Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Polls Tell The Tale: Canada NOT a Conservative Nation

First up, an Ipsos Reid poll conducted in early June:

Seven in 10 Canadians believe doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients should be legal, says a new poll.

[...]

And 76 per cent agree with the "right to die" concept for individuals who want to die before enduring the full course of a deadly illness.

Probably the best argument for doctor-assisted suicide is the fact that if it is present as a legal option it can actually extend the life of the sufferer; they can choose the time of their exit based on their own self-perceptions of their quality of life, and not have to either suffer meaninglessly or jury rig a suicide attempt that may fail and leave them worse off than before. And the 2nd best argument is that with doctor assisted suicide as a legal option, when a sick patient approaches their family about arranging their own demise, they are not involving them in an illegal conspiracy.

Not that Canadians are Cavalier about wasting human life. A new Decima poll shows that the vast majority of Canadians want the country's military mission in Afghanistan to end as scheduled in 2009. Even a fair number of Conservatives are down with the program on this one:

Among Conservative voters, respondents were evenly split, with 48 per cent saying they could support an extension and 47 per cent wanting to stick to the withdrawal date.

Perhaps there is hope for them after all.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

what do you expect after 50 years of liberal socialist Trudeaupian mind washing?

We are coming around, slowly but surly.

Wait till the baby boomers retire and want security . . . then we'll see conservative

Ti-Guy said...

Surly is right.

And you don't have to remind us of the "slow" bit; a huge chunk of the conservative base are graduates from special ed.

I'm agnostic about "right to die;" I'd rather we spend a lot more time discussing why we are so gung-ho about extending life past the point where a genuine quality of life is not possible for the majority of people.

In fact, judging from the bleak demi-monde most conservatives think they (and we) inhabit, I think we should be re-visiting the whole issue of our so-called standard of living.

JimBobby said...

Whooee! Yer right, BCL. Canada ain't a conservative nation. But what about the nation-within-a-nation? No, I ain't talkin' about Q-Beck. I'm talkin' about the oil shiekdom formerly known as Alberta.

If you start lookin' at every one of Harper's "failures" through the separatit prism, you'll see he ain't failed at all. He's destroyin' Cnada, alright, but that's exactly what he's aimin' to do.

He can never really be King Steve of Canada but he could take the throne in AlienAlbertland. Leastwise, after he oversees the breakup of Canada.

JB

JimBobby said...

"separatit"

Freudian

Ti-Guy said...

Blah, blah, blah...

Short 'n peppy, nonny. Hasn't Sandra Buckler sent out this week's directive?

bigcitylib said...

Anon 12:08,

So you're saying that going to Afghanistan is equivalent to suicide?

JimBobby said...

"So what about the soldiers who are fighting in Afghanistan - those in the forces know the risks and believe in their mission, so shouldn't THEY be the ones to decide if they are willing to risk their lives, and not the Cdn population at large?"

Great idea. Let's get rid of Parliament and let the infantry decide Canada's foreign policy and troop deployment locations.

Anonymous said...

You're right. We can clearly find fault with conservatives for wishing to help a dirt-poor country where we have no national interest, with a different religion from ours, where the citizens are under daily threat to life by terrorists and oppressive local religious extremists.

We should instead listen to Taliban Jack and be in Sudan, a dirt-poor country where we have no national interest, with a different religion from ours, where the citizens are under daily threat to life by terrorists and oppressive local religious extremists.

And if the government DOES pull out, will they be villified by the crowd who told them to pull out as being racist cowards, anti-poverty, and anti-feminist rights?

Liberalism is a mental disorder.

Anonymous said...

It's their life and so it's their right to decide what to do with it. Just like assisted suicide. If they wish to stay in Afghanistan - risking their own life - what the hell right do you have to tell them to do otherwise? Why should fat lazy elitist socialist swine have any right to tell anybody anything? Because they FEEL they know better!

JimBobby said...

"If they wish to stay in Afghanistan - risking their own life - what the hell right do you have to tell them to do otherwise?"

Them fellers an' gals can do that without involvin' Canajun tax dollars. All's they gotta do is sign on with Blackwater USA.

Ti-Guy said...

We can clearly find fault with conservatives for wishing to help a dirt-poor country where we have no national interest, with a different religion from ours, where the citizens are under daily threat to life by terrorists and oppressive local religious extremists.

Gassing on endlessly isn't helping anyone. Enlist, lil' feller.

Anonymous said...

I fully support people's right to die, especially Liberals. I also support their choice to abort any unborn children who may turn into Liberals. The fewer, the better. See, I'm 'progressive' too.

Anonymous said...

No, we're not a conservative country. Only a liberal/socialist country would send soldiers ill-equipped to Afghanistan when they are in power, and when in opposition will cry and moan and whine to bring them home asap, because they had no idea that soldiers in a war zone might get killed. And blame the party who was in opposition at the time for sending the troops there in the first place.

Yes, liberal foreign policy is so much more consistent and thoughtfully analysed before being implemented. It's almost like they're watching which way the wind blows . . . . Send them to Afghanistan. No, get them out of Af'stan and send them to Darfur. They're getting killed there, too? Okay, send them someplace where there's no fighting, like downtown Toronto. WHOOPSIE!!! There's more gunfire there than Baghdad!

Peace-keeping. What a gigantic load of bullshit. If there's a peace there, then what do you need soldiers for? And if you need soldiers there, then there isn't peace.

canuckistanian said...

"Again, if a person wants to kill themselves, you think they have that right. So what about the soldiers who are fighting in Afghanistan - those in the forces know the risks and believe in their mission, so shouldn't THEY be the ones to decide if they are willing to risk their lives, and not the Cdn population at large?"

whether you think sending the troops to afghanistan is akin to suicide or are calling for a military dictatorship in canada is hard to tell. either way, pretty creepy stuff.

canada has no national interest in afghanistan??? well, this anony-troll certainly isn't playing with a full deck of cards.

"I fully support people's right to die, especially Liberals. I also support their choice to abort any unborn children who may turn into Liberals. The fewer, the better. See, I'm 'progressive' too."

if "progressive" means: "like hitler", than i would certainly agree. not too many other people have expressed as much of a zeal for annihilating a whole class of people as he or you anonymous...you should feel proud.

Anonymous said...

So canuckistan, what is our national interest in Af'stan? Explain.

Did I say I want every Liberal dead? No, learn to read, idiot. All that I said was that if you wish to kill yourself and you're a Liberal, I won't stop you. If you wish to abort your future-Liberal children, I won't stop you either. If you wish to fight for these death rights to annihilate your own kind by your own hand, how am I the bad guy in this? You feel anger at your self-inflicted genocide and you've got no one to blame but yourself.

And the only ones calling for a military dictatorship in Canada are Wendy Cukier, Alan Rock and the other gun control morons who think the only people who should have guns are the police and military. Funny isn't it? The Conservatives WANT people to have guns, while the Liberals are rushing towards a disarmed population and police state where only THEY have the guns. THAT'S the scary part.