Could they be...

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The neo-Liberals were in an expansionist mode before the NDP decided to support Stephen Harper.

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And the Neo-Liberals, who are both the Liberals and Conservatives, have always been in consistent Lie Mode.

The fact is as a long the Liberals had a majority government, they continued to obediently follow Corporate Canada's dictates and gut and destroy Canada's public infrastructure and sell it off to various elite interests, breaking promise and after promise in election after election, repeatedly sanitized by the Liberal-owned corporate media.

It was the one budget in 2005 where they had a minority government that they were forced to compromise with the NDP and re-instate some of what they had previously destroyed in order to get its support.

Interesting thing is the Liberals still likely would have had that support if they hadn't been so plagued with scandal after scandal that got so bad no one with even a shred of personal integrity could continue to support them.

Have they learned their lesson? Nope. Instead of coming clean and admit what they did for a whole decade was plain wrong, they twist the reality around to actually have the gall to accuse the NDP of "supporting Harper."

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Court Challenges and Status of Women were pretty popular among Liberals across the political spectrum.

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Which is why after a decade with majority governments, they never bothered to restore the cuts to these by the previous Mulroney regime.

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Instead of whining about open markets and free enterprise, as losers do, the idea was to try to include as many people as possible. Modern business texts extol the benefits of diversity in making decisions, so it makes sense that the Liberals would support programs which increase that diversity.

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But the NDP hasn't voted with the Conservatives on a single major bill.

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Originally posted by Policywonk:

Which is to say they have never supported the Conservatives on a matter of confidence, unlike the Liberals and BQ.

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But the NDP hasn't voted with the Conservatives on a single major bill.

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Which is to say that the NDP has been unable, to date, to influence the legislative agenda of this minority government.

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Both statements above are factually incorrect. I believe the NDP voted for the Federal Accountability Act, and I'm certain they got over 20 NDP amendments adopted in committee to the FAA. While it doesn't go far enough in transparency and controlling lobbyists, it's a definite improvement from the past.

Considering this was the signature legislation of Harper's first year in office, I'd say the FAA is definitely a "major bill" and the NDP had considerable influence on it. Banning all corporate contributions to political parties, creating an independent panel to oversee gov't appointments, etc are good measures the NDP should be proud to have shaped.

There are other examples - the decision to tax income trusts was certainly due in part to NDP pressure, Harper has just restored money previously cut to the summer jobs program, the federal funding for homeless programs were renewed, etc.

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OTTAWA–The Conservative party has warned its members that a federal election campaign could start within days, in an internal letter that makes an "urgent" appeal for donations.

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Originally posted by Boom Boom:
Meanwhile, Conservatives issue campaign alert

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OTTAWA–The Conservative party has warned its members that a federal election campaign could start within days, in an internal letter that makes an "urgent" appeal for donations.

Odd. I thought the Cons were flush with money.

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I suspect that the Conservatives are flush with money, given that they ran attack ads recently. I think they want to ensure the opposition that they are election-ready to dissuade a vote against the budget (in a stark contrast to say, 1979).

are not much higher in the polls. The last poll shows them stuck at 36%. The highest poll has put them at 40%. I think they should be at least at 45%.

NDP Premier Gary Doer had a chance, last election, to wipe the Conservatives and Liberals off the electoral map (Alberta style). He failed to do so. It won't happen this time around.

[ 18 March 2007: Message edited by: N.Beltov ]

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We need to stay united and not move to the left, but slowly pull the center to the right.
That takes time. Yesterday I was listening to Mr. Dion (from what I could understand) he is trying to get tough on crime.
That is a huge statement on what the CPC is accomplishing. The grit pundits are realizing that tough on crime is no longer a Neo Conservative ideal. Harper and the CPC have moved the center line to include "tougher on crime legislation".
Now how Dion would go ahead with that vs how Harper would do it ar 2 different things. But the CPC got him talking about it because it is now a center issue.
They will do this with taxation, cutting the debt, senate reform and other conservative issues.
The center is moving to the right, at a glacial pace, but it is moving!!

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That said, as to the particulars, I find it rather odd of the Manitoba Conservatives to attempt to score points on Crocus given that I believe they were in power as it started going down the tubes. I'm pretty sure they still have a bunch of MLAs who were in cabinet when the problems were getting serious. I think the NDP just came it at the end.

