Shwa

Yep, when the dust settled in the 1993 election, the PC's were effectively done forever.

Meet Nycole Turmel, the winning candidate for Hull-Aylmer or, as the people of Aylmer like to say, Aylmer-Hull. Turmel topples 100-year Liberal dynasty in Hull-Aylmer Now why bother with a somewhat obscure opposition NDP candidate from a pretty, but mostly insignificant riding on the National Capital Region? It isn't about what Nycole is doing, it's about what she used to do. And she used to be National President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the largest public sector union in Canada, well, at least in the federal government. And why is that noteworthy? Anyone remember Frank Magazine, you know, all that insider stuff getting out to the street in Ottawa? I am predicting that Nycole will become an important member of the Official Opposition, well, at least if Jack Layton is awake he will realize how important Nycole can truly be. Because I can guarantee you - from all that networking she did as PSAC Prez, that she has easy access to the internal workings of any Federal Department from the front lines. Not the good stuff, the dirty stuff, the scandalous stuff, the whistleblower stuff that never quite gets off the ground with the CPC. That should bring some interesting discussions to Parliament.

And I think you hit the nail on the head right here. They have plenty of time to re-design their platform towards this goal, a modernization of their philosophy of government. The benefit to the LPC is that the CPC and NDP will be so busy trying to mould the concrete without a form over the next few years, they will not be able to make any effective or coherent changes.

LOFL! So that's why. And here I was thinking it was about the questions they would be asked and never figured it was about the answers they never had.

The Greater Toronto Area aka, the "GTA." Plain and simple. And support in the rest of the 905 Area. Seriously, Ontario just became a 'have' province again, partly in thanks to Premier McGuinty.

I have, well, at least Leviathan, and I am not getting your point here. Surely you do not subscribe as fact, the version of human nature that Hobbes was using as his theoretical model, is somehow all encompassing and true as rain?

2 1/2 years too late!

The direction that requires the present party elite to remove their heads from their anuses. I think last nights election results acted like a shoe-horn for some of them. The others? Just roll them down the hill to retirement.

Right, it must be I simply don't understand and that the Mulroney years are not informative at all. I lived through the Mulroney governments, I even voted for him the first time. And if one thing became certain, people can sniff out spin. They did with the PC's in 1993 and sent them a crystal clear message. Do you remember the protest over de-indexing the Old Age Pension in 1985? Do you remember the thousands of older folks who showed up on Parliament Hill and the weeks and weeks of protests across the country? I do. It illustrated that you can only go so far with Canadians and they will push back even with a massive majority that the PC's enjoyed back then. Even though PM Mulorney backed down, that sort of bullshit stab-in-the-back to the public hurt them forever. They never recovered from being whacked with 'grey power.' You do you remember that don't you? This is weak-mindedness on your part and hardly what I would call a Canadian trait of any value. 6 more months of winter for you, to stengthen your intestinal fortitude.

No. And it never will. Liberals are a centrist party and that is what they will be aiming to rebuild towards. The NDP is not centrist and the CPC is only holding the line to maintain power, but they are right of centre. Once the Liberals have a real leader, a real bona fide leader who will stand up and not be afraid to speak the obvious, the centrists from both parties will, hopefully, return. This CPC majority was on the backs of protesting Liberals as was the surprising NDP surge. This is actually a damned good thing for the LPC since it gives them the impetus to change directions, cut away the deadwood and move into the 21st century.

It might be the death of the Bloc, but more importantly the crushing of the LPC and CPC in Quebec, that is more telling than anything. Now we'll have to see how the QC caucus of the NDP inform their TROC colleagues about the more palatable aspects of what they want accomplished. Certainly being a part of a larger opposition with a federal voice is something that older Quebeckers are familiar with.

I agree, it is Dominic LeBlanc and no one else. What the LPC need to do is get 20-30 years younger and start rebuilding and appealing to 'liberals.' What this means is that the Old Guard need to move out of the way and quickly. And that includes the stuffed shirts in the local riding associations. The Liberals would never elect Bob Rae as leader because of the hatchet job he did in Ontario. Right now the CPC own Ontario and Bob Rae will certainly not bring Ontario back to the LPC; that much is for certain.

Come off it. Of the 60% that actually showed up to vote, less than half voted for the CPC. He has a mandate, but a thin one. Nothing like the Mulroney landslide in 1984, more like the squeeker in 1988. And we all know what happened to the PC's in the next election in 1993 don't we? There is no way the CPC will ever forget how that worked out. There is a vigorous opposition that will have plenty of press coverage and once they get their heads around how government works, I think you will see the CPC maintain their centre-ish Liberal-like position.

It doesn't matter. The CPC took over the GTA and the nutjobs will be whipped into shape as they have been over the past few years. If anything has been demonstrated by PM Harper, is that he doesn't flinch when it comes to lowering the boom. Immigration being contained? I think he has already put those policies on the table right before the election. I expect he will continue to revise the hows and whos of immigration.

Makes them stop and think about what exactly?

No, it most certainly isn't!

Hey, aren't federal political parties subsidized with public money??? No more political opinions in political parties!!

I have been to some Aboriginal Day events - taken place right inside *gasp* government office buildings - where certain Aboriginal leaders had the unmitigated audacity to question the sincerity of the government towards settling outstanding land claims. How DARE they! On public money! At a public event!

Au contraire. Once anyone gets past your clumsy "patronage" dodge, you still have failed to recognize that public events contain elements of freedom of speech no matter who funds them. And they always will. Not to mention that when I completely destroyed your position by posting the funding streams from the Toronto Arts Council, you didn't reply. I thought you had tucked your tail between your legs and fled like a pup.

The Pride Celebrations does bring money to the City, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, most of it taxable, lots of it going right back into the coffers of the City of Toronto.

As opposed to Mr. Harper who is not against shutting down Parliament to avoid media exposure.

Correction: it will be very hard to recruit party workers, candidates with a party under the status quo. Liberal supporters from the past didn't just vanish into thin air and I am betting a whole bunch of them are waiting this one out in the wings waiting for the party to do the right thing and go back to the grass roots and rebuild their platform. But getting rid of Mr. Ignatieff first, as a gesture of good faith.

It's Mr. Ignatieff, plain and simple followed by the privledged party elite who don't have a clue what is about to smack them square in the face. They need the beat-down to force a re-evaluation of their fundamental philosophy as a party, what they stand for. And really, who the hell knows? A real leader would have remade them into capital 'L' Liberals again instead of this... mess. Mr. Ignatieff had the time, he had the resources. He did nothing and is continuing that tradition in this election. Yes, they fully deserve the ass-kicking they are about to receive so they can get on to remaking the party and that starts with a new leader and that leader is Dominic Leblanc.