Canadian Politics: Tories getting thumped in Ontario

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Asher
It's a shame Ontario doesn't have brilliant economic politicians like Klein.

Yeah, Ontario needs to elect more drunk journalists. Hey, maybe I should run. I'm qualified.

[Asher]

Ontario should be so lucky.

Ralphie doesn't even have a high school diploma.

[Tingkai]

damn, overqualified again.

[Ben Kenobi]

It's the closest workable alternative

Anti-democratic fascist.

As for killing constituents, does this mean we have a prolife party running Ontario?

[Asher]

Or even better, how about a creationist whackjob who wants to quarantine minorities?

[Ben Kenobi]

Or even better, how about a creationist whackjob who wants to quarantine minorities?

Really?

You mean they actually have one running in Ontario?

[Asher]

I've no idea.

I was thinking of Stockwell.

[Ben Kenobi]

I was thinking of Stockwell.

Next time he runs in Ontario, feel free to dig out that argument.

Seems he works just fine for the folks in the interior of BC.

[notyoueither]

I think PR could work very well in Canada.

Having a single governing party for as long as the Liberals are going to be it is not good for any country.

Ag can worry for the left all he wants. I feel no fear for the right, considering that the 'right' polled 37.7% while the NDP counted a mere 8.5%.

Anyone who thinks that Canada would lurch left under a better system of representation has simply not paid attention to the last 50 years of Canadian politics.

[Ben Kenobi]

Having a single governing party for as long as the Liberals are going to be it is not good for any country.

Then all the folks in Ontario ought not to vote for them. Simple as that.

The reason the Liberals have been in power so long is because the folks in Ontario keep voting for them.

[Tingkai]

The Ontario election shows why proportional representation is a bad idea.

Here are the percentage results:
Libs 46.4%
PC 34.6%
NDP 14.7%

If Ontario had PR, the Liberals would not have enough seats to form a government. The NDP becomes the king maker which means the NDP would be able to dictate policy. But why should the NDP have this huge power when they were so incompetent that they finished way back in third spot.

Screw that.

I'm no fan of the Liberals, I'm an NDPer, but the Liberals have earned the right to govern Ontario.

[St Leo]

Incompetent? Howard Hampton won the televised debates and ran a spectacular campaign. He raised the party's popularity by 50% since the start of the election campaign.

The only reason they did so poorly was that all the strategic voting scumbags voted against the Tories instead of for the NDP.

Oh, and the fact that my best friend voted for the Greens instead. That's why they lost.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by notyoueither
I think PR could work very well in Canada.

Having a single governing party for as long as the Liberals are going to be it is not good for any country.

Ag can worry for the left all he wants. I feel no fear for the right, considering that the 'right' polled 37.7% while the NDP counted a mere 8.5%.

Anyone who thinks that Canada would lurch left under a better system of representation has simply not paid attention to the last 50 years of Canadian politics.

Then I suggest you look at previous polls and show me how many times a majority of voters have voted for a conservative party. The FPP system favours conservative parties - that's not my opinion, but is simply supported by the facts.

Under PR the right would be screwed since the Liberals and NDP would be natural coalition partners.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Tingkai
The Ontario election shows why proportional representation is a bad idea.

Here are the percentage results:
Libs 46.4%
PC 34.6%
NDP 14.7%

If Ontario had PR, the Liberals would not have enough seats to form a government. The NDP becomes the king maker which means the NDP would be able to dictate policy. But why should the NDP have this huge power when they were so incompetent that they finished way back in third spot.

Screw that.

I'm no fan of the Liberals, I'm an NDPer, but the Liberals have earned the right to govern Ontario.

It doesn't work like this. Back home, what happens is that the minority parties extract a few concessions from their coalition partner to placate their voters. They can't be too dictatorial since more moderate representatives on the opposing side will then agree to support the government for lesser concessions and they would lose out. As it stands voters will punish a party that attempts to wag the dog too much since it inevitably ends up causing an election nobody wants.

In practice it works quite well.

[Ben Kenobi]

The FPP system favours conservative parties - that's not my opinion, but is simply supported by the facts.

There have been way more Liberal governments under first past the post than conservatives, at least here in Canada. I fail to see the evidence that first past the post favours one ideology over another.

And you do realise that Alliance support would rise under PP?