Scott's DiaTribes » NDP

All options should be discussed at least – not thrown away arbritarily.

Scott Tribe — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:23:41 +0000

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 [...]

A non-NDP contrarian POV on how much Turmel’s political affiliations will hurt the NDP

Scott Tribe — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:09:23 +0000

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 [...]

Nanos poll warns NDP: you will pay in urban Canada if gun registry falls.

Scott Tribe — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:05:41 +0000

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 [...]

A proposed Liberal counterproposal to Jack Layton/NDP on gun registry

Scott Tribe — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:00:34 +0000

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 [...]

To Jack Layton & NDP on the gun registry vote; don’t get played by Harper on this.

Scott Tribe — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:52:07 +0000

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 [...]

EKOS poll: The first hints of discontent with Harper’s prorogue?

Scott Tribe — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:36:19 +0000

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 [...]

And here’s a possible indication why the Conservatives want the detainee story to go away…

Scott Tribe — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:48:14 +0000

..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, [...]

Liberals call NDP’s bluff

Scott Tribe — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:09:31 +0000

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 [...]

The fate of Harper’s government appears to rest on Jack Layton and the NDP’s shoulders

Scott Tribe — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 23:30:36 +0000

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 [...]

The proverbial NDP tempest in a teapot.

Scott Tribe — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:55:56 +0000

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 [...]