Quote:
Originally Posted by wingmaker
We did have that—the Reform Party. Then the parties merged and now the once leader of the Canadian version of the Tea Party is running the country. That is how bonkers the current Conservative Party is—they are run by the extreme right wing. The only thing that has kept the Conservatives from being completely crazy for the past ten years is that they were in minority positions for the first half of their reign, which forced them to be more centrist than they are. But really, other than the economy, most of their policies are reductive and ideologically driven, and have eroded the rights and freedoms of Canadians at home and the national reputation abroad. I truly believe that history will look back very unkindly to the last ten years of Canadian politics. And what's even more bonkers is Harper's economic record isn't even that strong. It's just not terrible. What you're seeing as a vote split on the left is really just confusion from the majority of Canadians over who to vote for, as the paradigm that used to define the country—Liberal vs Conservative—has been completely upturned over the past decade by the death of the Progressive Conservatives and the dismantling of the Liberals. What is left is a voter population with still some of the same notions that pre-date this shift and a confusion of where on the spectrum the parties actually stand. In many ways, the Liberals are looking like the most left wing party in this election, which would not be traditionally what people would gravitate towards. The NDP have some fairly conservative policies but still play under the banner of "the socialist party" in many people's minds. So people don't know who to vote for, and so you see this three way race. What is interesting is that it might actually force people to listen to the actual positions of the parties rather than just vote on outdated party lines.
The nuts thing is that if you don't want a Reform style party in power but still are a conservative voter, the best bet might be to vote NDP, which is absolutely bonkers.
|
Well to be fair though, the current CPC has gone against a lot of the Reform party ideals and objectives. While the Reform party had some policies I disliked, they were for accountability and openness. We surely don't see any of that today with the CPC. The candidates skipping debates, not answering questions and just generally thwarting democracy is something that the Reform party never did. They were the exact opposite in fact; say what you will about their policies or ideas, but they were a genuine democratic party underneath that.
Truthfully, there are a number of ideals that the CPC has completely abandoned from those roots. Their fiscal platform is completely different, and looking at their track record I have a hard time thinking that Preston Manning would be thrilled with what he saw there.
The muzzling of scientists and ideas of controlling or outright hiding data is also something that flies in the face of the Reform movement. I can't help but think that if they still existed they would be battling this conservative incarnation just like they were with Mulroney and his cronies in the late 80's and early 90's.