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Author Topic: conservative strategies - scary stuff
sunny
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posted 14 March 2007 01:21 PM      Profile for sunny     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
http://www.bloggingtories.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3674
From: ontario, canada | Registered: Jul 2006  |  IP: Logged
Red Partisan
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posted 14 March 2007 02:41 PM      Profile for Red Partisan        Edit/Delete Post
I wonder what these right wing policies the posters on that site want. They don't seem to be too specific.

Could they be...

Bring back the death penalty?
Build more jails?
Increase the military?
Cut taxes for the rich?
Gut the government?


From: Toronto | Registered: Feb 2007  |  IP: Logged
Parkdale High Park
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posted 15 March 2007 03:19 PM      Profile for Parkdale High Park     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Well they hope Harper does have a hidden agenda. You can go on freedominion and see a lot of folks like them if you want.

I don't know how "scary" it is though, I think it shows how the desire to win in a democracy can effectively constrain a government from pandering to its base. If Paul Martin were PM right now, I don't think there are many issues on which he would have acted differently than the Tories. Even on the environment, the Tories have taken up the traditionally Liberal position of promise, then not deliver.


From: Toronto | Registered: Jan 2006  |  IP: Logged
laine lowe
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posted 15 March 2007 06:44 PM      Profile for laine lowe     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
As bad as the Paul Martin neo-liberals were, I still don't think they would have gutted the Status of Women or killed the Court Challenges program -- nor would he have appointed right wing ideologues to the Reproductive and Stem Cell Research, Judiciary Appointment and Immigration/Refugee boards. It may seem like a minor distinction but I feel that it is evidence that Harper's so-con agenda is not forgotten.
From: north of 50 | Registered: Dec 2006  |  IP: Logged
Red Partisan
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posted 15 March 2007 07:41 PM      Profile for Red Partisan        Edit/Delete Post
The neo-Liberals were in an expansionist mode before the NDP decided to support Stephen Harper. New money was being made available for all kinds of social priorities.

Court Challenges and Status of Women were pretty popular among Liberals across the political spectrum. Instead of whining about open markets and free enterprise, as losers do, the idea was to try to include as many people as possible. Modern business texts extol the benefits of diversity in making decisions, so it makes sense that the Liberals would support programs which increase that diversity.


From: Toronto | Registered: Feb 2007  |  IP: Logged
Stockholm
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posted 15 March 2007 08:10 PM      Profile for Stockholm     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
When did the NDP decide to "support" Stephen Harper? I know the Liberals backed his Afghanistan policies, the BQ backed the last budget and the Liberals are playing the tough on crime card. But the NDP hasn't voted with the Conservatives on a single major bill.

This is not Nazi Germany. Just because you keep repeating a lie doesn't mean people will believe it.


From: Toronto | Registered: Sep 2002  |  IP: Logged
Steppenwolf Allende
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posted 15 March 2007 08:23 PM      Profile for Steppenwolf Allende     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
The neo-Liberals were in an expansionist mode before the NDP decided to support Stephen Harper.

And the Neo-Liberals, who are both the Liberals and Conservatives, have always been in consistent Lie Mode.

The fact is as a long the Liberals had a majority government, they continued to obediently follow Corporate Canada's dictates and gut and destroy Canada's public infrastructure and sell it off to various elite interests, breaking promise and after promise in election after election, repeatedly sanitized by the Liberal-owned corporate media.

It was the one budget in 2005 where they had a minority government that they were forced to compromise with the NDP and re-instate some of what they had previously destroyed in order to get its support.

Interesting thing is the Liberals still likely would have had that support if they hadn't been so plagued with scandal after scandal that got so bad no one with even a shred of personal integrity could continue to support them.

Have they learned their lesson? Nope. Instead of coming clean and admit what they did for a whole decade was plain wrong, they twist the reality around to actually have the gall to accuse the NDP of "supporting Harper."

quote:
Court Challenges and Status of Women were pretty popular among Liberals across the political spectrum.

Which is why after a decade with majority governments, they never bothered to restore the cuts to these by the previous Mulroney regime.

quote:
Instead of whining about open markets and free enterprise, as losers do, the idea was to try to include as many people as possible. Modern business texts extol the benefits of diversity in making decisions, so it makes sense that the Liberals would support programs which increase that diversity.

The fact is, though, they have never supported such diversity or democratic input--neither federally nor provincially. The past 20 years prove it.


