Evening Star

How much further to the centre would this party shift though? If it moved any further right than, say, Gary Doer's NDP, I would think the NDP's union and activist base may well prefer to form another social democratic party again.

I just don't agree that the Liberals are a left-wing party or that most of their voters vote for them on those grounds, at least for the last 20 years. They are certainly not a labour party. If anything, the Chretien/Martin Liberals were probably the most fiscally conservative government we'd had in decades. (The Fraser Institute recommends the 1995 budget as a model for deficit reduction in fact. Tom Flanagan has even accused them of stealing Reform's economic policy ideas.) I think Tim is right. Some other points are made in this editorial: http://thechronicleherald.ca/Editorials/1242591.html If the Liberals really are a sincerely left-leaning party who have more in common with the NDP than with the Conservatives, I would be completely in favour of co-operation between the parties, as opposed to merger - embracing the idea of a coalition, not aggressively contesting strategic seats that are held by the other party (e.g. Edmonton-Strathcona, Outremont). Somehow the Liberals had no interest in this. Why do you think this was the case, if they are both left-wing parties? Of course, as I've said before and as prominent NDP members have also stated, any Liberals who want a 'united left' are free to join the most currently prominent left-wing party, that forms the Official Opposition. Why does it not seem that many are interested in doing this? -- (xpost to cybercoma)

I was responding to this quote from cybercoma (post 89): (Emphasis mine.) I think my comment was fair.

That's pretty much the definition of ethnic nationalism and I do think it is incredibly dangerous and fundamentally wrongheaded.

Yes, that makes sense. BubberMiley (and I) were just questioning why you seemed especially pleased with the fact that the CPC won a majority "without needing Quebec MP's for the numbers."

Transfer payments etc aren't exactly a subsidy for separatism per se...

Why does this require changing the constitution? The federal government intervened in the oil industry to a greater extent than that in the 70s and 80s, right?

I linked it in post #36.

Whenever someone starts using "ethnicity" as an essential defining quality of the "uniqueness" of a particular political jurisdiction, giant warning lights should start flashing...

http://www.google.ca/search?q=ruth-ellen+brosseau+vegas&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a#q=ruth-ellen+brosseau+vegas&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=e3y&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&prmd=ivnsuo&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbs=sbd:1,cdr:1,cd_min:2011-4-1,cd_max:2011-5-1,nws:1&source=og&sa=N&tab=wn&fp=efd11fe55c0e2073

This is from Apr 26: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/ndp-candidate-takes-mid-campaign-vacation-in-vegas/article1999879/ From Apr 29: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ndp-candidate-back-from-vegas-and-has-a-shot-at-winning-seat/article2004730/

The outdated 2001 constitution can be easily found via Google: http://www.scribd.com/doc/28843857/Federal-NDP-Constitution-Out-of-Date-2001 and yes, it has all that stuff about democratic socialism in the preamble. It has been written about a lot.

Ensight's exit poll survey found that all of her constituents to whom they spoke knew she wasn't from the riding, went to Vegas, etc and voted for her anyway.

I'll level with you: I'm not a communist but I don't think communism and fascism are equivalent at all. Much of my family still lives here, in a state that has been ruled by peaceful and democratically elected Communist/Marxist governments for most of its history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala_model I don't think that model should be applied to Canada, and it certainly has its faults, but great social advances were also made because of Communist rule, without the sort of oppression or violence you find in totalitarian states. I can think of no comparable example of peaceful, democratic, or progressive fascism.

As punked pointed out, something similar happened in Ford's campaign: (Ford staff actually did worse things than this during the campaign.)

(xpost)

I'm guessing it's the same as your "outrage" with someone whom the plurality of Berthier-Maskinonge like?

Statoil is the classic example of a successful state-run enterprise, right?

Sufficiently unique for what? I'm not sure this is undebatable. And whose ethnicity and culture are we talking about? Does it include mine, given that I lived in Montreal at one time and might move back some time? Is Quebec's unique identity based in the ethnicity and culture of the Jewish anglophones who mostly populated the neighbourhood where I lived? The Caribbean-Canadian community who were predominant in a nearby neighbourhood? My close friend, a bilingual Laotian-Canadian who has lived in Montreal all her life?

Well, how is it false that Quebec is a province of Canada, like the others? Doesn't it say so in the 1867 Constitution (BNA) Act, which is legally binding and received Quebec's assent at the time? You might wish to change this situation, and you have the right to wish this, but that doesn't seem to make it a lie.

That's still different from saying that the election results were "sparkling" because your favoured party not only won a majority but also did this without winning many seats in QC. I was glad the NDP did well but their failure to win many seats in certain provinces is not an added bonus for me.

You need 12 seats for the privileges that come with official party status. Neither the Greens nor the BQ have this. They can still sit in Parliament, of course. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_party_status

How is that definite?? Since WW2, they've endorsed the Liberals in six elections (three of those for the very neoliberal Chretien/Martin Liberals) and the PCs or CPC in 21. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/globe-endorsements-through-history/article1963598/

Punked linked this elsewhere: http://www.canada.com/technology/know+your+edition/4747908/story.html I'd be proud to have many of those as my MP.

In any case, August1991, didn't you once seriously suggest Amir Khadir as a potential future leader for the NDP?