This poll may reflect a dislike by Canadians of all of the political options -- that's the read of the story -- or it may reflect the reality that there's no election pending so people haven't decided where they want to put their vote.
Nevertheless, it does point out that we, as Liberals, need to have a clear and consistent message. Things like the pardon issue give us an opportunity to explain why we are different from the Conservatives -- but we need to do more than react -- we need to explain our message. Canada at 150 was a good start but we need to build from there:
http://tinyurl.com/yaqjbb9
The poll put the Conservatives at 32 per cent nationally, with the Liberals close behind at 29 per cent. The NDP stood at 17 per cent and the Greens at 11 per cent.
...
The two main parties have been stuck in a virtual tie — far short of majority support levels — for much of the past few years. And the latest poll results suggest that's because neither has been able to convincingly persuade Canadians they share their values or can handle economic turbulence.
Asked which party is best able to balance the budget in five years, half of respondents answered either "Don't know" or "None." Just 26 per cent chose the Tories, while 14 per cent picked the Liberals, six per cent the NDP, and two per cent each chose the Bloc and the Greens.
Asked which party can be trusted to manage the economy, 36 per cent said "Don't know" or "None," while 30 per cent said the Tories, 20 per cent the Liberals, nine per cent the NDP and three per cent each chose the Bloc and the Greens.
As to which party holds values closest to their own, 27 per cent said "Don't know" or "None," while 25 per cent picked the Tories, 20 per cent the Liberals, 15 per cent the NDP, six per cent the Bloc and seven per cent the Greens.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
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www.jmortonmusings.blogspot.com
10 comments:
James I'd bet that there are enough Liberal votes parked with the Greens and NDP that, if the party stopped heeling right, became both progressive and green, they'd leave the Tories in their dust. The problem with being Canada's second conservative party is the word "second."
I just see the Liberals as being Con-lite, no alternative.
Since this poll reflects so badly on both major parties, wouldn't this be a good time for the Liberals to show some backbone, and get Speaker Milliken to choose on the Motion for Parliamentary Rights? re: the Detainee Documents.
If this isn't decided before June, we will continue to see the same poll results.
The message to the Liberals has been the same but those in charge don't seem to listening...
I was surprised that the "Thinkers conference" was actually good - too bad they have not carried any of that momentum..
Almost 30 percent of Canadians say that no political party holds values closest to their own, a sad commentary on the relevant of our political system.
Count me among those 30 percent.
The first commenter is part of the Liberals problem.They are in denial.
Always looking for a quick fix the Libs now stand for nothing;Except of course for, abortions for all,laws be damned.
They have lost the west except for a half dozen close fights in Vancouver. Rural Canada has been abandoned as well.
Their views on the environment amount to blaming the "oil patch" and farms while suggesting that urbanites in SUVs, big houses and giant TVs can simply pay a little more for energy and everything will be fine.
Well anonymouse 10:10, that's one of the stupidest remarks I've heard yet. Typical conservative troll garbage. The last sentence is a testament to your idiocy.
Mound;
I am not a Conservative. I am among the vast majority of Canadians who do not contribute or belong to a political party.
Bottom line. Few Liberals in the big cities are going to give up the big houses,tv's, air travel and
corn fed cattle prime rib dinners.They have proposed a new tax to rid of us all those nasty GHG's.The idiocy is believing that this is a solution.
Anon, carbon taxes are coming in one way or the other. Canada won't be the first to introduce them. The US probably will be going that route well before we do. You can be critical or resentful, you can even howl at the moon but that won't change anything.
Canadians need to grasp how astonishingly lucky we are in the context of climate change. We are one of just a half dozen countries where the impacts will be least and will be partially offset by benefits if we're positioned to take advantage of them.
If we want to bury our heads in the sand, most of those opportunities could be lost to us. Either way, we can't party like it's 1980 any more.
Carbon taxes are already here and have been for decades.Increasing their scope will not work.
The taxes on fuel incl. heating are very high now. Essentially they will raise them more and try to sell it as a "carbon tax".People do not go around wasting fuel; it is too expensive now to do that. For those who do not live in cities there are few alternatives. This is not Europe.
The world needs our resources to feed their citizens and build and run their factories.They will have to pay for the Carbon it produces.
All this to solve a problem that is poorly understood. It may not even exist and if it does the proposed solutions won't work.
Taxes on gas are very high now? Compared to what? The US perhaps and most of the Middle East sure but the rest of the world would love to get fossil fuel as cheaply as we do.
Gas taxes have never been carbon taxes. That's just plain silly. Carbon taxes on fuel, for example, contain exemptions or rebates for limited use. They're specifically targeted at excessive fuel use while recognizing that every one of us, no matter how frugal, needs a modest amount of gas and oil. If you spend a bit of time understanding the mechanism you'll have no difficulty distinguishing the two.
Care to back up your claim that people don't go around wasting fuel? We waste an enormous amount of fuel. It's what gives us our massive carbon footprint. Facts are facts.
The idea of charging other nations for the carbon associated with our exports is a two-edged sword. By that reasoning, we're responsible for China's massive industrial carbon emissions because we in the West import so much of their production. Be very careful what you wish for.
Global warming is anything but poorly understood except to those who choose to understand it poorly or the lunatic fringe like Glenn Beck and company.
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