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Posted by Scott Tribe on August 30, 2011, at 7:23 am |
I see that we have some stories in the media about “merger talk growing” between the Liberals and NDP again after the funeral of Mr. Layton. We even had a couple of Liberal MP’s come out (Justin Trudeau notably) saying that while he wasn’t convinced it was the way to go, he was willing to listen or be convinced otherwise. There was then others such as Mr Rae flatly rejecting it.
Some say this is just media driven, and perhaps it is. Personally though, when you’re a party that has been losing votes over the last three elections, and losing seats, including your worst showing ever in the [...]
Posted by Scott Tribe on August 3, 2011, at 2:09 pm |
I’ve been on vacation this week and viewing the controversy over Nycole Turmel, the NDP interim leader who has a recent BQ past and still supports Action Solidaire today – with some interest, as you might guess. I’ve not been on to comment on it because of being on said vacation. I have some time now though, and here’s my thoughts.
Briefly, I’m not sure this is going to hurt the NDP nationally as much as the media think (particularly the Globe and Mail; they seem to be the ones publicizing the most editorials/op-eds about it):
A) It’s summer – people aren’t paying attention to politics. The impact of [...]
Posted by Scott Tribe on September 9, 2010, at 12:05 pm |
Just a little follow up on yesterday’s Nanos poll: While the Conservatives obviously are getting nailed in the polls over the cumulative affects of their various actions, the poll sends a warning to the NDP that they too are suffering the affects of a bad decision – namely, Jack Layton’s decision not to whip his caucus over the gun registry vote and ensure it survives:
..But the NDP is also having a difficult time. The poll suggests that because of divisions within their caucus over the long-gun registry issue, support has fallen from 21 per cent to 16 per cent…New Democrats will be able to vote independently on the [...]
Posted by Scott Tribe on August 31, 2010, at 8:00 am |
You might have seen Jack Layton’s press conference yesterday, where he hemmed and hawed on what his party was going to do on the upcoming gun registry vote – or more accurately, how they would vote on the Liberal motion to kill Bill C-391, and if that failed to pass, the actual vote to pass C-391, which kills the long-gun registry (or at least, would then pass it in the House and have it move to the Senate, but chances are it would pass there). It was probably the worst press conference I’ve ever seen Jack hold. The media didn’t buy what Jack was trying to sell them for [...]
Posted by Scott Tribe on August 24, 2010, at 12:52 pm |
Just a note to Jack Layton and company in the NDP’s leadership circle over the upcoming vote(s?) on the “private members bill” to try and kill the long-gun registry (actually, the first vote will be a Liberal amendment motion to kill Bill C-391 off entirely):
- A regular private members bill does not get unprecedented advertising from the sitting government in key ridings of opposition members urging their constituents to tell them to vote to support the “private members bill”, as has happened here.
- Yes, a private member’s bill normally doesn’t get whipped by the party leadership, but as related over here in Impolitical’s update and according to London Liberal MP Glen Pearson, he’s been told privately by some Conservative MP’s that they’re being whipped to vote for this “private member’s bill” privately behind the scenes, which would be a good reason why you didn’t see any urban riding MP’s from the Conservatives – areas that are more likely to support the long-gun registry then against – break ranks last time to vote for this, and likely won’t again, if there’s a secret whip being done on them.
In short, this is what I’ll term a PMBINO – A Private Members Bill In Name Only – and Jack and the NDP are letting themselves get suckered into allowing a key piece of Harper’s agenda to pass via the Private Members Bill back-door – a move Harper and CO. did, because they calculated they could get this through, knowing the conventional government bill would fail on whipped party-line votes. The Liberal Party fell for this trick once, and smartened up, enforcing the Party whip this time.. but only after making key proposals/compromises to their cause to modify the current long-gun registry so that fines are not enforced on those who register, etc.
Rather then whining in the papers that the voters who support keeping the long-gun registry should not be blaming the NDP if the registry gets killed, Jack should stop being naive and realize the Harper government is playing the NDP for suckers. The NDP has always claimed it is the party that stands up the most against the Harper agenda in the House of Commons; well, here’s it’s chance to really walk the walk – a chance to make a difference, rather then a symbolic vote or putting forth a symbolic motion/amendment against.
As for electoral considerations, and if those are also what’s in play here over principles, the NDP should remember that for every rural riding the NDP fears it may lose because of that member voting to keep the gun registry, it’s going to be pummelled in its urban ridings and in its lone Quebec riding as failing to keep the registry. Rest assured that the Liberals will be reinforcing that message in every NDP held riding in Urban Canada and in Outremont, if the NDP fail to stop Bill C-391 from passing.
