stof said:
Rahim Jaffer has held that riding for 4 terms, and before that I think it was the Liberals. This is still a huge jump for the NDP in the area. |
There is no doubt that this was an unexpected victory for the NDP, I was just pointing out that Edmonton isn't as 'Hostile' towards the NDP as Calgary is ...
| rendo said: On top of that Mulcair actually winning the riding through the general election is great progress for the NDP in Quebec. There's a good chance this can further expand the influence of the NDP across Canada. Hopefully we're not forced into ANOTHER election anytime soon, but my hope is the NDP can continue to bring more MP's to Ottawa and start getting more of their policies put before the House. |
The NDP did fairly well this electionin general, but I think they would have (probably) done much better had Jack Layton pushed the argument that he was a much better leader and would form a better official opposition than Stephan Dion (rather than attacking Harper and making a pitch to become Prime Minister). Essentially, I think most Canadian's expected (and were fine with) a Conservative Minority government and many people who may not agree with their policies would have voted for a party they believed could keep them in check.
With that said, I think we're looking at another government which will become one of the longest lasting minority governments in Canadian history. The only party which is (financially) in a good position to run another election campaign is the Conservatives, and it will be a couple of years (at least) before the NDP and Bloc can fundraise enough money to afford another campaign ... The Liberals are really in awful shape, they have massive debt, limited fundraising capability, and the need to run an expensive leadership race before they will be in a position to participate in another election.
How the government will (likely) operate over the next few years is the Conservatives will have a (somewhat) easier time pushing their agenda through committees because of their larger presence, the NDP will (likely) oppose everything the Conservatives do out of principle unless it would be political suicide to oppose the Conservatives, the Bloc will abstain or support the Conservatives on most issues which are positive or neutral for Qubec, and the Liberals will do everything in their power to prevent the government from falling unless it would be political suicide to do so. Essentially, with the exception of the occasional policy change to convince the Bloc to abstain or support the Conservatives, the Conservatives are in a position where they can run this minority like a majority.
