative of his constituents.

Most are still very paranoid of anything other than white / english / christian. He can hardly be blamed for being the speaking voice on his corner of Calgary. Most are in fact, quite disagreeable to Nova Scotians entering the local area (be they of French or especially a carrot top red-hair) just as much as black brown or yellow. One of the last few outposts, much like the american midwest.

But what I think he tends to forget is that he is representative of just one of 300 similar sized areas, in what is one of the least densely populated countries on the planet (other than the poles) And yet - he seems to want less people around... Interesting sociopathy I would say.

Its more of what I imagine the USA was back before 1776. Not that there is anything wrong with it.

He is very paranoid of people who do not speak english however. It stems from his upbringing - and not having the will or the mental capacity to learn the basics of another language. If he were a computer geek, he would force everyone to use Microsoft and punish all the other software makers.

His constant reminders of contributions to Tibet are token at best. IE: You contribute to the Calgary Police force every time you pay a parking ticket.

A free Tibet is realistically impossible - British ruled Tibet however is completely possible if the current Chinese occupation can be removed. Then again - you could say the French FLQ tried to free Canada from British occupation. Its all a matter of viewpoint and which line you stand behind. I think its important to "Not worry about freeing Tibet, Free Canada first." People tend to forget that Canada is not a free nation, we are still under British rule. "But if we became independant, who would we put on the coins to replace the Queen, Bryan Adams?"

If you want to piss of Rob Anders, just start talking Ebonic around him "Fo Shizzle my Nizzle" or "Wassup Holmes" - You will be instantly rewarded with his infamous red about to "blow up and rip your head off" face. Equally if you are a woman with a high squeaky voice - he gets equally miffed.

He is very intolerant - which makes him a great general or minister of war (Minister of veterans affairs, which is pretty much minister of vets who have been involved in extreme intolerance.)

[canuckcarguy]

I think you need professional help. Really.

[ZenOps]

I'm just in it for the money.

With Obama in office in the US, and Rob Anders overtly racist and economically protectionist policies really hurts our diplomatic and trade with the US and will so for the next four years at least.

If Stephen Harper (in Rob Anders current riding West Calgary) had to negotiate the softwood lumber dispute against Obama instead of Bush - I'd think that instead of losing $1 billion, we'd probably be paying closer to $1.5 billion - just because of the reduced diplomacy and trade policies.

And thats just one instance.

I could really have cared less and did care less we had such an overtly racist man in office during the Bush administration, but now - hes costing Canada bigtime in diplomatic points and raw trade money.

Much like the British MP that was not allowed into Canada because of his support of Hamas - I'd fully expect Rob Anders not to be allowed into the US for his racist policies.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics...825031-cp.html

[Neil4Speed]

Zenops, interesting views, thank you for your insight!

Are you in the Calgary west riding? Are you coming out on Saturday to vote against anders?

[BlueGoblin]

Originally posted by ZenOps
...

Well, that was worth waiting for!

[Neil4Speed]

Hey everyone, okay, so I have been following this effort pretty closely and after speaking to Donna Kennedy Glans I have decided to be part of board of directors.

Some of the slander that has come out from the Rob Anders camp is just petty horseshit, I am only 21, and sometimes I am surprised by the way that "adults" act.

The most common posting has been that ourcalgarywest is a liberal outfit, which is almost amusing considering Donna has been a conservative longer than Anders and attends an theologically conservative Lutheran church.

The email that they have been distributing has been emphasizing the following points.



1. Be aware - this group of "closet liberals masquerading as conservatives" have been plotting a take-over of the Calgary West Board of Directors.

2. They intend to run their liberal candidate.

3. They intend to make Calgary West a liberal riding.

4. They are organized, have a website and have sold hundreds and hundreds of memberships

5. Don't be fooled. They will hand you their slate of 30 "liberal" candidates and will wear T-shirts that say "Free Calgary West" Yet they disagree with the fundamental principles of the Conservative Party.

1. What? Did they put that in quotes because it was a joke of a statement?

2. Again, Donna Kennedy-Glans has been a conservative longer than Anders, attends a theologically conservative lutheran church, even met her husband at a PC party get together.

3. Again, the liberal thing, I bet that was her plan all along, be a conservative member for 20+ years just to attain leadership and turn it into a liberal party... Facepalm to the max


4. Yes, I guess ourcalgarywest is pretty organized, its about time to get serious about the situation in our riding. I like how they said "hundreds and hundreds" like the members are an extremely contagious virus or something


5. I like this one, disagree with conservative ideals?, what? which ones would those be Mr.Anders - the ones that state that everyone must be christian and speak English as changing race is not an option?

[method]

Shows you how desperate Anders is to maintain his monopoly on this riding. I am not a conservative, but just look at Kennedy-Glans record compared to Anders. She has real corporate experience, she has real philanthropic work, and she's actually engaging members of the community.

Anders is just a loud-mouth with a political science degree.

[Neil4Speed]

Originally posted by method
Shows you how desperate Anders is to maintain his monopoly on this riding. I am not a conservative, but just look at Kennedy-Glans record compared to Anders. She has real corporate experience, she has real philanthropic work, and she's actually engaging members of the community.

Anders is just a loud-mouth with a political science degree.

Any Beyond Calgary West Conservative Party members coming out to support us!?

[ZenOps]

His support went up before Obama - perhaps just maybe because he IS so radical.

The only way to bring down a government without bringing in artillery - is to lose moral faith in it. I'm surprised that Canada made it all the way to a failed government (dissolving of parliament, requiring the Queen herself to step in and straighten things out) but in a small way - I can see Rob Anders contributing to destabilizing the government in very tangible and reckless ways.

So..

Up until now (meaning up until Obama) even as a non-white, non-christian, multi-language speaker - I would have voted for him if he was in my riding (Yes you heard me right). Guys like that destroy everything they touch - even when they are thinking they are doing it for their own good or a greater good or for whatever reason imaginable really.

And as much as I like a nice stable government - I'm not going to pass up the chance of getting ahead of the game if someone should do something stupid like start a race war. Although if he does go Timothy McVeigh - I'm smart enough not to be within 50 miles of him when he goes off.

He is amazing at killing trade, even with the most openly tradeable nation on the planet, China. Britain and China became powerhouses in the world with what can be considered the first world spanning trade alliance. If Rob Anders wants to break up Canada - let him. I will be here to pick up the pieces. If Rob Anders wants to start a race war - I don't want to be anywhere near him when the wrath of Obama comes with a statement like "We are no longer willing to use military force to protect anything north of the 49th parallel." - which is a HUGE concern to me. Likewise I don't want to be anywhere near him when we can't maintain a pipeline or drill exploratory holes because we can't get the parts or slurry from China anymore.

PS: I never imagined that Canada would actually have a failed goverment "Vote of no confidence" in my lifetime. Perhaps we are on the cusp of seperation, independance or oblivion - who knows? But I do find in funny that destabalization of Canada happened just as Obama is reaching power - I'm pretty sure the irony is lost on a lot of people - but I get the feeling that if RA was destabilizing Canada - it was for more of a US bush type administration - and not contributing to an Obama admin. Talk about timing, lol.

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one most adaptable to change." - Darwin.

[kamakurakid]

I have never voted, it would only encourage the bastards.