CBC projects Conservative government

[Eug]

If they have never set foot in the riding during the entire campaign, then they shouldn't have been running in the first place, regardless of their "qualifications'.

As for hotness... I'd rather vote for Elizabeth May. She seems like she'll be a very spicy speaker in Parliament.

 

[Earth Heals Herself]

Mongo, Joanne Corbeil, the NDP candidate for Westmount-Ville Marie certainly went to bed on the evening of May 2 thinking she was elected MP, the incumbent Marc Garneau even conceded defeat. But when the final polls were counted she ended up in second place. She will not be adorning the halls of Centre Block in the 41st Parliament. As for Mylene Freeman, well I was never a fan of NBC's 80's lamentable sit-com without laughs "Blossom".

Blossom was a 90s sitcom, but good eye, nonetheless.

 

[ungodlycrosscheck]

Mongo, I hope you're right in your optimism. The real test of talent will be in the chamber, their ability to handle pressure under fire , to present reasonable policy alternatives and sound amendments to legislation that are balanced and not so heavily skewed against the middle class and business. Every time the NDP rants about "big banks and big oil" it turns off the mushy middle, because average folks are sophisticated enough to see the dangers accrued from creating conditions that are counterproductive to growth and prosperity.

Finally, and ironically, the NDP with 102 MPs has far less leverage and influence then they had with a caucus of 36 MPs. They are going to have to mature fast and be very tactical in how they reach out to the Government, which now has a double majority in the House and Senate, if the NDP wants to have any impact on anything. Putting forward shrill and seasoned NDP operatives like Pat Martin, Libby Davies and Thomas Mulcair is a recipe for disaster if they intend to use the next four years to audition for power. My advice to them, and I've shared this with my few NDP friends in Ottawa, is to use choose better suited mentors for their rookie class like David Christopherson, Nathan Cullen and Paul Dewar.

 

[Peepers]

A conservative supporter criticizing a candidate for not attending debates and ignoring the media? Pot, meet kettle.

I'm not a conservative supporter as can be seen from my earlier comments:

http://urbantoronto.ca/showthread.p...-should-they-go-from-here&p=517706#post517706

 

[ungodlycrosscheck]

She seems like she'll be a very spicy speaker in Parliament

Which owing to the fact that Ms. May is an MP from a party without official status in Parliament will be very infrequently and very far between.

 

[Peepers]

Eug, that's a damn good comparison, but there has to be a photo of Blossom with glasses for an even better contrast. I can't wait to meet these new Dippers, the daycare will be opening soon.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/editorial-cartoons/4727604.bin?size=620x400

 

[adma]

Further to my last post I just noticed the result in the riding of Don Valley West.

In this riding the NDP ran a sham candidate - who did not campaign - did not attend debates - did not respond to inquiries from the media. She didn't even have an email address, she was completely missing in action during the campaign!

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...om-mystery-surrounds-ndp-candidate-in-toronto

Despite this obvious fraud - Nicole Yovanoff received 6,284 votes or 11.7 per cent of the vote!

The Conservative candidate was able to win the seat from the Liberal incumbent by a mere 639 votes.

I think that it is very conceivable that had the bogus NDP candidate not been on the ballot the Liberal's would have won back this seat.

How many other races were there like this across Canada? Why do so many people think that the big NDP win is somehow a victory for democracy when in fact it made a mockery out of democracy?

Then again, it could be counter-argued that if it weren't for the Liberals' abject failure in absorbing a lot of the vote that might have gone *Tory*, the NDP might have won seats like Oshawa.

Such is the ambiguity of being a "centre party".

 

[grey]

reminder:

"The state should take a more activist role in policing social norms and values, Harper told the assembled conservatives. To achieve this goal, social and economic conservatives must reunite as they have in the U.S., where evangelical Christians and business rule in an unholy alliance. Red Tories must be jettisoned from the party, he said, and alliances forged with ethnic and immigrant communities who currently vote Liberal but espouse traditional family values. This was the successful strategy counselled by the neocons under Ronald Reagan to pull conservative Democrats into the Republican tent.

Movement towards the goal must be "incremental," he said, so the public won't be spooked."

 

[toraerach]

Aren't something like 5 of the newly elected NDP MPs still in college? I'm curious as to how they're going to juggle their studies and duties in Ottawa? How the heck can a 19 year old be elected to parliament? What kind of life experience could they offer? Is this who we want running the country?

My former MP, Mario Silva, seemed to have no problem juggling Parliament life with studying for a PhD.

Speaking of the NDP's new Quebec caucus and pop culture, I'm surprised this hasn't gotten much more attention. Meet Tyrone Benskin, MP for Jeanne-Le Ber:

[video=youtube;qdDdHMwhU2s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdDdHMwhU2s[/video]

 

[grey]

NDP Vegas candidate getting elected was ridiculous.

Also, Bev Oda got reelected? The one who personally fudged an official document? And then lied about it? And then changed her mind about the lie? Can you imagine any workplace anywhere else in the world that would allow a such an inept and dishonest employee to remain employed? "Inexperienced" candidates are somehow overshadowing this?

