The NDP....The Official Party of We're So Sorry

[M.Dancer]

OTTAWA — For the second time in less than 24 hours, the NDP has been forced to issue an abject apology for falsely smearing a political opponent.

NDP House leader Libby Davies formally apologized Thursday on behalf of her party for spreading allegations that a Liberal candidate in the last federal election tried to bribe his NDP rival to drop out of the race.

“The New Democratic Party admits we seriously erred in making the allegations public and in putting a young and inexperienced candidate in a position where he felt justified in making those allegations and to repeat them on some 40 occasions to media across Canada,” Ms. Davies told the Commons.

Her profuse apology, required as part of a lawsuit settlement, couldn't have been more badly timed for the NDP.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y/National/home

The Party of Layton should apologise again for not apologising till they were forced to when they knew before the election that they smeared and ruined the political careers of innocent men.......

[scribblet]

I'm surprised no one is talking more about this... the NDP just blew it big time, Jacko is in hiding with egg all over his face.

Not only did she perform a major character assassination, but she managed to tie it all into violence against women. She should apologize to all men too.

[Michael Bluth]

I'm surprised no one is talking more about this... the NDP just blew it big time, Jacko is in hiding with egg all over his face.

I think it's really an example of the NDPs inability to expand beyond it's base.

In the past 15 years they have become a shrill parliamentary rump which will never be able to grow large enough to form official opposition, never mind government.

If Jack Layton were really interested in taking that next step he would have made a public announcement about Mathyssen's screeching.

[Canuck E Stan]

I think it's really an example of the NDPs inability to expand beyond it's base.

In the past 15 years they have become a shrill parliamentary rump which will never be able to grow large enough to form official opposition, never mind government.

If Jack Layton were really interested in taking that next step he would have made a public announcement about Mathyssen's screeching.

Likewise, the media should have put a sock in the Liberal's Redman's mouth over the same issue.

[Drea]

Likewise, the media should have put a sock in the Liberal's Redman's mouth over the same issue.

Surely you jest!

You would have the media "block him out" because he is saying something you don't agree with?

Right or wrong, people should never be muzzled. Once we muzzle people, we are on the road to facism. Haven't people learned anything?

We are in such a tizzy over hurting people's feelings, pretty soon we won't even be able say the most inocuous things...

[Michael Bluth]

Surely you jest!

You would have the media "block him out" because he is saying something you don't agree with?

Right or wrong, people should never be muzzled. Once we muzzle people, we are on the road to facism. Haven't people learned anything?

Oh my goodness.

You'd think someone making such histrionic charges would at least know that Karen Redmond is female.

Edited December 11, 2007 by Michael Bluth

[Borg]

Sad thing is there is a significan portion of canuckleheaded voters that support them.

Tells me a lot about this country - and the media.

Borg

[Michael Bluth]

Sad thing is there is a significan portion of canuckleheaded voters that support them.

Tells me a lot about this country - and the media.

That's the one thing that I really don't understand about the current Liberal Party of Canada.

The Liberals have historically been successful because the centrist element of the party has been able to moderate the lunatic fringe a la Carolyn Parrish and Karen Redmond.

These people are funhouse mirror images of Randy White and Myron Thompson.

The Liberals governed for 13 years by keeping these types under control (or kicking Parrish out of caucus at the beginning of the end) while the verbal eruptions killed the CPCs chance of forming Government.

Now the shoe is on the other foot. The Liberals are undisciplined while the Conservatives are staying quiet.

Shouldn't Dion have asked Redmond to publicly apologize?

[M.Dancer]

OTTAWA — Having falsely accused a Liberal of bribery and a Conservative of peeking at porn in Parliament, New Democrats now have checks in place to reduce the chance of any embarrassing repeat, Leader Jack Layton says.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y/National/home

But the Layton spin makes it truly laughable is not bordering on complete dishonesty that we can exopect from him and his NDP...

“But guess what? The NDP is human. We make mistakes that some people will judge as errors – and we acknowledge were problems – and we'll apologize when that happens.”

In the case of falsely accusing a rioval candidate of bribery, they apologize when the court orders them to and not before.

[Topaz]

Has the Cons always apologize when they were wrong??? Did they say they were wrong about the former Lib finance minister when they accused him of leaking his budget and someone on Bay street acted on it?? Goodale was proved innocent and the Cons just used that statement for help the 2006 election. As far as Moore goes, HE WAS looking at a woman with not much on, and he stood up in parliament and said he would never do that, he had too much respect for the government. Yeah right. He looking but he says it was his girlfriend. It doesn't matter WHO she was, HE was looking at something that shouldn't have been on his screen in parliament. Yes the NDP member could have handled it differently, but that doesn't change the fact Moore lied.

[Wilber]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y/National/home

The Party of Layton should apologise again for not apologising till they were forced to when they knew before the election that they smeared and ruined the political careers of innocent men.......