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Adam T: I think your post would be better placed in its own thread or on the Manitoba/ Ontario/ Quebec section.

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These provincial elections, an actual one in Quebec and a possible one in Manitoba, seem to me like warm-up events for the big {federal} one. And the result(s) could have a strong bearing on when the writ is dropped. To be perfectly frank, all 3 "major" political parties in Manitoba seem insipid to me and can only be distinguished by their "flavour" ... and are, therefore, barely worth talking about except how their actions might influence Canada-wide politics. Like many others, I will likely vote NDP under protest.

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That said, as to the particulars, I find it rather odd of the Manitoba Conservatives to attempt to score points on Crocus given that I believe they were in power as it started going down the tubes.

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Adam T: The opposition can not force an election in Manitoba.

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NDP Premier Gary Doer had a chance, last election, to wipe the Conservatives and Liberals off the electoral map (Alberta style). He failed to do so. It won't happen this time around.

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That was NEVER a possibility. Manitoba is NOT Alberta. It is a province that has always had very competitive elections and where the two major parties have core ridings and electoral bases that are indestructible. When Gary Filmon was riding high, he never won more than 33 seats and out of 57 and similarly the NDP at the current 35 seats is the highest it has ever or will ever get. There are a bunch of rural ridings in southern Manitoba that will simply never vote anything but Conservative in a million years. It is almost congenital. There are also some very wealthy ridings in Winnipeg that are core Conservative seats. Similarly, there are a clutch of seats in northern Manitoba and north Winnipeg that are virtually unloseable for the NDP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk--Iv0wz5Y

[ 18 March 2007: Message edited by: remind ]

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'Tory spy' outed online in YouTube video
Conservative staffer shadowed Dion at events in Ontario
ELIZABETH THOMPSON, The Gazette
Published: Sunday, March 18, 2007
A Conservative staffer is being paid through the House of Commons budget to shadow Liberal leader Stephane Dion.

Reached yesterday, Murray's sole response when informed about the video was, "Oh, s--t," before referring all questions to Conservative Party communications officials.

A Tory spokesperson made no attempt to deny Murray had been following Dion, or to make any apology for it.

"An opposition researcher does opposition research," Ryan Sparrow said. "It would be irresponsible to simply rely on media reports to track the missteps of Stephane Dion."

Sparrow refused to explain why Murray's activities were being paid out of the House of Commons research budget rather than out of party coffers.

A Conservative insider, who asked that his name not be used, said Murray's filming of Dion's appearances is just part of the Conservatives' secretive "black ops" -

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Originally posted by laine lowe:
As bad as the Paul Martin neo-liberals were, I still don't think they would have gutted the Status of Women or killed the Court Challenges program -- nor would he have appointed right wing ideologues to the Reproductive and Stem Cell Research, Judiciary Appointment and Immigration/Refugee boards. It may seem like a minor distinction but I feel that it is evidence that Harper's so-con agenda is not forgotten.

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Originally posted by remind:
New info on the taxpayer funded spying on Dion, by the Harper government.

Gazette

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Originally posted by E.Kootenayt:
How about Jack demand a public inquiry into this,oh wait it's not the Liberals that's why. Jack has turned a once for the people by the people political party into a harpocrite one.

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Betlov does have a point. Even if the NDP didn't win more seats at the expense of the Conservatives, 35 seats is a highwater mark that isn't often reached by any political party in Manitoba, and winning that gives you political capital. When you have that kind of capital, you might as well spend it because you're certain to lose seats in the next election anyways. Doer failed to spend that capital, and as a result, automatic certification for joining a labour union is still well over 60%, corporate taxes continue to fall to the detriment of the provincial treasury, the balanced budget law is still on the books, the rural economy is still in trouble, and the economy is still dependent on the service sector in many ways, to name a few.

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What's really unfortunate about this is that if the Manitoba Conservatives ever reach this highwater mark again, they won't be shy about shifting the political culture of Manitoba rightward, the way Doer was shy about shifting Manitoba to the left.

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Originally posted by Adam T:
Actually, the P.Cs in Manitoba tried to push the political culture to the right when they released a hard right platform for the 1999 election. That's probably what cost them the government.

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