 

[Peepers]

reminder:

"The state should take a more activist role in policing social norms and values, Harper told the assembled conservatives. To achieve this goal, social and economic conservatives must reunite as they have in the U.S., where evangelical Christians and business rule in an unholy alliance. Red Tories must be jettisoned from the party, he said, and alliances forged with ethnic and immigrant communities who currently vote Liberal but espouse traditional family values. This was the successful strategy counselled by the neocons under Ronald Reagan to pull conservative Democrats into the Republican tent.

Movement towards the goal must be "incremental," he said, so the public won't be spooked."

The Liberals should have featured this quote prominently in their ad campaigns. It captures perfectly - in Harpers own words - why he is so dangerous. He IS a social conservative not a fiscal conservative and now that he has unlimited power there is no telling what intrusions we can expect into our personal lives. What did Harper mean by "policing social norms"? Has anyone ever questioned him on this? Harper followed the above plan perfectly by building alliances with the ethnic and immigrant communities in the 905. Some of these communities are extremely conservative socially (i.e. intolerant) with many opposed to the rights of women and gays.

 

[MisterF]

NDP Vegas candidate getting elected was ridiculous.

Also, Bev Oda got reelected? The one who personally fudged an official document? And then lied about it? And then changed her mind about the lie? Can you imagine any workplace anywhere else in the world that would allow a such an inept and dishonest employee to remain employed? "Inexperienced" candidates are somehow overshadowing this?

Yeah that was pretty pathetic. Just goes to show how little attention people show in their local candidates.

I'm not a conservative supporter as can be seen from my earlier comments:

http://urbantoronto.ca/showthread.p...-should-they-go-from-here&p=517706#post517706

Ah, sorry about that. I guess I don't pay a huge amount of attention to who supports what around here. The point stands though - the NDP are hardly the worst party when it comes to absentee candidates. And that's coming from someone who's never voted for them.

MisterF,
Granted there were Conservatives who did not attend debates... there were also Liberals who didn't but little light was shone on those incidents. But I'm quite confident that all 307 Conservative candidates were out campaigning and knocking on doors. The same cannot be said of the NDP. There is a big BIG difference.

There were 60-plus Conservative candidates who didn't talk to reporters or show up at debates, compared to only a handful of Liberal, NDP and Green candidates. That's a big difference.

 

[Earth Heals Herself]

Some of these communities are extremely conservative socially (i.e. intolerant) with many opposed to the rights of women and gays.

Prove it. Otherwise you're just being as ignorant as you think conservatives are. Have you spoken to all these people, personally and asked them what their stance is on said issues?

 

[jeff316]

That makes no sense whatsoever.

She's getting the attention not only because she doesn't speak the language well (and hasn't even visited the place), but because she was in Vegas during the campaign. Is Wendy Mesley sexist against women for making that observation during the CBC coverage? There are other people in Quebec ridings that have been parachuted it in as well, who got elected for the NDP. However, AFAIK, none of them vacationed in Vegas during the campaign, which is probably why you don't hear as much about them.

Other than the French issue, those are all things that have happened to/been done by other candidates in other ridings where they've been elected and resulted in nary a peep.

I certainly would have never voted for her - particularly because of the French! - but being a parachute candidate not campaigning, not attending debates and screwing off while the campaign is on is the standard for getting elected, well, houston we have a problem - this has happened many many times (e.g. Alberta.)

In the end, the people elected her despite knowing all this. So why such the focus...? Oh yeah, she's a mom of two kids who works as a "pub manager". Oh she happens to the blonde and young. Give me a break.

You know as well as I do they're giving her the gears totally disproportionately because she's a woman and ain't some fancy-dancy lawyer.

Make her a fat balding 55 year old investment advisor or rancher or small-town council reeve and there would be one or two articles and that's it. They may even have a 'look how good he must be to get elected w/o trying' tone. It's pure BS.

 

[kEiThZ]

OH Bull.

I don't care that she's blonde, good-looking, or a pub manager.

What I find offensive is that she didn't campaign at all, and doesn't even speak the language of her constituents.

Yes, all parties run warm body candidates. And yes, many of them don't campaign. But how many of them live 3 hrs away and don't speak the language of the riding's residents? The NDP has taken this practice to the extreme. Is anyone seriously going to suggest that the NDP could not do better in some of those Quebec ridings than those a 19 year old (albeit partisan) kid or a second year student from McGill? They couldn't find a single acceptable candidate locally in those ridings? Wow. Had the Conservatives (or the Liberals) pulled the same crap, people would be fuming about how these parties weren't respecting the democratic process. But when it's the NDP, the criticisms are sexist? Gimme a break.

The only people more embarrassed than these MPs should be the voters who elected them, who've now shown themselves to be utterly ignorant to tolerate such contempt by the NDP. I fear for the state of our democracy when MPs can get elected without even showing up (this is as true for Alberta as it is for Quebec by the way).