CFN – Politics are a blood sport and right now it’s fascinating watching things play out at the Federal level here in Canada.
Our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, I’m sure is enjoying the ride. The odd alliance with the NDP has paid off in full. Jack Layton was key in bringing down Paul Martin which led to Mr. Harper becoming PM, and Thomas Mulcair’s efforts in Quebec have brought the Liberals down quite a few notches.
Mr. Mulcair becoming official Leader of the opposition may be the kill blow in Liberal leader Bob Rae’s leadership aspirations.
The back room folks can’t be happy with the lay of the land right now in Grit Land. With no apparent leader other than Mr. Rae at the moment there is nothing pointing to a return to stronger numbers next election time even with the scandals that have beset the Harperites.
Likewise the possibility of a unite the centre is losing steam. The NDP hold a strong amount of seats and with Mr. Mulcair at the helm there’s nothing really showing a switch in Quebec from the Orange Crush. With language becoming more of a topic across Canada it’s something that also leaves the Liberals in the dust. Their embrace of the legalization of Marijuana is also ringing hollow as no high profile MP’s appeared at 420 rallies across Canada and especially in Ottawa.
All this spells another Majority government for Mr. Harper and retention and possible growth for the Mulcair NDP. Add in some Gerrymandering of riding splits as the government adds 30 new ridings and that’s a win win situation for those that bleed blue in Canada.
What do you think Canada? You can post your comments below.
Unfortunately, I believe that we are seeing the extreme polarization of politics in Canada, exactly as Harper wishes. If this continues there will be only two real parties in Canada just like the US, the left and the right, with no true center. I also believe we are seeing lines drawn in the sand between not only the left and the right, but also between the federal government and the provincial governments, and even more frightening, an increasing gap between the east and the west. If all this continues to happen I foresee constant political flux allowing the politically right much more time in power than has been tradition in Canada. In this regard I think Harper has played this game brilliantly, much to the detriment of many of the opposition Canadian’s values. As in the US, Canada will be in a perpetual state of election, with both parties constantly firing shots of negative, highly partisan rhetoric across each other’s bow in the form of smear style, fear mongering, and even false political advertising. It has already started and is in my opinion the lowering or dirtying of our Canadian political standards and values. I hope we can survive this and still collectively have pride in ourselves as Canadians. I don’t feel that so much right now.
The death of the mushy middle is good for democracy. Nothing gets people’s attention like a clear choice. People will vote for their own self interest and the spendthrift left side of the spectrum has little credibility any more. The majority of Canadians want small government and a dismantling of the Nanny state erected behind their backs without any proper input.
The death knell is tolling for the Liberal party of Canada. It is caught in limbo. Not the centre, not the left and certainly not the right. They are waiting too long to elect a new leader and it is becoming increasingly clear that they are going to anoint Rae as leader. Look at the obvious choices, Rae? Marc Garneau? Dominic LeBlanc..P.l.e.a.s.e. None of these men have the kind of leadership qualities that the moribund party needs. Its more of the same.
Mulcair will eventually have to talk policy. He will preach all things Quebec because he has to and if the PQ wins in Quebec he will be caught between a rock and a hard place. He will use nicer words but the outcome is the same..sustainability…code for cap and trade &/or carbon tax. Equality…tax those that earn income and give to those that don’t. Are people in Ontario and the West going to vote for reducing their standard of living. I don’t think so. So that leaves the Conservatives who are considered to be the stewarts of the income. That is what Canadians care about. So the Libs will lose the next election, the NDP will hold their base in Quebec and will win a few more seats in Ontario and B.C. (maybe).
I think left-or-right is too pessimistic. The problem with the Liberals is that for a long time they have not actually stood for anything — “we stand for the middle” is not good enough. Yes, politics are more polarized, but governance is not. Any party that wishes to govern needs to govern close to the centre while making clear some set of values that defines them. I think many true Canadian values were lost during the years that Liberals steered the ship — in no particular direction.
