Entry details

Younghusband
Author

Younghusband

Date

January 18th, 2006

Tags

,

Comments

10 Comments so far.
Add yours.

The Coming Anarchy in Canada

National polling results conducted by The Strategic Counsel done for CTV News and The Globe and Mail. For those of you that are not aware (or don’t care) Canada will be voting next week on who will replace the shaky Liberal-led minority government formed in 2004. Most people suspected that this new election would render a similar result to 2004, but with details of the Sponsorship Scandal (among others) released, support has sharply shifted away from the Liberal Party, who ruled Canadian politics for 12 consecutive years earning Canada the moniker of The Friendly Dictatorship.

In addition to the tiredness of the Canadian public, another difference in the current election and the one in 2004 is the maturation of the Conservative Party. In the 2004 election the newly-merged (Progressive Conservatives + Canadian Alliance) Conservative Party was only 6 months old. There had been an exodus of former Progressive Conservatives in Ontario to the Liberal Party which also succeeded in scaring people off of the Conservatives who were not well organized and lacked a well-formed platform. This resulted in the underperformance of the Conservative Party. This time round party Leader Stephen Harper has been successful in keeping everyone in line, and has been basing his campaign on clearly laid-out policies, while Liberal leader Paul Martin has been intent on a campaign based in highlighting personality differences between himself and Harper.

Now, you ask, “What about the NDP? What about Jack Layton?” I think Marcus Gee said it best (bottom of his third comment): “[The NDP] is about as relevant today as a macrame planter.” My feelings about the NDP and Jack Layton can be summed up in two words: snivelling beggars. Consider the Bloc and the Greens mentioned.

The Conservative Party currently has a strong double-digit lead on the incumbents, and the question has now come down to whether or not they will end up with a strong minority, or weak majority government. But the votes haven’t all been counted yet (I put mine in yesterday in an advanced poll. Not revealing who it was for!), and every vote counts, so regardless who you vote for I encourage all our Canadian readers to show up on the 23rd.

Comments to this entry

Evd.
January 18, 2006
10:26 pm
I'll make sure to be the first at the polls on January 23rd. I don't mind saying that my vote is going to the Conservative Party.

The Conservative cadidate in my riding is awsome (Michael Mostyn).
Chirol
January 18, 2006
10:43 pm
Can you give us some more background on the parties themselves and the probably impact on Canadian foreign relations after the elections?
Kenneth
January 18, 2006
10:50 pm
Hard to say. I can see the conservatives taking a more conciliatory policy towards the US, but not much else. BTW, Younghusband, apt summary of the NDP. I'd like to add that they are also as obnoxious as @#$%.
Evd.
January 18, 2006
11:00 pm
The Bloc Quebecois are the Quebec sepratist party and they only run candidates in the province. This means they can't form a government. They vote only with Quebec interest in mind and in terms of foriegn policy they would side with the lefitst parties, although they may be more flexible.

The NDP and Greens are leftists. They see NAFTA as a mistake and both strongly oppose the War in Iraq. They also ask for a review of our mission in Afghanistan (they sometimes speculate that our forces are being used as auxiliary force of the US). Neither of these parties have a hope in hell in forming a government.

It's difficult to discern the foreign policy differences between the Liberals and Conservatives. They aren't interested in sending troops to Iraq but they support our mission in Afghanistan, NAFTA, increasing international aid, increasing the capacity of our armed forces, and they both are saying they will strongly assert our sovereignty in the arctic. Presumably, under a Conservative government our relationship with the US would improve. Oh yeah, the Conservatives also oppose Kyoto while the Liberals do not.

Hope that helps, I'm sure someone else can provide more details.
Younghusband
January 18, 2006
11:09 pm
You can see "an overview of each party's foreign policy objectives":http://www.ctv.ca/mini/election2006/static/issues/foreign_policy.html at CTV.
Dan
January 19, 2006
1:58 am
IIRC, the Greens wish to replace the income tax with a (carbon) consumption tax, making the sluppy slider in me swoon.

Presumable the NDP vote is normally surprised by voter desire to help the left-of-center party with a chance (the Liberals). But if the Liberals are going to be closer to the NDP than the Conservative party, might this work in reverse, with voters going with their heart (as strategic voting wouldn't work)?
Younghusband
January 19, 2006
2:55 am
Good question Dan. Usually what happens is on voting day, since there is no media blackout, as results come in from the East NDPers change to Liberal at the last minute to mitigate a Conservative win. This trend is common until you hit BC, where for some strange reason the people in the country (Vancouver is a Liberal stronghold) vote either Conservative or NDP. This doesn't seem like a compatible voting record based on ideology, but according to the Economist ("natch":http://www.cominganarchy.com/2005/12/17/my-favourite-onion/) westerners tend to vote for whoever will have a strong voice in Ottawa.
snow
January 19, 2006
2:55 am
IMHO: Yikes, what hideous shite most of these parties are handing out. Is there no Libertarian Party anymore? It looks as though the Conservatives will have to form a coalition with some pathetic partner. The Liberals seem to be the most palatable coalition partner, though only for the fact that the NDP and Greens seem to have platforms filled with pandering to international institutions such as the UN. I don't know much about the Conservatives (haven't lived in Canada for 8 years), but I don't expect much from this election. At best, it might be something similar to Merckel's 'victory' in Germany-a slight change in the face of Can politics, but ultimately not much difference, as there will still be a strong undercurrent of anti-Americanism running throughout the country.
Younghusband
January 19, 2006
1:27 pm
"American conservatives weigh in.":http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060118/elxn_usa_060118/20060119?hub=World
Caneel
January 21, 2006
10:57 pm
Almost 40 years of the Nanny State requires a lot of weening for the Canadian baby..... Conservatives have to do miniscule-mini-steps away from nanny...not to "scare" baby.

C=42%...? Oh I hope, Oh I hope...