Quote:
Originally Posted by ikaris
The numbers prove what you're saying is simply not true. The Conservatives won a minority so they got more votes, but to say the Liberals are a Toronto only party is just patently wrong.
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I'm not saying they're a Toronto only party. I'm saying their parliamentary power base (number of MPs) is so strongly influenced by the Toronto data that if you take the Toronto data out of the equation the Liberals do not have strong enough representation across the rest of Canada to stake a credible claim to being a party that can speak for Canadians nationally with much authority or validation. Of course they are a national party to the degree that they run candidates nationally, and even a elect MPs from across the country ... just not enough for me to view them as having a high level of national support.
The Greens run candidates in every constituency in Canada too, and therefore draw voter support from across Canada, so to that degree the Greens are a national party too. But they don't have a claim to being a national party in the sense that they speak for Canadians with any great authority because their voice is weak. The Liberals have a stronger voice than the Greens of course because they garner more votes and elect more MPs, but, outside of Toronto, their level of support is not strong enough to give them a credible voice IMO.
I'm not sure if that explains my view any better or not. Perhaps our perspectives are too different to be able to see the other's POV clearly.