Layton and the NDP's Surge people, party

Lik

With the federal election only a few days away, all signs are pointing to yet another minority Conservative government, with Jack Layton and the NDP as the official opposition party. Obviously, Ignatieff is the biggest loser here, and I would personally expect nothing less than an immediate resignation as the Liberal leader after the election is done.

I am not really surprised by Ignatieff's demise, but what really surprises me though is Layton and the NDP's surge in the polls. Are people really supportive of him and the NDP, as polls suggest that Canadians think Layton would make for the best PM? Or are they simply fed up with the Liberals, but can't find themselves voting for the Conservatives? (This is also supported by the huge drop in support for the Liberals over the past few weeks.)

Personally, the way I see this is -- if Layton and the NDP were to ever become Canada's next PM (probably won't happen in this election, but it might in the next), The NDP philosophies would mean that they'd be spending money everywhere, and I am not convinced that the economy and businesses could stay strong under an NDP leadership. Canada would be very dai wok as the economy would tank and our national debt mounts. But at this point, an NDP PM in the next election is no longer a pipe dream.

What do you guys think? (I'd even be interested to hear what our 3 musketeers have to say on this matter, although I already have a good idea of what Peter boy would probably say. )

-Lik

Lik

One party rule? Do you even have eyes? Poll numbers indicate that support for the 3 major parties are somewhere along:

35% for Conservatives
30% for NDP
21-ish% for Liberals

Real politicians in democratic societies are like hounds -- they have sharp noses that smell what the voters want. In democratic societies such as Canada, there are more than several built-in systems to keep everything in check and balance. Pseudo-one party rule (a la a majority government) will only occur if that is what Canadians want. And even then, voters have to power to overthrow the government should it step out of line.

而且，你估學大陸咁一言堂就即係好？事情要有討論先至陳述到利弊，唔係阿爺一句話點就點。

話你無質素就果然係無質素啦～成世人都俾我睇死～

-Lik

Lik

聰明的virus是唔會殺死個host.
satil 發表於 2011-4-29 13:33

好一句「聰明的virus是唔會殺死個host」。

以前經濟起飛嘅美國，工會的確有對整個社會非常有貢獻同有意義。佢確保工人階級都可以得到合理嘅待遇，而唔係淨係俾資本家剝削。講真，其實今日嘅香港亦好需要有返啲有勢力嘅工會來幫打工仔爭取返啲權益。

但今日嘅美加社會，大嘅、太有勢力嘅工會的確係成日都貪得無厭同阻住個地球轉。最好嘅 example 就係美國汽車工業嘅 UAW。淨係識得吸血，最後咪搞到Big3差啲全部嵌包散？響加拿大，CUPE，Teamster呢兩家都係比較接近貪得無厭果一類。而 locally 來講，BCGEU 其實唔算太惡，而 BCTF 雖然賤（因為成日搵啲學生來做禍參），但其實都唔能夠怪佢地貪心，因為（省）政府其實真係 cut budget cut得好緊要，而教育真係一樣唔慳得嘅野來。

不過呢幾句其實全部 OT 晒。都係講返聯邦大選把啦～

-力

Lik

minority government = another vote 1 or 2 years from now.
It looks like it's going to be minority government this time anyways.
Harper didn't even have a chance to do work while as a minority government, I would suggest to give him majority government for a term to see any evil side of him first.   If he is bad, we can then vote him out.

minority government is not working for Canada, as we have seen from the recent history.
Layton keeps on promising give money out here and there, and people actually trust him, which I found it funny.   Where does he get the money from in a slow economy like now?  Increase tax now will only reduce revenue.  Borrow more money?
Prelude 發表於 2011-4-29 13:46

Even with another minority government, I think we're going to see this one last a bit longer (perhaps something closer to 3 years, if not over 3 years?). The federal government parties are fully aware of how fed up Canadians are with frequent elections. Harper, in particular, has been milking this point for all it is worth to seek a majority government. My personal take on the why we are having this election in the first place is because of yet another power struggle and pressure from within the Liberal party. Since the Liberal government collapsed in 2006, Liberal leadership has been one big mess. Dion stepped up at first, only to be overthrown by the power-hungry Ignatieff and Rae. As it turned out, Ignatieff is completely clueless and useless as a leader, so the Liberal party big wigs are probably serving him some sort of ultimatum to give this PM thing one last shot, or bow out in disgrace. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Ignatieff has no choice but to stir up another federal election even though he knows full well that he has no chance of winning Prime Ministership at all.
While I am not in strong favour of a Conservative majority, I don't see any significant harm in it either. If Harper is reckless with his majority government, Canadians can always clean house in the next election and the Conservatives will be doomed for at least 2 elections. That is how the democracy game works.

Are minority governments really such a bad thing though? Yes, it is not as effective / efficient as a majority government, but the policies that result from one is more balanced and moderate, and therefore will cater to a larger audience.

Lastly, I totally agree on your point with the NDP promising freebies and handouts everywhere. Every time I hear their candidates preach this crap, I wanna ask them -- how do you think we are going to pay for this? Where is the money coming from?

-Lik

p.s. If you pay attention, you'll see that throughout the post, I have never diu-ed you. It just goes to show that even if we were to disagree, as long as you are not spewing out crap, I will treat you as a reasonable person.