I’m with Allen B. Left-or-Right may be under the influence of hypnotics. There have never been three legitimate parties in Canada at one time. Hipster Mulcair will fall in the polls as quickly as a drunk doing dubstep. The hippie-dippies don’t have a chance for generations and biased polls can only be credible for a short time (Ekos). I’d like to see Rae’s head squeezed in a vice until his eyes bulge and then incarcerated in an allegorical superjail. The time of the benevolent dictator is here for the decade. People across the land scream praise for King Stephen while the under and overeducated rabble spew lies and ancient rhetoric.
The mushy middle is where the best policy has always come from Allen B. The best of both ideologies, policies which carefully embrace and bolster capitalism while at the same time insuring the basic needs of not just some, but all Canadian citizens. Let’s remember that it was the mushy middle’s Paul Martin who had the fiscal foresight which put our banks in a comfortable position during the worldwide recession and has countries globally praising and emulating Canada’s banking system. These are advances which neither the far left nor the far right parties can achieve easily while engaging in a constant tug of war, or in constant flux.
What you see as the revival of lost Canadian values I see as quite the opposite MaryLS. I see our globally admired progressive values as presently under attack by the actions of this current government. In fact in many cases the Canadian values which we have not only enjoyed at home, but which also were inspirational to many countries throughout the world are losing ground internationally. Our record on the environment is now infamous, our scientists muzzled, and environmentalists under attack as radical rabble standing in the way of corporate gains. Just this past week Canada has stepped back from an international treaty to ban lethal cluster bombs by introducing legislation which will make Canada deliberately complicit in the use of the weapons. Do you know how inhumane cluster bombs are? How they are designed to not only kill, but to cripple and disfigure? How in many cases remain undetonated for years on the ground until set off by innocent civilians? These may be your values, but they certainly aren’t mine, nor are they that of many other like thinking Canadians either, the ones I call the silenced majority. http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Canadian+legislation+cluster+bombs+insult/6539226/story.html#ixzz1tWo4ZIDB
As for Wow! What can one say? It is hard to take you seriously because much of what you say is just outrageous. Squeeze someone’s head in a vice- really? If I am indeed under the influence of hypnotics I’m certainly not getting them from the right source. Where do you get yours? They unquestionable are far more powerful than the ones you believe I’m on. Perhaps instead you may only be smoking that overly potent pot that Mulcair has been talking about, the one that causes mental illness. As for King Harper the benevolent dictator, latest polls have his approval rating falling like a stone, well they should. My personal point of view, shared by many methinks.
Politically, Harper is riding a wave. For how long?
Ethically, Harper is trashing Canada. For how long?
Harper’s wave may turn out to be a wavelet. Progressive Conservatives in Alberta have said NO to regressive extremism in the Harper heartland, perhaps emboldening progressives everywhere to say NO to Harper’s regressive, divisive federalism.
So, how long before Canadians who voted for Harper in good faith (as opposed to the sheep) recognize they were had — that they voted for good, open, accountable government, and have been rewarded with a government of contempt and deceit? How long before Canada’s provinces recognize that the Harperite mantra of a small national government means in reality divide and rule and power without responsibility — that Ottawa has the power, the provinces the responsibiity?
In short, how long before fairness and decency prevail over division and deceit?
Already, there are encouraging signs that the tide may be turning. No firewalls for Alison Redford. Alberta’s premier, with her mentor that great Albertan-Canadian, Peter Lougheed, has declared that she wants Alberta to share with the rest of Canada. The F-35 fiasco and the $16 glass of orange juice are becoming trademarks of the Harper government’s so-called good fiscal management in a time of austerity. And Canada’s aboriginal peoples are speaking up: see Richard Wagamase’s open letter in today’s Globe and Mail on how Harper’s actions do not square with his “apology” to Canada’s native peoples:
http://www.the globeandmail.com/news/opinions/aboriginal-reconciliation-an-open-letter-to-stephen-harper/article 2416077/
That’s: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/aboriginal-reconciliation-an-open-letter-to-stephen-harper/article2416077/