Math didn't add up for the Tories

[CHIMO]

The election is over and the great experiment of "uniting the right" has been put to the people.

Since 1997, the mantra has been that if only the Reform/Alliance and Progressive Conservatives would "get together" then "vote splitting on the right" would end. On the altar of this logic, the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was sacrificed. It was regrettable to bring to an end Canada's oldest political party, but necessary. One party rule would end, democracy would be restored.

Those who raised their voices in defence of the only party that has ever defeated the Liberals, were treated to a chorus of boos. Could we not do the math? Once the Alliance and PCs were merged, the new party would receive the total of the two parties' votes. In fact, we were assured, one plus one would equal more than two. The new party would exceed the combined total of the two parties. When Joe Clark stood against the Reform drive in the late 1990s to take over the PC party, he was admonished by Preston Manning to "think big."

In the aftermath, rather than questioning the wisdom of the voters, perhaps one could ponder the possibility that Canadians watch their politicians, understand what they say and expect them to keep their word. It could also be that Canadians believe that the means matter as well as the end.

http://www.davidorchard.com/online/2do-index.html

A few days old but will be interesting to see what happens to the right now.

[Spazito]

1. Thanks for the link, Chimo...

it will be interesting, indeed, to watch what happens to the right. My bet is they will splinter yet again because an extremist under any other name,be it Alliance, Reform or New Conservative, is still an extremist. The true tories did not vote for the faux Conservatives and will form their own party, I suspect.

[Interrobang]

2. I'm watching the Canadian Right with some interest...

A friend of mine who has a publishing company hired me to do some research on separatist and domestic terrorist movements in Canada (two mostly separate things), and since I already know that the Western Separatist movement is deeply entrenched in the C.R.A.P. backbone, I want to find out whether my hypothesis is actually true. My surmise about this is that if one digs back far enough, one will find Scaife (or similar US rw financiers) money funding these people. I'm *sure* they think it's in their best interests to try to break up Canada.

Ok, that's my (plausible) :tinfoilhat: moment for now...

[freeforall]

3. Hi Interrobang

Pretty good for a tinfoilhat moment. I'm in Alberta, and last year we had a discussion board for all Telus customers. You wouldn't have believed all the separatist topics! Annoyed the hell out of me, as I'm from Quebec and moved out because of the bloody separatists. Would not be surprised to hear that the US right-wing is trying to fund the conservatives.


BTW - I see from your sig line that you're also a tech writer/editor. There are usually some tech writing jobs in Toronto. Check out Workopolis.com. Not much in NYC though. I was working down there in 2000 (during their infamous election) and I keep in touch with some of my former colleagues. I'm still looking in Alberta, but nothing here, so I may try another type of non-fiction writing. A friend told me that there are some tech writing jobs in California - see Dice.com (though I haven't checked it out). Good luck!

[CHIMO]

4. My Feelings

Also. But how does one dig out the facts?
The rhetoric just seems to indicate that something is going on. I took some hope from the extra funds to be placed into additional undercover work before Parliament was dissolved.
I think that this is an area that has not come up on the radar, except for some like Maude B. and Paul H. How do we organize or get a consensus on this and thus a recognition of what may be happening?

[Holly]

5. Tinfoil Hat or What's Happening?

I really don't think that this is a tinfoil hat theory at all. Since Martin took office (and over the last 10 years) I've had this uneasy feeling that a forced shift to the right was being, (not so subtly) thrust on us.
Let's look at sponsorship and the media's almost savage attack on the Government. Yes, Sponsorship is serious, but not to the extent that it has been portrayed, day in day out. (This is not my my half-hearted attempt to minimize whatever corruption exists BTW). There was an attempt to put the government under siege, and weaken it before the election was called. Once the election was called, the media did everything in its power, from overwhelming negative coverage of the Liberals, to what seems to be "fake' or "suspicious polls". I thought that this was a media driven attempt to create a horse-race, get people interested in following the election, and to sell more newspapers. But maybe it was more than that!
The Media in English Canada, and a segment of Quebec intellectuals seemed to be attempting to portray Harper as a Quebec factor. Early in the election Chantel Hubert,and Norman Spector were leading the charge. Why? I don't know, but there is no doubt that a Harper win would have furthered the Separatist cause. A Federal Government with no representation in Quebec, in direct opposition to the heart and souls of Quebeckers, and a PM willing to decentralize power to the Provinces, may have set the stage for another Referendum IMO.
Who's been driving this, well I'm not sure, nor do I fully understand it, but somewhere Conrad Black and Brian Mulroney are hiding in the shadows. "Who' is advising the Harper gang, and funding them? Are they tied to the NCC?
Somehow, Canadians defied the pundits and took back our country on election night. The best thing that could happen for Canada is another split on the Right, and a strong NDP before the next election. A strong NDP forces the Liberals left. I am hoping that the nutbars on the Right will take care of the problem for us, can't imagine the SoCons will allow the others drive for long. They
(the SoCons) have their agenda and they won't stay silent at the Con policy convention. Jeepers, they couldn't manage to keep their traps shut for a few weeks during an election!
If this is true, where do we go from here, and expose it?
Or maybe I should put this hat on.:tinfoilhat:
I an across the article by Lawrence Martin yesterday that I think is interesting.

"For a decade, the country has been pressed to turn rightward. There was the push from Reform, the Canadian Alliance, and the new Conservatives. There was the takeover of most of the nation's big-city newspapers by the arch-conservative Conrad Black and his successors. There was the pressure from Washington to join hands over Iraq and the doctrine of pre-emption. Finally, there was the worry that the shift might come from within, from the Liberals themselves.

But, as is now obvious, the centre-left has held. The new team is cut from the Chrétien-Trudeau Liberal heartland.

Paul Martin may have been tempted to move the other way. But since taking office, he has gained -- to borrow from the book title -- a sense of where Canadians are."
By LAWRENCE MARTIN
Thursday, July 22, 2004 - Page A15

[yvr girl]

6. Western Alienation is very grassroots

I've heard grumblings about Ottawa my entire life. The fact of the matter, is that there is a big population imbalance in this country, therefore, our voices rarely matter on election night. When people don't feel like they are heard and respected they're going to react to that.

I think that most votes in BC are really cast against the government, rather than for the opposition. Look at our last provincial election. The NDP had a couple of majority governments. They pissed people off, and everyone voted for the BC Liberals (oddly enough home of the conservatives in BC) The Liberals took (I think) 73 of 75 seats. I expect the Liberals to get spanked in our next election. I don't think people would be as angry if we actually had an opposition party here.

I think that a strong, nationally viable opposition is vital in Canada. Without it, you get a government that sits on its laurels and a segment of the population that feels totally disenfranchised.