Liberals face greatest challenge on the left (Canada)

[Minstrel Boy]

A nice piece on the resurgence of the socialist NDP in today's (neo-con) National Post. The coffers are full, the new leader is dynamic, the Liberals are heading rightward to pick off conservative supporters - let's do this thing!

...

NDP leader Jack Layton has been taking the fight to Paul Martin in a barrage of criticism that has included referring to the Prime Minister as "a practising coal baron" and questioning which flag of convenience his family company ships are flying to avoid Canadian taxes and environmental standards. One Web site segment quotes a Canadian seaman who used to work for the Martin family's Canada Steamship Lines but has since been replaced by a cheaper Filipino worker: "At 54 years old, what am I going to do?"

...There will be those in the Liberal party, arrogant in their convictions about their own invulnerability, who will merely shrug their shoulders. But if that is the case, they probably do not represent ridings in the Greater Toronto Area. One source said internal Liberal polling shows Dennis Mills, Maria Minna, Tony Ianno and Jean Augustine would all lose their seats to NDP candidates, should an election be held now.

It's not often that a Toronto Star editorial can be called thundering but last Sunday, the paper put Paul Martin on notice that he had better act on his new deal promises or he could see the Star switch its support to Layton. "If Toronto's hopes are shattered and trust in change is replaced by a sense of betrayal, politicians who were eagerly supported in the past could be scorned in the future," it wrote. The subsequent backpedalling by the Martin camp is a poor return for Mills, the man who brought the Pope and the Rolling Stones to Canada.

But it is not just in Toronto that the Liberals could face increased competition. Former NDP leader Ed Broadbent could expect roughly the same welcome from Liberal insider and prospective MP Richard Mahoney as the two hikers entering the Slaughtered Lamb pub in the film American Werewolf in London, after announcing his candidacy in Ottawa Centre. And there are other urban ridings in Vancouver and Halifax where the NDP has high hopes. In the 2000 election, the Dippers had just $3.5-million to spend and didn't run any major market advertising in the run-up to polling day. This time around, the party is on target to raise $12-million and will spend heavily in Toronto and Ottawa to ensure victory for its star candidates.

http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/columnists/story.html?id=dc9a84f6-837d-4b94-a5b8-d2a15efe8ab9

[LeftistGorilla]

1. I like how the NDP....

is looking (at least federally).....

[SeveneightyWhoa]

2. I love Canada's political system.

We've got the Liberal party slowly but continually moving to the right, seemingly to stay within a reasonably close distance of the Alliance (now the Conservative party)--who have morphed into neo-con/Republican-lite.

So the NDP comes along and keeps the Liberals in check. It's great!

3+ major party systems are great. You Americans should try it!

[Minstrel Boy]

4. I know what you mean.

Perhaps there's something about a parliamentary system which better lends itself to the flourishing of third parties. More than two choices tends to make, IMHO, a healthier democracy.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

3. Man it's looking better by the hour. Bring on May 10th!

We all know why the Post is talking us up, though, don't we? It would be really something to get the Star on side.

[Minstrel Boy]

5. Best news was the leak of the internal Liberal poll

showing the NDP would win Etobicoke-Lakeshore if the election were held today. I've been expecting that a strong campaign will take back Trinity-Spadina, Toronto Danforth and the Beaches, but we've never held E-L federally, and only occasionally provincially. I thought we had a shot, but wasn't ready to put it in the winnable column.

I'm thinking now that a solid campaign plus the usual unquantifiables could win us 60 seats, and hold the Liberals to a minority.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

7. It all depends on the candidates.

When I crunched the numbers there were 33 seats that I felt comfortable putting in the NDP column. That was a conservative estimate (hah!) without considering the effects good candidates and campaigns have on the outcome. Watch Northern Ontario.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

6. If I were Canadian I would have PROUDLY VOTED for the....

Liberals under Chreitien's leadership and also under Pierre Trudeau's great leadership. It seems that Paul Martin is looking to become a DLC Lieberman type (Republican wannabe). I would have to support the NDP for this election at least.

It's sad to see the Liberal Party go in this direction.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

8. I think one issue in the election will be the 'Chretien Liberals'

Chretien was a moderate, but Martin himself admits to being the embodiment of Progressive Conservative values. That must disturb the liberal left.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

9. Very True. Paul Martin might as well admit that he is a........

Conservative. Why did they choose him as their leader????

[Minstrel Boy]

14. Watch what happens in Sheila Copps riding.

Realigned, now called Hamilton East-Stoney Creek. Martin tried to get her to quit, and when she didn't, he left her on the backbench. She's being challenged for the nomination by pro-Martinite MP Tony Valeri.

Copps, the standard bearer of the old Liberal left, has been told there's no room for her in Martin's party. If she loses the nomination, will her supporters endorse Valeri, or the party which truly represents progressive and working-class values?

[Frederic Bastiat]

10. I think Martin is pragmatic

and forward thinking. I'm not much for labels or ideological purity, whomever gets the job done is what matters. Martin might lose some seats to the NDP but i'm sure he'll more than make up for them from Bloc and Tory ridings ;)

[Screaming Lord Byron]

11. He's going to take half the Bloc's seats. n/t

[David__77]

12. Go NDP!

I'm sure if I were Canadian, I would be an NDP activist.

[SeveneightyWhoa]

13. I like their stances on a lot of issues, but the NDP is..

..too socialist. They ARE socialist. I think something between the current Liberals and the NDP would be something I could support, but I'm going to have to lean towards the Liberal party for now.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

15. One thing I have noticed as someone who grew up abroad

is that the definition of Socialist is slightly different in Canada to what it is in, say, Scotland, where I grew up. Now, Scotland is a 75% left-wing country so it's 2 or 3 points along the scale to the left of Canada. The Scottish Socialist Party is to the left of the NDP, we in Canada would consider them Marxists, and in Scotland, the NDP would correspond with a moderate Social Democratic party like Labour should be in theory, or the SNP. I guess my point is that the NDP are not as ideological as they're made out to be.