From: goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here | Registered: Aug 2006  |  IP: Logged
Policywonk
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posted 15 March 2007 08:50 PM      Profile for Policywonk     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
But the NDP hasn't voted with the Conservatives on a single major bill.

Which is to say they have never supported the Conservatives on a matter of confidence, unlike the Liberals and BQ.


From: Edmonton | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
unionist
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posted 15 March 2007 08:56 PM      Profile for unionist     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by Policywonk:

Which is to say they have never supported the Conservatives on a matter of confidence, unlike the Liberals and BQ.


Which is to say that the NDP has been unable, to date, to influence the legislative agenda of this minority government.


From: Vote QS! | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
West Coast Lefty
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posted 15 March 2007 09:22 PM      Profile for West Coast Lefty     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But the NDP hasn't voted with the Conservatives on a single major bill.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Which is to say that the NDP has been unable, to date, to influence the legislative agenda of this minority government.


Both statements above are factually incorrect. I believe the NDP voted for the Federal Accountability Act, and I'm certain they got over 20 NDP amendments adopted in committee to the FAA. While it doesn't go far enough in transparency and controlling lobbyists, it's a definite improvement from the past.

Considering this was the signature legislation of Harper's first year in office, I'd say the FAA is definitely a "major bill" and the NDP had considerable influence on it. Banning all corporate contributions to political parties, creating an independent panel to oversee gov't appointments, etc are good measures the NDP should be proud to have shaped.

There are other examples - the decision to tax income trusts was certainly due in part to NDP pressure, Harper has just restored money previously cut to the summer jobs program, the federal funding for homeless programs were renewed, etc.

These aren't massive victories but the NDP has managed to punch above its weight with 29 MPs out of 308. Of course, the major test will come with the special committee on the Clean Air Act - if we can get a serious climate change plan out of that process, it will be an historic victory for Jack Layton and the NDP caucus. We'll find out how well they did in the coming weeks.


From: Victoria, B.C. | Registered: Feb 2003  |  IP: Logged
unionist
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posted 15 March 2007 09:30 PM      Profile for unionist     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post

From: Vote QS! | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
Azih
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posted 16 March 2007 06:14 AM      Profile for Azih     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I'm confused. Don't the 'Neo-Liberals' include such economic progressives as Belinda Stronach, Scott Brison and now Garth Turner? And haven't the 'Neo-Liberals' been in expansionist mode in every election campaign only to turn into.. um 'Retro-Liberals' in government?
From: North York | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
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posted 17 March 2007 07:03 AM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Meanwhile, Conservatives issue campaign alert

excerpt:

OTTAWA–The Conservative party has warned its members that a federal election campaign could start within days, in an internal letter that makes an "urgent" appeal for donations.


Odd. I thought the Cons were flush with money.


From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Parkdale High Park
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posted 17 March 2007 02:59 PM      Profile for Parkdale High Park     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by Boom Boom:
Meanwhile, Conservatives issue campaign alert

excerpt:

OTTAWA–The Conservative party has warned its members that a federal election campaign could start within days, in an internal letter that makes an "urgent" appeal for donations.


Odd. I thought the Cons were flush with money.


I suspect that the Conservatives are flush with money, given that they ran attack ads recently. I think they want to ensure the opposition that they are election-ready to dissuade a vote against the budget (in a stark contrast to say, 1979).

I think Harper has looked at the lastest polls and said "we would win an election, but no majority, so I'm sticking it out." Of course, he would love it if the Liberals killed his government, but he isn't going to pull the plug himself. Going into election-mode the past month has been about making Conservative poll numbers unassailable during the budget vote (and to shore up Charest), so that the opposition backs the Tories. With the Bloc at historic lows, the NDP down, and the Liberals no better than before, Harper is well-placed to survive a budget vote.


From: Toronto | Registered: Jan 2006  |  IP: Logged
BetterRed
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posted 17 March 2007 08:39 PM      Profile for BetterRed     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Harper made a booming speech in missisauga saturday.
CP24 talks of nothing else now.
the analyst they invited in said the election is inevitable now. So there ya go, a campaign speech already.

From: They change the course of history, everyday ppl like you and me | Registered: Jan 2006  |  IP: Logged
Adam T
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posted 17 March 2007 10:15 PM      Profile for Adam T     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
The real story of the opinion polls should be why the Conservative government who
1.have not had a serious scandal
2.have a huge surplus to play with
3.are facing an allegedly weak opposition
4.have been responsive to public opinion, even when it disagrees with their views (re global warming)

are not much higher in the polls. The last poll shows them stuck at 36%. The highest poll has put them at 40%. I think they should be at least at 45%.

