Canadian Politics for a Newbie

[the_std]

With the Canadian federal election on the horizon, my friend is trying to get interested in politics for the first time. I wanted to find some neutral, unbiased sources that outline the four major political parties and their platforms, but all I can find is listings of the political parties, or obviously biased sources.

I'd be happy to attach her to an anti-Harper website and let her suckle at the teat of hate until she wants to destroy him and all his ilk, but that's not right. I'd rather she make her own informed decisions, and then decide to vote against the Conservatives of her own accord. And unfortunately, the only sources I can find are either violently anti-Harper, or fervently pro-Harper.

Does anyone have any leads that may be helpful for my friend? My Googlefu is weak, and I can only find federal registries of all political parties, no review of their stances.

[Andara Bledin]

Well, I don't really know anything vis-a-vis Canadian stuffs, but the other forum I'm a regular on has a thread focusing on the 2015 election over here. I haven't been following it so have no idea where the discussion has headed, but it could be a decent place to start.

[Gravekeeper]

I vote for suckling at the teet of hate, personally.

But, here's a decent breakdown of the platforms anyhow.

The Nation Post tends to lean to the right but the article seems pretty neutral.

[wolfie]

I recall reading that during the campaign for the previous election, there was a pattern of vandalism (cars getting their tires, and sometimes their brake lines slashed, if they were parked in front of a house with a Liberal sign - and sometimes if they were parked in front of a house with no sign but which had had a Liberal sign in the campaign before that) against people who didn't support H(vowel)(2 consonants)er.

[Gravekeeper]

I recall reading that during the campaign for the previous election, there was a pattern of vandalism

Yeah, its one specific area in Toronto it keeps happening. Happened in 2008 then again in 2011. Tires slashed, break lines cut, etc. Was a *lot* of cars too. Something like 30 the first time and 45 the second. There's similar non-political spates of it too in-between ( they hit something like 18 cars one night at a car dealership ). So there's definitely a small group of utter assholes running around Toronto.