I live in that riding. It had everyone shaking their heads. The idea of the NDP and Liberals bribing each other not to run in a riding where the Conservatives routinely win by over 20,000 votes. Now you know why.

[M.Dancer]

Has the Cons always apologize when they were wrong??? Did they say they were wrong about the former Lib finance minister when they accused him of leaking his budget and someone on Bay street acted on it?? Goodale was proved innocent and the Cons just used that statement for help the 2006 election. As far as Moore goes, HE WAS looking at a woman with not much on, and he stood up in parliament and said he would never do that, he had too much respect for the government. Yeah right. He looking but he says it was his girlfriend. It doesn't matter WHO she was, HE was looking at something that shouldn't have been on his screen in parliament. Yes the NDP member could have handled it differently, but that doesn't change the fact Moore lied.

Will you apologize when you are unable to find a Conservative party spokesperson accusing goodale?

Will you apologize for saying Moore lied, when in fact he did say he was looking at his girlfriend (who sent him a pic of her on vacation?

Will you apologise?

Edited January 3, 2008 by M.Dancer

[madmax]

In the past 15 years they have become a shrill parliamentary rump which will never be able to grow large enough to form official opposition, never mind government.

2006 New Democratic Party Jack Layton 17.48%

2004 New Democratic Jack Layton 15.8%

2000 New Democrats Alexa McDonough 8.51%

1997 New Democrats Alexa McDonough 11.05%

1993 New Democratic Audrey McLaughlin 6.88%

In the last 15 years, the NDP has been trending upwards in popular vote. This is still a very very very very long way from forming the official opposition. In fact, if I look further, It would be reasonable to assume that the NDP and its CCF roots have always been in the 6% to 20% range since their creation, but lets look to see if it's fact.

1988 New Democratic Party Ed Broadbent 20.38%

1984 New Democratic Party Ed Broadbent 18.81%

1980 New Democratic Party Ed Broadbent 19.77%

1979 New Democratic Party Ed Broadbent 17.88%

1974 New Democratic Party David Lewis 15.44%

1972 New Democratic Party David Lewis 17.83%

1968 New Democratic Party Tommy Douglas 16.96%

1965 New Democrats Party Tommy Douglas 17.91%

1963 New Democrats Tommy Douglas 13.24%

1962 New Democrats (CCF) Tommy Douglas 13.57%

1958 Co-operative Commonwealth M.J. Coldwell 9.51%

1957 Co-operative Commonwealth M.J. Coldwell 10.71%

1953 Co-operative Commonwealth M.J. Coldwell 11.28%

1949 Co-operative Commonwealth M.J. Coldwell 13.42%

1945 Co-operative Commonwealth M.J. Coldwell 15.55%

1940 Co-operative Commonwealth J. S. Woodsworth 8.42%

1935 Co-operative Commonwealth J.S. Woodsworth 9.31%

Based on this, I don't think that anything has changed dramatically since the inception of the CCF.

Party hacks tend to think that the general public really gives a rats ass about what goes in parliment. Nobody cares, nor should they be remotely concerned with the petty squabbles, political antics and false outrage.

People have better things to do with their time.

But when it comes time to vote, you can be assured, regardless of other parties that have come and gone during the life of the CCF/NDP that the NDP will continue to receive votes within the % percentages above and that the leadership will continue to bring in as many votes as possible.

No different then any other party.

What I find more interesting is the lack of movement of the Conservatives and Liberals and the NDP in the polls. Very stagnat.

BUT!!! Here is what I think will happen in the NEXT election.

It may not be a stalemate with a return to virtually the same number of seats.

I think ONE party, and it could be any single party contesting the election, is going to get momentum, and have a significant change in their seat count and voter percentage.

We could still have a minority government or a runaway majority.

(PS, I have no scientific fact or data to back up this claim, It is only my opinion of how I think the electorate may behave this time around)

If the electorate is tuned out, like they are now, then we may not see change. But, if someone can get the publics attention....

Your thoughts?

[sharkman]

The NDP's only useful act is to draw disenchanted Liberals away from the fold. Other than that, they have proven time and time again on the provincial scene to be sadly unaware of how to run the show. They are good at protesting though.

It seems in Canada, the majority of the time the voters are more easily swayed to vote against someone or something than for it. Thus, the parties play to this weakness and we are usually one or two scandals away from an election.

[capricorn]

But when it comes time to vote, you can be assured, regardless of other parties that have come and gone during the life of the CCF/NDP that the NDP will continue to receive votes within the % percentages above and that the leadership will continue to bring in as many votes as possible.

I think the NDP's numbers will fall in the next election for the following reason. No doubt there are quite a few NDP supporters who expected the Liberals to be re-elected and were flabbergasted when the Conservatives took the prize. Those NDPers who cannot stomach the thought of another Harper government would vote Liberal because they will see this as the only way to dump Harper.

What I find more interesting is the lack of movement of the Conservatives and Liberals and the NDP in the polls. Very stagnat.