I think the only explanation is that the public doesn't want the Conservatives to get a majority for the same reason that those Tory Bloggers want to get a majority: both expect a Harper Government to enact a completely different agenda with a majority government than the one they are implementing right now with a minority government.


From: Richmond B.C | Registered: Nov 2003  |  IP: Logged
Pierre Cyr
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posted 18 March 2007 02:14 AM      Profile for Pierre Cyr     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I cant see the budget fail short of some poison pill in it. And even then the bloc would vote for anything that even moderately fixes the fiscal imbalance.

So if Harper wants his spring election he had reason to be sweating (I swear I never seen him this wet he was dropping buckets!) at his Toronto speech. Because he'll have to break his promise of elections only every 4 years and dissolve parliament himself with no opposition party to blame... On another note 3 cheers to the NB libs who had the balls to raise business taxes from its measly 1.5% to 5%. As a dipper I was impressed on that note.


From: Grand Falls NB | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
N.Beltov
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posted 18 March 2007 04:13 AM      Profile for N.Beltov   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Federal Conservatives aren't the only ones gunning for an election. The Manitoba provincial Conservatives have been running "cheese board" (or whatever you call those large triangular ads in the back of a 4x4) ads with photos of their reactionary leader, H. McFadden. The slogan is "Time for a change" or some such meaningless tripe. The local media has been running a full court press, attacking the provincial NDP on the Crocus Fund matters, desperately trying to get some traction for the more barefaced big business parties.

NDP Premier Gary Doer had a chance, last election, to wipe the Conservatives and Liberals off the electoral map (Alberta style). He failed to do so. It won't happen this time around.

[ 18 March 2007: Message edited by: N.Beltov ]


From: Vancouver Island | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Cueball
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posted 18 March 2007 04:19 AM      Profile for Cueball   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
We need to stay united and not move to the left, but slowly pull the center to the right.
That takes time. Yesterday I was listening to Mr. Dion (from what I could understand) he is trying to get tough on crime.
That is a huge statement on what the CPC is accomplishing. The grit pundits are realizing that tough on crime is no longer a Neo Conservative ideal. Harper and the CPC have moved the center line to include "tougher on crime legislation".
Now how Dion would go ahead with that vs how Harper would do it ar 2 different things. But the CPC got him talking about it because it is now a center issue.
They will do this with taxation, cutting the debt, senate reform and other conservative issues.
The center is moving to the right, at a glacial pace, but it is moving!!


Posted by TealTories on the second page.


From: Out from under the bridge and out for a stroll | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged
Adam T
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posted 18 March 2007 05:30 AM      Profile for Adam T     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
N Beltov, far be it from me to act as an editor on this board, but I think your post would be better placed in its own thread or on the Manitoba/Ontario/Quebec section.

That said, as to the particulars, I find it rather odd of the Manitoba Conservatives to attempt to score points on Crocus given that I believe they were in power as it started going down the tubes. I'm pretty sure they still have a bunch of MLAs who were in cabinet when the problems were getting serious. I think the NDP just came it at the end.

None of this removes any legitimate questions that should be asked of how the NDP handled the situation, of course.


From: Richmond B.C | Registered: Nov 2003  |  IP: Logged
N.Beltov
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posted 18 March 2007 05:53 AM      Profile for N.Beltov   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Adam T: I think your post would be better placed in its own thread or on the Manitoba/ Ontario/ Quebec section.

These provincial elections, an actual one in Quebec and a possible one in Manitoba, seem to me like warm-up events for the big {federal} one. And the result(s) could have a strong bearing on when the writ is dropped. To be perfectly frank, all 3 "major" political parties in Manitoba seem insipid to me and can only be distinguished by their "flavour" ... and are, therefore, barely worth talking about except how their actions might influence Canada-wide politics. Like many others, I will likely vote NDP under protest.

quote:
That said, as to the particulars, I find it rather odd of the Manitoba Conservatives to attempt to score points on Crocus given that I believe they were in power as it started going down the tubes.

They're counting on the poor memory of the voters.


