Craig Scott wins the bi election!

[cybercoma]

I'm not sure what you're talking about. There's almost 50 seats in the GTA alone and over 20 in and around Montreal.

Edited March 20, 2012 by cybercoma

[August1991]

I'm not sure what you're talking about. There's almost 50 seats in the GTA alone and over 20 in and around Montreal.

So in a federal parliament of some 300 seats, 70 come from the GTA/Montreal (according to you).

Cybercoma, about 70% of Canadians live in urban areas. Yet, for example, PEI with about 90,000 people has 4 federal seats - and urban Scarborough-Centre with 120,000 people has only one MP. (I quote from memory. I'm sorry if my stats are not exact... )

Edited March 20, 2012 by August1991

[cybercoma]

That's 4 seats for an entire province.

[Wild Bill]

This is actually kind of funny! We have some folks taking the results of a by-election as an indication the Tories are losing support everywhere!

Apparently, the riding hasn't been Tory since Towser was a pup. What type of people live and vote in this riding? City core? Welfare, unions, teachers and kids? Sounds like core NDP to me. Non-union working middle class has never been strong for the NDP. It's always been Tory or Liberal and the Liberals are not popular in that demographic these days.

The only result that could have meant anything would have been for the NDP to lose! And the chances of that happening were like trying to fill an inside straight.

Yawn! Boring!

[Newfoundlander]

The results were pretty much what I would expect for a byelection under these circumstances.

[WWWTT]

And 65% (or so) voted Tory. If I'm not wrong, all federal Saskatchewan MPs are Conservative.

Quebec, Sudbury. OK.

But in general, rural English Canada is Conservative. As to rural Quebec, I think that federal NDP MPs should think about why they won.

Thats not what the trend in rural Canada indicates.

Your initial argument was that only urban Canada was following the trend of supporting the NDP.

I however have clearly provided evidence that the NDP are gaining popularity in many non urban regions of Canada,you choose to dismiss it.I don't believe the conservatives are dismissing this fact!

Earlier you made a quote about urban Canada being under represented.I live in Brampton West the most populated/under-represented riding in Canada.I have bein trying to contact Kyle Seeback about bill C-377 and its annoying he has not goten back to me yet!

WWWTT

[Tilter]

Ok then explain why the province of Saskatchewan voted 32.4% for the NDP?

How about rural northern Ontario?Rural Quebec?

How about the dozens and dozens and dozens of other Canadian rural seats that voted the NDP to second place?

WWWTT

Because they are the party elected to lose the next 2 elections and then drop back into their natural federal position, obscurity.

[WWWTT]

Because they are the party elected to lose the next 2 elections

This comment is in contradiction.

WWWTT

[Wild Bill]

The results were pretty much what I would expect for a byelection under these circumstances.

Exactly! Yet the OP is trying to use it as Tory-bashing.

His arguments are more and more predictable. Non sequitur after non sequitur.

[WWWTT]

Exactly! Yet the OP is trying to use it as Tory-bashing.

And why not?

If the same were true in reverse do you believe the conservatives(notice that I will never refer to the federal conservatives as tories)would not use it to bash the opposition?

And I believe that the conservatives are concerned about their very weak turnout!

WWWTT

[g_bambino]

The results were pretty much what I would expect for a byelection under these circumstances.

The results are what one could expect for any vote in this riding; it's NDP to the core.

Walking to the subway this morning and seeing all the Criag Scott signs still on lawns and in windows, I wondered how it is that a community can come to be so like-minded. Though it's too simple to explain everything, I thing August may have a point about trends. I thought the few people who had Liberal signs up were the brave ones, publicly refuting the majority of their neighbours. There wasn't a Green or Conservative sign to be seen.

[Wild Bill]

And why not?

If the same were true in reverse do you believe the conservatives(notice that I will never refer to the federal conservatives as tories)would not use it to bash the opposition?

And I believe that the conservatives are concerned about their very weak turnout!

WWWTT

I can't speak for all conservatives, especially since I'm not one myself. All I can say is that I would never try to make such arguments, for a very simple reason: they don't make sense!

If you want just to try to make your opponent look bad you can throw poo like a monkey. If you want to prove something you need brain matter, not fecal matter.

Even more, I rarely hear those kind of flawed arguments from the right side of the political spectrum. It is virtually always from the left - the younger left even more so.

I have no doubt that advisers high up in the NDP party are analysing the results of the by-election. I have no doubt they don't agree with you either! They have to deal with what works. They can't afford the luxury of flinging monkeypoo.

[Evening Star]

I wondered how it is that a community can come to be so like-minded. Though it's too simple to explain everything, I thing August may have a point about trends.

Seriously?? And would you say the same thing about e.g. Calgary Southwest, which votes CPC every time by even greater margins? Or many other Prairie ridings that go the same way? Is it that hard to accept that the demographic groups in this riding tends to have concerns that the NDP speaks to? Wild Bill's explanation seems far more sensible:

What type of people live and vote in this riding? City core? Welfare, unions, teachers and kids? Sounds like core NDP to me.

[Newfoundlander]

And why not?

If the same were true in reverse do you believe the conservatives(notice that I will never refer to the federal conservatives as tories)would not use it to bash the opposition?

