NDP surges in pre-election Canadian opinion polls.

furryfeaturesSat 30/04/11 18:01

Like the Liberal Democrats here last year, Canada's third party, the NDP, has staged a remarkable advance in the opinion polls and in most stands second to the ruling Conservative Party of Stephen Harper. The election is on Tuesday and one of the latest polls has the Conservatives on 38%, the NDP on 33% and the Liberals on 18%. To throw a spanner in the works, the NDP also seems to be doing particularly well in Quebec against the Bloc Quebecois, which appears to have lost between a quarter and third of its vote since 2008. The Bloc Quebecois holds well over half of the federal parliament seats in Quebec. This could make a straightforward estimate of how the the parties will fare on Tuesday additionally hard.

I think that the Canadians are living in interesting times.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/cv11-poll-tracker/

furryfeaturesSat 30/04/11 18:15

The election is on Monday, not Tuesday. I got my day-date connection muddled. It's on 2nd May.

maguaSat 30/04/11 18:15

The advance of a moderate social democratic doesn't seem that out of the ordinary.

furryfeaturesSat 30/04/11 18:33

quoting > "The advance of a moderate social democratic doesn't seem that out of the ordinary."

I would agree. The NDP is a moderate and reasonable party but Canada has a long tradition of a liberal party and a conservative party as its two main parties.

maguaSat 30/04/11 18:36

whats the difference between the libs and the socs? Im assumeing the economic policy is likely to be a little more protectionist/ less laissez faire???

furryfeaturesSat 30/04/11 19:48

quoting > "whats the difference between the libs and the socs?"

Not really sure but I'd say that Canada's Liberals are really more like late 19th century British Liberals. By today's standards, they are fiscally quite conservative but also quite radical on social issues.

furryfeaturesTue 03/05/11 02:28

It looks as if the Conservatives could win a majority. The NDP have done really well and will be the official opposition. Liberals have done badly and the Bloc Quebecois have been almost eliminated. It is quite an exciting election.

furryfeaturesTue 03/05/11 02:52

CBC projects Conservative majority government.

jumboTue 03/05/11 06:23

uuugh Harper fuck face won.. Looks like America annexed Canada for the next five years. Lying cheating theaving contemptible tory scumbag

furryfeaturesTue 03/05/11 13:25

quoting > "Lying cheating theaving contemptible tory scumbag"

What a load of hysterical twaddle!

Stephen Harper, since becoming Prime Minister in 2006, has steered his party towards the political centre. Of course, that could have been a ruse to lure voters into giving him a majority government but I don't think so. I think that he's clever enough to know that Canada isn't Wyoming and that Canadians won't accept far right red neck politics. Also, the biggest gains for the Conservatives were in Ontario. Ontario was the heartland of the old Progressive Conservatives, so my guess is that the parliamentary party will be more centrist than in the previous parliament.

laresTue 03/05/11 14:53

quoting > "Stephen Harper, since becoming Prime Minister in 2006, has steered his party towards the political centre. "

I think he's generally seen as "nudging" (the phrase I think the BBC used) the country towards the right. Presumably you're suggesting it was too far towards the left previously?

It's interesting that Labour (UK) and other "yes" campaigners are saying that under AV he wouldn't have won - that the "left" vote was split. To be honest, I'm not sure this is a very accurate comparison as I imagine it includes The Liberals who I don't think really count as left-wing by UK standards?

maguaWed 04/05/11 18:05

what a kick in the teeth...