From: Vancouver Island | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Adam T
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posted 18 March 2007 05:56 AM      Profile for Adam T     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
If the rumors are correct, I think the federal election will occur months before the Manitoba election. The opposition can not force an election in Manitoba.
From: Richmond B.C | Registered: Nov 2003  |  IP: Logged
N.Beltov
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posted 18 March 2007 06:19 AM      Profile for N.Beltov   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Adam T: The opposition can not force an election in Manitoba.

The most recent provincial election was on June 3, 2003. That will be 4 years ago this summer. So Doer will HAVE to call an election by June of 2008, at the latest ... and he may have no appetite to wait to the end of his mandate in any case.


From: Vancouver Island | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Stockholm
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posted 18 March 2007 06:38 AM      Profile for Stockholm     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
NDP Premier Gary Doer had a chance, last election, to wipe the Conservatives and Liberals off the electoral map (Alberta style). He failed to do so. It won't happen this time around.


That was NEVER a possibility. Manitoba is NOT Alberta. It is a province that has always had very competitive elections and where the two major parties have core ridings and electoral bases that are indestructible. When Gary Filmon was riding high, he never won more than 33 seats and out of 57 and similarly the NDP at the current 35 seats is the highest it has ever or will ever get. There are a bunch of rural ridings in southern Manitoba that will simply never vote anything but Conservative in a million years. It is almost congenital. There are also some very wealthy ridings in Winnipeg that are core Conservative seats. Similarly, there are a clutch of seats in northern Manitoba and north Winnipeg that are virtually unloseable for the NDP.

Alberta has a long history of being a one party state with no competition outside of a handful of inner city seats. Manitoba is a totally different political culture.


From: Toronto | Registered: Sep 2002  |  IP: Logged
N.Beltov
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posted 18 March 2007 06:55 AM      Profile for N.Beltov   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Doer had unprecedented popularity numbers before a recent election. I think it was 2003 ... [but it may well have been the one before that]. In any case, by the time the election rolled around those numbers dropped. The business press of Manitoba breathed a collective sign of relief at the time. The fact is, as your analysis shows, a tiny change in numbers in provincial elections in Manitoba can result in a gigantic change in the results.

Even Alberta has NDP and Liberal MLAs. I'm not suggesting that the Manitoba Cons and Liberals would get zero seats; just that they could have been decimated, possibly to single digits, and were not. It shouldn't be all that difficult to dig up Doer's astonishing numbers.


From: Vancouver Island | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Stockholm
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posted 18 March 2007 07:23 AM      Profile for Stockholm     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
There were a couple of polls that showed Doer ahead by a bigger margin than he finally won by, but i think that it is often the case that really huge landslides predicted in polls often don't materialize because a lot of people drift back to the party that they normally vote for at the last minute. Once the NDP gets up to about 35 seats out of 57 (what it has now) it hits a wall of supersafe Tory seats in the rural south and in the very wealthy parts of Winnipeg. In the last Manitoba election the NDP literally won just about every remotely winnable seat in the province and even won a few south Winnipeg seats that used to be considered safe Tory seats.

Manitoba is just too competitive to ever experience an Alberta-style blow-out for anyone.


From: Toronto | Registered: Sep 2002  |  IP: Logged
remind
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posted 18 March 2007 07:30 AM      Profile for remind     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
It seems the Harper government is spying on the Official Opposition these days. Also, we the taxpayer appear to be paying for it. As Harper plays the shadowy figure behind blacked out limo windows, only to be caught with his pants, er window down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk--Iv0wz5Y

[ 18 March 2007: Message edited by: remind ]


From: "watching the tide roll away" | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
remind
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posted 18 March 2007 08:11 AM      Profile for remind     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
New info on the taxpayer funded spying on Dion, by the Harper government.

quote:
'Tory spy' outed online in YouTube video
Conservative staffer shadowed Dion at events in Ontario
ELIZABETH THOMPSON, The Gazette
Published: Sunday, March 18, 2007
A Conservative staffer is being paid through the House of Commons budget to shadow Liberal leader Stephane Dion.

Reached yesterday, Murray's sole response when informed about the video was, "Oh, s--t," before referring all questions to Conservative Party communications officials.

A Tory spokesperson made no attempt to deny Murray had been following Dion, or to make any apology for it.

"An opposition researcher does opposition research," Ryan Sparrow said. "It would be irresponsible to simply rely on media reports to track the missteps of Stephane Dion."

Sparrow refused to explain why Murray's activities were being paid out of the House of Commons research budget rather than out of party coffers.