And I believe that the conservatives are concerned about their very weak turnout!

WWWTT

The Conservatives could have easily afforded to put a lot of money into this riding and have a strong ground war, but they didn't because they knew it was a waste. I'm sure they would have loved to invest little in the riding and match last year's numbers but they knew that would be unlikely. They don't care about the results of this byelection and there is definitely no reason for them to worry.

[g_bambino]

And would you say the same thing about e.g. Calgary Southwest...?

Yes.

Welfare, unions, teachers and kids?

My neighbourhood in the riding is middle to upper middle class; possibly union people, which would include teachers, but I'd find it intriguing if there were somehow more teachers living there than in any other similarly afluent neighbourhood in, say, Calgary, Alberta (where teachers are also unionised). Certainly not many welfare households and even less kids (if, by "kids", university age people working part-time or not at all is meant). Then there's the Chinatown just down the road at Broadview and Gerrard; it's also awash in NDP signs, but how many union members, kids, or welfare cases are living there? In other similar ethnic enclaves, it's Liberal signs one expects to see in yards and windows. But in Toronto-Danforth's Chinatown, it's nearly all NDP.

[ed.: +]

Edited March 20, 2012 by g_bambino

[Wild Bill]

The Conservatives could have easily afforded to put a lot of money into this riding and have a strong ground war, but they didn't because they knew it was a waste. I'm sure they would have loved to invest little in the riding and match last year's numbers but they knew that would be unlikely. They don't care about the results of this byelection and there is definitely no reason for them to worry.

Very good point, my son! (Sorry, sometimes I lose my Ontarioan accent!) A lot of people don't seem to realize that nothing is free! It takes a LOT of money to wage a campaign and there's no point in wasting it.

[Tilter]

You, who worry about Conservatives versus liberals -- relax, here is our real problem.

In a Toronto University classroom, they were discussing the qualifications to be the Prime Minister of Canada .

It was pretty simple: the candidate must be a natural born citizen of at least 35 years of age.

However, one girl in the class immediately started in on how unfair was the requirement to be a natural born citizen.

In short, her opinion was that this requirement prevented many capable individuals from becoming Prime Minister.

The class was taking it in and letting her rant, and not many jaws hit the floor when she wrapped up her argument by stating

"What makes a natural born citizen any more qualified to lead this

country than one born by C-section?"

Yep, these are the same kind of 18-year-old that just voted in our last election!

And were elected in Quebec

[Evening Star]

Yes.

OK, at least you're being fair. August's point was much more one-sided: he was specifically saying that the NDP does well in urban centres because urbanites are trendier than other voters and that left-leaning politics are trendier than right-wing politics.

[WWWTT]

The Conservatives could have easily afforded to put a lot of money into this riding and have a strong ground war, but they didn't because they knew it was a waste. I'm sure they would have loved to invest little in the riding and match last year's numbers but they knew that would be unlikely. They don't care about the results of this byelection and there is definitely no reason for them to worry.

Ya you could be right,this was still only a byelection in an NDP stronghold.

But the Liberals felt it was neccessary to put a lot of heavyweights there in support of their candidate.

Maybe the liberals actions were to only send the conservatives a message?

Either way the conservative vote was dismal and thats one for the record books.

WWWTT

[punked]

I seem to remember some Liberals around here acting like this was going to be a toss up. The Liberals put a lot into this and got creamed that is the long and short of it. NDP kept their vote that is great news for across the country.

[huh]

So the results of a by election in a riding that has been ndp for quite some time, in the riding that was held by its now dead previous leader, who was as loved as any politician by a party's supporters, in Toronto, and we are trying to read some sort of political message into the result? lol

Edited March 20, 2012 by huh

[WWWTT]

and we are trying to read some sort of political message into the result? lol

Yes mapleleafweb is a political debate forum,and when the lions are hungry they usually fight and bicker over the scraps that they are tossed into our arena.

WWWTT

[Newfoundlander]

Ya you could be right,this was still only a byelection in an NDP stronghold.

But the Liberals felt it was neccessary to put a lot of heavyweights there in support of their candidate.

Maybe the liberals actions were to only send the conservatives a message?

Either way the conservative vote was dismal and thats one for the record books.

WWWTT

The Conservatives basically did the same thing in Winnipeg North. They knew they could not win and put little energy into it, their support dropped off but in the general election they got all their support back plus some.

[Newfoundlander]

I seem to remember some Liberals around here acting like this was going to be a toss up. The Liberals put a lot into this and got creamed that is the long and short of it. NDP kept their vote that is great news for across the country.

Well for a party many are saying is dead, particularly Conservatives and Dippers, they were the only party to gain support eventhough they ran a last minute no name candidate in a riding where the odds were completely against them.

[WWWTT]

The Conservatives basically did the same thing in Winnipeg North. They knew they could not win and put little energy into it, their support dropped off but in the general election they got all their support back plus some.

Yes I checked out the results for that riding,it was a close race between the libs and the NDP with the liberals winning.However the turnout for the general was 10 000app. greater than the byelection.And the greatest benificiary was the conservatives that still lost this one.

WWWTT