This indicates to me that the electorate is pretty happy with the status quo and as you said voters are uninterested in politics at this time.

If the electorate is tuned out, like they are now, then we may not see change. But, if someone can get the publics attention....

Public attention may be drawn by a party on a positive note (a strong campaign with attractive policies) or on a negative note (a specific unforeseen event). Because the Conservatives are in government they are more vulnerable to draw attention negative in nature. One example is if we suffer casualties in Afghanistan during an election campaign then that could undo the Conservatives.

[Michael Bluth]

I think the NDP's numbers will fall in the next election for the following reason. No doubt there are quite a few NDP supporters who expected the Liberals to be re-elected and were flabbergasted when the Conservatives took the prize. Those NDPers who cannot stomach the thought of another Harper government would vote Liberal because they will see this as the only way to dump Harper.

I think (hope?) you are wrong.

Layton's 'lend us your vote' strategy worked well in driving up their numbers but didn't really translate into many more seats.

I believe that most swing NDP-LPC voters will believer there hasn't been a radical difference between the Harper government and Martin or Chretien. So perhaps they will be more likely to stay on the NDP side of that equation.

[capricorn]

I think (hope?) you are wrong.

Me too. That was my non-partisan analysis.

I believe that most swing NDP-LPC voters will believer there hasn't been a radical difference between the Harper government and Martin or Chretien. So perhaps they will be more likely to stay on the NDP side of that equation.

The Liberals are looking and sounding more and more like the NDP. After all, Bob Rae is drafting the next Red Book and IMO he hasn't changed his stripes since his NDP days.

[Michael Bluth]

The Liberals are looking and sounding more and more like the NDP. After all, Bob Rae is drafting the next Red Book and IMO he hasn't changed his stripes since his NDP days.

You are right, but it appears to be the same old chestnut 'Run from the left, govern from the right.'

The Liberal party's history of doing so is why 'lend us your vote' was a success for the NDP last time around.

Next election we could very well have the Liberals fending off all four parties. That's what they couldn't do last time around.

[Kitchener]

It would be reasonable to assume that the NDP and its CCF roots have always been in the 6% to 20% range since their creation, but lets look to see if it's fact.

Pshaw. Facts are a leftist conspiracy. Let's just recite boilerplate drivel about the incompetence of the NDP, eh?

[Michael Bluth]

Pshaw. Facts are a leftist conspiracy.

The conspiracy would involve sanctimonious, self-righteous drivel while ignoring the solid record of incompetence (Ontario) and corruption (BC) by NDP provincial governments.

[Kitchener]

The conspiracy would involve sanctimonious, self-righteous drivel while ignoring the solid record of incompetence (Ontario) and corruption (BC) by NDP provincial governments.

Oh, don't be so quick to overlook the possibilities of corruption in Ontario's NDP government and incompetence in BC's, too. Governments are sprawling things, after all, and problems can be found with any of them. What makes the whining about the NDP into meaningless childish boilerplate is the way it grimly ignores the corruption and incompetence found also in Liberal and Conservative provincial governments. If you were to ask a hundred randomly chosen Ontarians to say which provincial government was most deeply flawed with corruption, short-sightedness, cozy lobbyist-government sweetheart deals, general incompetence, dishonesty, contempt for democracy, and hidebound ideological dogma, I very much doubt that most people would point to the Rae government...

[Wild Bill]

If you were to ask a hundred randomly chosen Ontarians to say which provincial government was most deeply flawed with corruption, short-sightedness, cozy lobbyist-government sweetheart deals, general incompetence, dishonesty, contempt for democracy, and hidebound ideological dogma, I very much doubt that most people would point to the Rae government...

Oh, for the most part they may have been honest! You're asking the wrong question.

Most people would point to the Rae government as having been the most inept...

[M.Dancer]

Short sightednes and hide bound idealogical dogma sound pretty NDP like. I think it's party of their party policy...

[Kitchener]

Short sightednes and hide bound idealogical dogma sound pretty NDP like. I think it's party of their party policy...

I make no claims about how things can sound to you; only about the facts. The facts about provincial governments in Canada are far less damning regarding the NDP than silly trawling through the data for confirmations might suggest to anti-NDP dogmatists.

[BubberMiley]

The facts about provincial governments in Canada are far less damning regarding the NDP than silly trawling through the data for confirmations might suggest to anti-NDP dogmatists.

Manitoba NDP government has consistenty (though modestly) reduced taxes and produced balanced budgets in the three majorities they've had so far. It shows how successful a government can be when it's not consumed with its own ideology.

The NDP also left Saskatchewan in far better shape economically than they inherited it. The Saskatchewan people appear to feel, however, that a healthy democracy should change governments at least every 15 years or so, regardless of successful performance. Alberta could probably learn from them or they'll wind up with a crippled one-party democracy like Mexico used to have.

Edited January 4, 2008 by BubberMiley