A Conservative insider, who asked that his name not be used, said Murray's filming of Dion's appearances is just part of the Conservatives' secretive "black ops" -



Gazette


From: "watching the tide roll away" | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
E.Kootenayt
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posted 18 March 2007 01:15 PM      Profile for E.Kootenayt     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by laine lowe:
As bad as the Paul Martin neo-liberals were, I still don't think they would have gutted the Status of Women or killed the Court Challenges program -- nor would he have appointed right wing ideologues to the Reproductive and Stem Cell Research, Judiciary Appointment and Immigration/Refugee boards. It may seem like a minor distinction but I feel that it is evidence that Harper's so-con agenda is not forgotten.

From: Canada | Registered: Feb 2006  |  IP: Logged
E.Kootenayt
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posted 18 March 2007 01:30 PM      Profile for E.Kootenayt     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by remind:
New info on the taxpayer funded spying on Dion, by the Harper government.


Gazette



How about Jack demand a public inquiry into this,oh wait it's not the Liberals that's why. Jack has turned a once for the people by the people political party into a harpocrite one.

From: Canada | Registered: Feb 2006  |  IP: Logged
remind
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posted 18 March 2007 02:23 PM      Profile for remind     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by E.Kootenayt:
How about Jack demand a public inquiry into this,oh wait it's not the Liberals that's why. Jack has turned a once for the people by the people political party into a harpocrite one.

How about you keep your gratuitous insults to yourself and we wait to see what happens as this is a just breaking story?


From: "watching the tide roll away" | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
Aristotleded24
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posted 20 March 2007 10:43 AM      Profile for Aristotleded24   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Continuing the drift on the exchange between Betlov and Stockholm about the political situation in Manitoba:

Betlov does have a point. Even if the NDP didn't win more seats at the expense of the Conservatives, 35 seats is a highwater mark that isn't often reached by any political party in Manitoba, and winning that gives you political capital. When you have that kind of capital, you might as well spend it because you're certain to lose seats in the next election anyways. Doer failed to spend that capital, and as a result, automatic certification for joining a labour union is still well over 60%, corporate taxes continue to fall to the detriment of the provincial treasury, the balanced budget law is still on the books, the rural economy is still in trouble, and the economy is still dependent on the service sector in many ways, to name a few.

These opportunities don't come around very often. What's really unfortunate about this is that if the Manitoba Conservatives ever reach this highwater mark again, they won't be shy about shifting the political culture of Manitoba rightward, the way Doer was shy about shifting Manitoba to the left.


From: Winnipeg | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged
N.Beltov
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posted 20 March 2007 01:55 PM      Profile for N.Beltov   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I dunno if the Doer NDP can even be said to have such a "left" killer instinct. The bitter truth is that this provincial NDP is, far more often than not, better at silencing the left than at killing the right. It's what they do.

But if that's the case, then the left, that is, the left that is left of the NDP, deserves to be criticized for not putting enough pressure on Doer's government at the time. The "right" seems to have a lot more checks and balances to allow them to fight mercilessly with each other and still retain their misanthropic point of view and policies somehow.


From: Vancouver Island | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Adam T
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posted 20 March 2007 06:07 PM      Profile for Adam T     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
What's really unfortunate about this is that if the Manitoba Conservatives ever reach this highwater mark again, they won't be shy about shifting the political culture of Manitoba rightward, the way Doer was shy about shifting Manitoba to the left.

Actually, the P.Cs in Manitoba tried to push the political culture to the right when they released a hard right platform for the 1999 election. That's probably what cost them the government.


From: Richmond B.C | Registered: Nov 2003  |  IP: Logged
Aristotleded24
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posted 20 March 2007 06:23 PM      Profile for Aristotleded24   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by Adam T:
Actually, the P.Cs in Manitoba tried to push the political culture to the right when they released a hard right platform for the 1999 election. That's probably what cost them the government.

Not quite. Filmon's reign was just as right-wing as Mike Harris, Ralph Klein, or Gordon Campbell. Filmon himself is a very "likable" individual, so I think that's were people got the idea that his governemnt was moderate. As I recall, in the lead-up to the 1999 election, Filmon started doling out goodies in areas like health care and education, taking an abrupt turn towards the centre in order to win the election. One thing that really burned Filmon was breaking his promise not to privatise MTS. "Why should we believe him (Filmon) this time?" was the tagline in one of the ads the NDP ran.


From: Winnipeg | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged

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