Conservatives surge ahead,Liberals in freefall after devastating Gomery testimony

Toronto Star ^ | 04/11/05 | SUSAN DELACOURT AND ROBERT BENZIE

[McGavin999]

The trick for conservatives is going to be to get all those conservative voters who have given up to get back to the polls.

I think there is a great, silent majority up there who have pretty much given up on politics. But if they don't re-engage, and quickly, they aren't going to have a country left.

The conservatives need some really great marketing.

[-YYZ-]

I'm afraid that even if the Conservative party can win a plurality of seats in the next election and form a government that it will do little good. I don't know when the last time was that a minority government in Canada actually lasted out its term without being brought down by a non-confidence vote. And I can't see the Conservatives getting much support in creating a coalition from any of the other parties - the Liberals because they're the Conservative's natural rivals for power, and the NDP and Bloc because they're essentially far-left socialists - although they might support the Conservatives if they tried to implement some of the reforms long talked about by the Reform Party (Triple-E senate, some form of proportional representation, more free votes, etc). At least the NDP would actually benefit from some form of proportional representation, although the Bloc would probably be hurt by it. It'll be interesting if the Conservatives form a minority government, but I really think it'll share the same fate as Joe Clark's did, being brought down in very short order.

[goldstategop]

Exactly... I don't see the Liberals being dumped unless there's more to Ad-Scam. Depending on how it plays out, I now think a fall election is a more likely scenario. If its not bad, they can wait at least another year.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[goldstategop]

The only real way to stop a Liberal hegemony is to abolish first past the post elections and adopt proportional representation. It'll guarantee Liberal minority governments into perpetuity.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[The Great RJ]

What Canada needs is a leader like Margret Thatcher who will dare to dismantle Canada's crumbling socialist state and restore a true free market economy.

[-YYZ-]

Yeah, but the Liberals themselves will certainly never do anything about it, and I'm not sure that a minority Conservative government would be able to do it. In fact, I'm not really sure how they would go about making such major changes to our electoral system. I really despair sometimes for the chances of ever getting any meaningfull political change in this country.

[goldstategop]

Canada for all its radicalism has a slow tendency to change. The country adopted its first flag only in 1965, adopted its first national anthem only in 1980 and brought home the Constitution from the Mother Country only in 1982. Happy countries shouldn't change unless there's a pressing need for it.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[Ashamed Canadian]

It's going to take a hell of a lot more than us merely going conservative for Americans to feel better about us after the shoddy, downright mean treatment Canada has given America in the 3 years following 9-11, and I frankly can't say I blame them at all.

We need to face facts here. The Liberals have caused so much damage to our relationship that it's going to take years for the Americans to trust us again. At best, perhaps Americans will understand, that like them, we have a very vocal and insulting leftist presence in this country that continually gets to hold the microphone.

[doc30]

they will either be sticking to the Fiberals, but more likely voting NDP or staying home.

Then getting out the vote is what matters. In Canadian politics, the Liberlas and NDP split the left leaning vote. If you can get enough conservatives out, Conservative candidates will get elected.

[GMMAC]

"What Canada needs is a leader like Margret Thatcher ..."

God Bless "the Iron Lady"!
A "true blue" conservative icon who, with Ronald Reagan and The Holy Father now gone, is sadly the last remaining of those who took the lead in vanquishing international communism's "Evil Empire"!

... boy, how I hate the American msm's currently un-checked reversing of traditional political colors!

[swissarmyknife]

... boy, how I hate the American msm's currently un-checked reversing of traditional political colors!

Yes! That drives me nuts!! But according to this page, it wasn't always supposed to be that way:

"...The colors were selected because they appear on the United States flag...Originally, the color assignments alternated every four years. In the hotly-contested election of 2000, it was the Republicans' turn for red and the Democrats' turn for blue; and because the resulting map for that year revealed that support for each party followed a sharply defined geographical pattern, it has since become customary to refer to the Republican-leaning states as red states and the Democratic strongholds as blue states."

[Squawk 8888]

they might support the Conservatives if they tried to implement some of the reforms long talked about by the Reform Party (Triple-E senate, some form of proportional representation, more free votes, etc).

Don't forget that the Bloc was founded by a group of Tory MPs who split when Meech Lake died. The party does lean left now but there are still some centrists there who could do business with the Tories.

[longtermmemmory]

has anyone seen this story on fox?

Is this story covered in the media in canada or is it like the MSM circling the waggons to protect the clintons?

I have a hard time believing the CBC would bite the hand that feeds it.

[Squawk 8888]

The only real way to stop a Liberal hegemony is to abolish first past the post elections and adopt proportional representation.

Proportional representation would be a disaster for freedom. It would concentrate even more power in the backrooms; right now the worst that happens to an MP who votes against the party is that he sits as an independent. Under PR, they can just drop him from the party list and his career is over.

[Textide]

Check out FreeDominion.com sometime. Those folks are Canadian Freepers. Just as conservative as most of FR.

[Heartofsong83]

That's correct. Playing the "moral values" card would probably at least guarantee a Conservative minority government (120 seats), but it would certainly not sell in Quebec, and it would be a tough sell in the big cities, so they would need to use it to get everything they can in rural and small-town English Canada, and the suburban areas as well.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Thanks SO MUCH for posting this in full - BEFORE either MikeEdwards or Quidnunc found the article....

I had just read the article -- posted on www.Nealenews.com (a GREAT source for Canadian News -- formatted like the Drudge Report)....