Do the right thing, Jack; put forth some compromises like the Liberals did to their members, and then whip your vote, to kill this farce of a Private Members Bill. Don’t allow a part of the Harperite agenda to be put in by back-door stealth.
UPDATE: A normally sympathetic blogger to the NDP who’s ticked with Jack’s hide in the sand manoeuvrer on this bill lists the NDP’s key members who need to be lobbied by the public. I’m not sure if that will work or not, since there are at least 2 or 3 NDP members who truly believe the registry should die, while others might be too scared to vote against the gun bill (without having a whip used), because of what more nasty things the Harper Conservatives might say in their ridings, but it can’t hurt to try.
IMO, writing a note or calling Jack Layton’s office to argue this is a sham private members bill (for the reasons listed above) and to urge him to whip the vote is the better tactic. Heck, maybe twittering him would work as well.
UPDATE 2 @ 3:53 pm: On a related note, Jeff takes a look at that Angus-Reid poll today, and finds the findings aren’t as discouraging for pro-gun registry advocates and pro-gun control advocates as some Conservatives would have you believe… in fact, those findings are purposely left out.. and for good reason:
Continue reading To Jack Layton & NDP on the gun registry vote; don’t get played by Harper on this.
Posted by Scott Tribe on January 7, 2010, at 8:36 am |
Kady O’Malley of CBC details the EKOS poll that has just come out this AM, which shows a Conservative drop and the Liberals now only trailing the Conseratives by 5 percentage points:
Conservatives: 33.1 (-2.8) Liberals: 27.8 (+1.1) NDP: 16.0 (-1.0) Green: 13.4 (+2.2) Bloc Quebecois: 9.8 (+0.6) Undecided: 14.7
Regionally, the Liberals have managed to take back the lead in Ontario – the first time in a long time in an Ekos poll – and the Cons have really slipped back in Quebec (specific numbers available at the aforementioned and linked to Kady article).
Speaking of Kady, her analysis of the poll:
…let’s take a moment to ponder [...]
Posted by Scott Tribe on December 14, 2009, at 1:48 pm |
..and why I mentioned in the prior blogpost of mine that the pressure needs to be kept on them on the Afghan detainees story. The first poll taken after the Afghan detainee flap and the revelations by Colvin and then the sudden reversal by General Natynczyk that yes, there was evidence that Afghan detainees had been tortured shows public opinion starting to turn against the Cons:
Conservative Lead Narrows as Liberals Bounce Back
The governing Conservative Party is still leading in Canada, but the Liberal Party has gained support, according to the Canadian Political Pulse, conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion in partnership with the Toronto Star…Across the country, [...]
Posted by Scott Tribe on September 17, 2009, at 3:09 pm |
I was given a hint from an LPC member last night that this maneuver might occur, but that person wasn’t really sure the Liberals would go through with it. The party apparently decided to do so, however, and I think it’s a very clever strategy on forcing the NDP to make some choices:
The Liberals have offered to speed passage of Tory EI legislation, hoping to rob the NDP of its rationale for propping up the Harper government. The Liberals proposed Thursday that the bill – worth up to $1 billion in extended employment insurance benefits for about 190,000 long-term workers – be whisked through all stages of the legislative [...]
Posted by Scott Tribe on September 8, 2009, at 7:30 pm |
At least, that’s what it appears to me to look like, as these statements and actions from Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe today seems to indicate he and his party doesn’t intend to support the Conservatives on any non-confidence vote (at least, not beyond any theoretical Ways and Means Motion trickery the Conservatives might try to table in order to blame the Liberals for killing the Home Renovation Tax Credit, as Mr. Duceppe has said his party would vote for that). I don’t see a lot of wiggle room here from Monsieur Deceppe’s statement today to back off a “no-confidence in the government vote” by the Bloc:
A federal election [...]
Posted by Scott Tribe on September 1, 2009, at 10:55 am |
A lot of sound and fury from some NDP’ers about the Liberals holding a fundraiser in Sudbury; the main beef being because it was a high priced event (550$ to attend) and somehow, that’s inappropriate because of a strike that has nothing to do with the Liberals in the first place.
A couple observations: I’m sure the NDP wouldn’t have uttered a peep about this fundraiser nor express their moral outrage if Sudbury happened to be a Conservative-held riding, rather then an NDP one. Apparently, they feel threatened in this riding. I’m also sure that if the NDP could find people willing to pay 550$ a pop to listen [...]
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