Cornwall ON – In the latest Canadian Press Harris Decima Polls The Green Party of Canada with 12%; a strong showing for the Elizabeth May led party while the Stephen Harper Conservatives see their support fall to 31%. The Liberals are still under 30% while the NDP push up at 18% and the Quebec based Bloc Quebecois stand at 10%.
Another noticeable feature of the survey is that female voters appear to again be moving away from the Tories.
The gender gap had more of less disappeared over the course of the last two months, said Gregg.
“One of the reasons right of centre parties suffer from a gender gap is that right of centre parties are seen as risky, that is, that they are seen as more extremist, more likely to do something that is destabilizing or unseemly.
What do you think Canada? Will we have a fall election? Who do you think would be best to lead Canada after the next election and why? You can post your comments below.
No party has enough numbers (influence in the HOC & poll support) to feel confident to trigger a fall election.
If Mr. Harper is crazy enough to ask for an election without a no confidence vote again, it will result in another minority vote outcome. This would seriously open the doors for a possible coalition government, and the Greens will likely earn two seats (according to regional polls).
If a Liberal/NDP coalition is created, I would not be surprised if the Liberals use the opportunity to switch leaders to Bob Ray (seeing that Michael Ignatieff can’t get any traction).
If a Conservative/Liberal coalition is created, I would not be surprised if the Conservatives use the opportunity to switch leaders to Peter MacKay (seeing that Harper can’t get any traction either).
I realize these scenarios are highly unlikely, but then again, Mr. Harper is crazy enough to stick to his guns on scraping the Long Form Census to the detriment of Red Tory support (and Tony Clement’s future leadership ambitions).
It is the sign of a healthy Democracy that no party seems to be adored sufficiently by wise Canadian voters to the extent of forming that all-elusive “majority” that would give an already dictatorial “minority” party government more powers to erode whatever policies Canadians used to hold dear. Internationally, with this current Reforming-Conservative government we have seen Canada’s lead on the international stage diminish considerably as Europeans, Asian and Africans alike consider us now too closely aligned to the failed G.W. Bush macho “war for profits” policies. Canadians have held a cherished image of the Peace Maker since Pearson won us the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for saving the world from the Suez crisis disaster. Then we saw Trudeau successfuly conquer the world stage and metamorphose Canada into a “with it” and “groovy” or “cool” (now) nation that is ahead of the curve. And all this not to mention our progressive National Universal Single Payer policy thanks to the religious fervour of the Father of Medicare in Canada, the one and only Tommy Douglas. Thanks to Douglas, not a single Canadian is filing PERSONAL BANKRUPTCY FOR INABILITY TO PAY OUR MEDICAL BILLS!
In short, we have a great country next to none that is now buying $16Billion unnecessary F35 fighter-jet toys when the arctic is already fine with the twin engine F18s. But no, we really like the U.S. contractors much better. Good ole Dief was bamboozled by phony intelligence and scrapped our wonderful Avro Arrow. The neanderthals now on the Hill auctioned on the Wall Street derivatives gambling casino our Nortel…WOMEN’s rights are slowly being eroded and there’s a conscious attempt by this fundamentalist cabal to bring back if not the 50s, then the Middle Ages.
So, the polls are saying: We don’t really like you….We don’t really like you…
Forgot to mention that while not a single Canadian is filing for bankruptcy citing inability to pay their medical bills, 64% of Americans filing for bankruptcy cite “unable to pay medical bills” as the reason for going bankrupt!
Oh Canada! Let’s preserve our Canada!
Elizabeth May during the Debates on TV (after Harper & Co.tried to force her out and even Layton!) was the most intelligent one of them all. This woman is brilliant. She can argue a storm and Harper looked really scared (and scary as always in his hideous robotic charm) when she demolished each and every one of his stupidities…
If the Liberals finally grow some balls, and start doing their job, we will have a fall election.
That’s a big if, and at this point, I doubt it will happen.
The situation is more sinister than we mostly suspect. The latest kerfaffle regarding the the census long form is a most cynical win-win move by Harper. On the heels of a 1.5 billion dollar G8 and G20 where, conceivably, there was ample room to divert millions to Tory coffers via “friendly” contractors, the census issue and its incendiary consequences are a welcome sight for the Neo-Cons. It represents sand in the eyes of Canadians who, it must be said outright, were not even given time to absorb the tToronto and Muskoka security farce.
Focus an what looks at first as a phoney issue, the census, and nobody will ask questions – argo a victory for Harper.
The other, more sinister aspect of this whole deal is that if he can, in fact, eliminate the census prerequisites and make them voluntary, he can shape public opinions and data as he pleases. Without controls, he can have just Conservative ridings or known conservatives fill the forms, voluntarily. Of course what goes into those forms would be information he and his party needs to pass or amend any laws Harper and Co. wish. Let’s not forget that Harper is a steadfast enemy of the Canadian Constitution, which he regards as obtrusive and inconsistent with the will of parliament.
He would also love to re-criminalise the abortion law, re-institute the death penalty and adopt the “three strikes and you are out” US legal criminal system.
I am appealing to the Conservatives who were shortchanged by the Alliance/PC merger. Please don’t let this man get the full reigns on the government pr else we will lose the couintry we so much love.
Business, people and social scientists will still absolutely need the long form census information. Now they will have the opportunity to pay for it. Air Miles will be delighted to provide it. Course maybe all the self surveillance on personal web sites makes it moot.