Canadian politics
This election will show how weak the Canadian left has become as a political force in Canada.
From London Free Press
“We have been saying all along, if we don’t win, we will get a coalition government,” Joe Preston, Conservative candidate for Elgin-Middlesex-London said.
“I am worried if Stephen Harper gets a majority. I made a strategic decision,” Dolby said.
How many more “strategic decisions” will we see from NDP and Green candidates across Canada.
Here’s two different interpretations of the dreaded C. word coalition. Is it going to be a bunch of unprincipled politicians or just a group of losers. You decide .
From Ottawa Citizen
Last weekend, Prime Minister Stephen Harper let his guard down and revealed his true thoughts about a Liberal-led coalition government. If the opposition parties lose the next election, and then band together to bring down the Conservatives, he believes this coalition should be regarded as “illegitimate.”
Was he right? Yes and no.
Like it or not, it’s not illegitimate for the Liberals to try to secure a formal or informal agreement with other political parties. Even if they finish second on May 2, they have the constitutional right to attempt to form a coalition and, if successful, take
From CharlesAdler coalition of the losers
If the Harper Conservatives end up with something short of a majority, the Black Hole Coalition is activated. Michael Ignatieff has no plans to go back to Harvard. The plan is to go back to the drawing board, to the game called “Let’s do something European. Let’s have a coalition.”
Now we remember how Canadians reacted the last time to the prospect of a coalition government where the first liners, to borrow a hockey term, would be Stephane Dion centering for Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe. But that was then and this is now.
Here’s what Now looks like. The Tories fail to get a majority in May and when Parliament reconvenes they fail to win a vote of confidence following another attempt at a budget.
Michael Ignatieff reaches for his posterior and pulls out a piece of paper with a lot of signatures on it. They all have one thing in common. None of them are members of the Conservative party. All of them are members of parties that lost.
Some could call it a coalition of losers. But it would be a coalition that could easily win the day with the Governor General.
As an added bonus here is Charles Adler new Sun TV promo.
Maria Aragon singing O Canada at a conservative rally in Winnipeg. Whatever you think of her she is a genuine talent.
Today Stephen Harper raised the possibility that he would be open to a one-on-one debate with Liberal leader Michael ignatieff. Of course this won’t happen in our multiparty system but it’s an interesting hypothetical to ponder. The simple fact of having less participants would increase the possibility of there being a dramatic moment that defines the campaign.
From National Post
“We could also have a debate between Mr. Ignatieff and myself, since, after all, the real choice in this election is a choice between a Conservative government or an Ignatieff-led government that all of these other parties will support.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Everyone talks about the Mulroney Turner face-off in 1984 as the quintessential example where momentum in a campaign can shift on a dime . Although it be nice to see our leaders square off against each other more often, Politics as in life is the art of the possible and you cannot always get what you want.
I know social media is not top of mind for everyone however it is becoming an increasingly integral part of any modern political campaign. Now there is a website devoted to the intersection of social media and politics I encourage you to check it out.
From The Canadian Election + Social Media
The Conservative Party of Canada launched the Tory Nation volunteer tool which takes a page from Obama’s online campaign playbook to offer volunteers the ability to get active on their own time.
Anyone can sign up to have access to a number of functions, including organizing an event, raising money and spreading the word to their friends. The dashboard features a leaderboard, where activists can earn points for various activities. No word on what happens with the points, though.
The dashboard is clean and intuitive and does provide the basic tools for riding-level activists to quickly deepen their involvement.