Newfoundlander

Another PC MHA is calling it quits. Labrador West MHA Jim Baker is not seeking re-election, he was elected in a 2007 by-election then re-elected later that year. The seat is one of only two seats to have gone NDP in the province so they have a good chance of winning in back.

Yvonne Jones and Dean MacDonald, the Liberal Party's Danny, will be on the news tonight to discuss her leadership.

I'd really be interested in hearing policies from Bob Rae, particularly his economic policies. I've always found it odd that a former NDP premier was supported during his leadership bids by blue grits like Maurizio Bevilacqua and Scott Brison.

Bob Rae has had jobs and spent a numbers of years outside politics.

Bob Rae is going on a summer bus tour now, while he may not be the permanent leader I think this is a smart idea.

I read today in a blog that there are still rumours that Liberal leader Yvonne Jones may be replaced before October in favour of the Liberal Party's version of Danny Williams. That'd be huge for them but I'd rather see them come up with some policies, like the federal Liberals they are all about power.

They just made a general statement, it's not fair to call the person stupid or stereotype all Conservatives as stupid. There was nothing said about the NDP in that post, I think you should either apologize to Tilter or stop Trolling this particular thread.

The finance minister announced about a month or so ago that our surplus would be $150 million higher this year and that it'd be put on the debt, she didn't agree and thought it should be spent.

Our NDP leader often says that our money should be used for today and not put away for tomorrow.

It was also Memorial Day in Newfoundland and Labrador.

While all the New Democratic Parties in Canada are affiliated, unlike the Liberal and Conservative Parties, it seems to me that there are some big differences in the parties from province to province and federally. I don't know a whole lot about the different parties but it seems as though the more successful parties in the west have moved closer to the centre, and under some premiers have even governed like Liberals. In Newfoundland and Labrador our NDP are hoping for a major breakthrough to become the Official Opposition in October, it seems to me though the party is much more left-wing then the other parties throughout the country. The Party still has their 2007 platform on their website, I'm not sure if they plan on just tweaking it for October or not, which is quite unprofessional and lacks detail. Among the things they advocated for were higher taxes for the wealthy, higher taxes on luxury cars, expensive gems and furs, and increase our already high corporate taxes on large out-of-province corporations. As well they support free post-secondary education, even though we have the lowest tuition fees in Canada. I'm not sure about some of the specifics but I know that there arn't any provinces with free education eventhough the NDP currently govern in two provinces and have in three others. They also only talk about increasing taxes, eventhough in Manitoba they got rid of the small business tax. Overall I guess they have a similar phiosophy but does anyone else notice any big differences in their province's New Democrats compared to other provinces or the federal NDP? Do their policies just depend on the leader of the time or is it the party overall? With anywhere from 5 to 7 New Democratic Parties going to the polls this Fall it will be eaiser to see the contrast in platforms from each other and the federal NDP.

The NDP will not form the government, but they do have the potential of winning a handful of seats and overtaking the Liberal Party.

Can't remember exactly what the report said but Premier's were ranked on their ability to balance budgets as well as cut taxes, among other things.

I just finished listening to a CBC radio podcast which is a few weeks old, it's an interview with the former Liberal minister John Efford, former PC minister Trevor Taylor and former NL NDP President Nancy Riche. The three discussed provincial politics and the most recent poll by CRA. Efford, who came under fire a while back for "nearly" suggesting that Liberal leader Yvonne Jones should resign, spoke about how the New Democrat Party's recent growth in support could be trouble for the Liberals and that if the NDP put forward credible candidates Liberal support could flow to them. Efford ran for the leadership of the Liberals when Brian Tobin resigned as premier so him making comments like this are a pretty big deal. He also mentioned that while the Liberals have seen a slight rise in support in recent months he thinks the party is worse off now then they were earlier in the year due to the NDP's support rising. Hopefully he is correct.

