Canada seems headed to an unending series of minority governments, with the two major parties always hovering about 30 per cent of the vote.
Superficially, "uniting the left" sounds like a good way to ensure majority governments and to simplify political choices for Canadians. After all, in a hockey game you have two teams — why not in federal politics?
But the argument for a union of the "left" is based on a dangerously inappropriate and unhistorical myth — that the Liberal party and the NDP are each essentially "left" or "leftish" parties in agreement on most important issues.
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11 comments:
I always thought of the Liberal Party as a centrist party. It is now being classified as leftish because the governing Conservatives are on the right. I can't see the Liberals and NDP uniting as a common party. If that were to happen, I would guess that factions of the NDP would start to form their own party.
Skinny Dipper, Absolutely right! Not to mention, those Blue Grits would more than likely flock to the Conservatives. What a disaster!
The Conservatives are so far to the right that yes, even the centrist Liberals could look left. I even had a troll at my place who called Iggy more socialist than Jack Layton.
James, I'm not as reassured as you are about minority governments. I think harper can get his majority quite handily if the Liberals don't their polling numbers up soon. I mean 23%?? And the NDP, Bloc and Greens' numbers stayed exactly the same.
I also disagree with you on another point; give Harper a majority and yes, he will definitely recriminalize abortion as well as number of other backwards things.
Funny how folks enjoy the novel idea of no more social safety net but have demonstrated time and time again that they too can't live without it.
We shifted to the left and were a left party with Dion. But under Ignatieff we've shifted to the right and have become a centrist party again. That shift to the right is what will help us regain enough support to ONE DAY win a majority government.
Given that Harper and Iggy are very close to ideology on many issues, I don't understand why some are calling it "leftist" or even "centrist".
If the Liberals had a decent leader maybe then they would get a majority. Having Harper-lite at the helm does not help them.
Vote for what you belive in not for a party. The liberals are not left. The NDP will not fold into the liberal party. I like a minority government they get less done. Passage of a new law should only be alowed with the removal of a old law.
the liberals are hardly a left or centrist party as of this reading. they're saddled with awful leadership and appear to be run by focus groups and gutless middle managers. they've proven deeply untrustworthy, spineless and directionless. the ndp have their own difficulties if they want to move their numbers and perhaps exceed their terminal fourth place. layton has to go just as ignatieff has to be kicked off the bus.
i fear we will eventually see the conservative majority as a function of just how badly the opposition have done their jobs. i don't have quite the apocalyptic terror that ck has but it will not bode well for this nation and there's much damage to be done. mind you with the roll over liberal cowardice we've witnessed over the last few years, it isn't as though harper actually needs majority numbers when he is so well enabled by the failures across the aisle.
There may be a left wing in the Liberal party, but today it seems to be more right wing than left, at least at the level of its leadership.
I can easily believe the claim being made in the column as a whole that there's no difference between the Liberals and the Tories. As I have commented here on a number of occasions, it is becoming more and more clear that Ignatieff would govern in much the same manner as Harper.
But I doubt that the same claim could be made of the NDP. Yes, the party would have launched a stimulus program, but it would not have preceded it with pointless and ruinous tax cuts for the rich the way Harper did (and Ignatieff would).
Nor do I believe the NDP would have spent a billion dollars on security around the G20, nor had the police in pointless chase games around Queen's Park while allowing operatives to set police cars on fire along Bay Street.
Nor would Layton's primary contribution to such a meeting be the blocking of an international bank tax to prevent the recurrence of the same sort of credit crisis in the future.
And I can't believe that the NDP's Jack Layton would approve spending $16 billion on fighter jets at a time when this money needed to be spent in Canada to alleviate the effects of a bank-induced recession.
Yes, I do believe Ignatieff would have marched lock-step with Harper on these issues and more. But don't claim that the genuine left in Canada would march along. We're far more likely to see Ignatieff and his fellows join with a 'unite the right' movement (perhaps in a bit to freeze out Reform extremists) than any sort of 'unite the left' movement.
I am impressed with the musings which reflect the complexity of today's Canada. The present coalition that rules-the reform conservative party is a reflection of things to come until all Canadians, including those in Quebec get tired of Pizza politics and want to continue building an enlightened, inclusive, centrist and progressive Canada that began in the 1960s. The current federal governance is helping us remember why we started a change movement 50years ago.
I have just heard Harper's theme song. The "All in the Family " theme. Perhaps he will play it on You Tube to excite his base
Here it is as a reminder as to why a progressive movement began 50 years ago...
"Boy, the way Glen Miller played. Songs that made the Hit Parade. Guys like us, we had it made. Those were the days! Didn't need no welfare state. Everybody pulled his weight Gee, our old LaSalle (a car) ran great. Those were the days! And you knew where you were then! Girls were girls and men were men. Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again. People seemed to be content. Fifty dollars paid the rent. Freaks were in a circus tent. Those were the days! Take a little Sunday spin, go to watch the Dodgers win. Have yourself a dandy day that cost you under a fin (five dollar bill). Hair was short and skirts were long. Kate Smith really sold a song. I don't know just what went wrong! Those Were the Days!"
Why not call a truce, unite the Liberal and Conservative party.
Let the NDP and Sepratists scream in opposition.
Let's be frank. When given a chance, Liberals will always tax & spend while the Conservatives only do so to keep in power. If we want to fix the economy, we have to take the same road Chretien and Martin did. They were not Liberals; they were Conservatives in Liberal clothing. Sorry Mr. President!
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