Harcort, Romanow and Doer are who I was thinking of. Doer was ranked the second most fiscally conservative premier in Canada a few years back. Liberal is a dirty word in most of the west so if you want to get elected and hold power you pretty much have to decide to either be an NDP or a Conservative. This also happened federally, Dippers joined the Liberals to get elected. Trudeau had been a member of the NDP but he knew that if he wanted to be Prime Minister he'd have to go Liberal. Has anyone else noticed though that many people still refer to the Liberals as the ones who are the alternative to the Conservatives when it comes to forming government?

As Jack and the NDP cater to Quebec I think their fortunes will drop in elsewhere. The latest Nanos poll showed a major rebound for the Liberals in Ontario and a drop the NDP, I think the west may also alienated by the NDP's catering to Quebec like they did with the PCs in the 1990's. If the Liberals can show themselves to be a new fresher party that is fiscally responsible they may be able to win new support in Western Canada from dissatisfied Dippers and possibly Conservatives. A number of the New Democratic Parties in Western Canada have pretty much just been Liberal Parties, Gary Doer for example has been said to be a big L liberal. They are possibly waiting to long to choose a new leader because I don't know how credible it sounds for Bob Rae to be talking about problems being caused by the "left" and the "right".

By mid week the Liberals will have two more candidates in place. One will likely be a former Liberal MHA who served for 7 months back in 2007. The other will likely be former Liberal leader Jim Bennett, who served as leader for three months before being ousted. The NDP will also have another candidate in place.

Sandra Pupatello's husband was expected to be acclaimed as a candidate Wednesday for the Liberals in Newfoundland and Labrador, but for whatever reason nominations in the district closed and it does not appear that the Liberals managed to get a candidate. Is it possible two of them might be leaving politics at the moment to get ready for Sandra's federal Liberal leadership bid?

Labrador Affairs Minister John Hickey has announced he will not be seeking re-election in October.

A lot of Canadians will support the elimination of government jobs seeing public service employees are just "over paid no good for nothing lazy workers". The Liberals saw a healthy boost in support in this poll as well.

The Liberals are up a bit in the latest Nanos poll, only about 3% from the election but it's better then going down like the NDP have. They've seen a 7% gain in Ontario while the NDP have dropped, possibly due to their stances on Quebec, if the Liberals had gotten this result on election night they'd likely have a lot more seats and we could have a minority. Having a minority would have likely been bad for the Liberals.

Sandra Pupatello's husband made a brief appearance in Newfoundland and Labrador politics. I read in one of the article's on her announcement not to run about how it had been thought she would have been appointed to a more senior cabinet post and that she was considered a contender to succeed Dalton McGuinty.

Should Stephane Dion have resigned as leader after the 2008 election or not in?

The leader is major aspect in defining the party and rebuilding it, the Liberals are planning on going now 2 years without a permanent one. When they finally do choose the leader it will be only two years before the next election, which really isn't that much time. I shouldn't have said it is a horrible idea but I do think it would be better to have the leadership next fall. Hopefully they will use all this time wisely. I think with so much time come January the party should look at changing the process of how the next leader is chosen so that they can engage as many people as possible in choosing the she or he. Time will also give potential candidates from outside the current caucus time to build a profile, hopefully leading to many different options when choosing the leader. I’m also supportive of having a fairly long leadership race, not constant campaigning or anything but when you consider the campaign for the Mayor of Toronto basically took 9 months then we should have more then a couple of months to get to know a potential Prime Minister. Maybe there will be some by-election wins before 2013 as well, though I think it will be hard for their popularity to rise without a permanent leader. I'll be interested in seeing who comes forward now that there is so much time, On paper Ted Hsu would make an excellent leader so I'll be interesed in seeing how he does over the next two years. Sandra Pupatello has decided to retire from provincial politics, I saw her name mentioned in a blog recently as a potential leadership candidate. Any others?

Does anyone think Sandra Pupatello may be considering or planning on running for the leadership of the Liberal Party?