Harper calls 3 byelections for Nov. 26

[Locutus]

OTTAWA -- The popularity of the federal Conservative government will be put to the test next month in byelections in three provinces.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper called for votes November 26 to fill vacancies in the Commons for Victoria, Calgary Centre, and Durham - the riding just east of Toronto vacated by embattled former cabinet minister Bev Oda.

"Our candidates will be contrasting the strong economic record of Prime Minister Stephen Harper with the dangerous economic policies of Thomas Mulcair," said Conservative Party spokesman Fred DeLorey in a statement Sunday.

NDP leader Thomas Mulcair says his party is ready to fight in all three ridings, including Calgary where the New Democrats would be lucky to scrape together 15% of the vote.

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Harper calls 3 byelections for Nov. 26 | Canada | News | Toronto Sun

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

They don't even mention the Liberals.

 

[Machjo]

I'd laugh if independent candidates took all three ridings.

 

[WLDB]

They don't even mention the Liberals.

Ive noticed they dont get much attention at all in the news. Aside from Trudeau announcing he was running for the leadership they've been ignored for the most part.

I'd laugh if independent candidates took all three ridings.

As would I, but I'd like it.

Its more or less guaranteed that the Calgary seat will remain Conservative. The other two, who knows.

 

[petros]

Its more or less guaranteed that the Calgary seat will remain Conservative. The other two, who knows.

Which area of Calgary is the riding? Cities can change fast demographically.

Extremely fast....

 

[WLDB]

Which area of Calgary is the riding? Cities can change fast demographically.

Calgary Centre I believe. Its true that demographics can change quickly but Alberta has been consistently blue for a long time. Well aside from the one NDP seat in Edmonton.

 

[petros]

Calgary Centre I believe. Its true that demographics can change quickly but Alberta has been consistently blue for a long time. Well aside from the one NDP seat in Edmonton.

Alberta as a hole, yes but in urban ridings things can change overnight. If my riding were 100% urban as it should be, it wouldn't have a Conservative MP. Recently the urban portion of my riding has seen a wild increase in populations which are Liberals from ON and around the globe. It will be interesting to see what happens next round in Regina/QuAppelle

 

[In Between Man]

Alberta as a hole, yes but in urban ridings things can change overnight. If my riding were 100% urban as it should be, it wouldn't have a Conservative MP. Recently the urban portion of my riding has seen a wild increase in populations which are Liberals from ON and around the globe. It will be interesting to see what happens next round in Regina/QuAppelle

*whole

 

[tay]

The great political minds of Alberta are pondering today where Conservative Party candidate Joan Crockatt will place in Monday’s Calgary Centre by-election.

Will she come second? … Or third?

You think I’m joking? This is no joke – especially for Prime Minister Stephen Harper!

Face it, people, if the Conservatives lose the safest seat of safe seats – in downtown Cowtown, for crying out loud – it is not going to tell a happy story about where Canadians are at when it comes to Mr. Harper’s angry neoconservative caucus, a government so cranky it can’t even stay on the same page as its provincial cousins who run the government in Edmonton!

But the contest now as it’s coming to be seen here in Alberta is that by election day each of the Liberals, Greens and Conservatives will own about 30 per cent of the committed vote in the riding, and the NDP will have the remainder.

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On Monday in Calgary, will the Tories come second

 

[Cannuck]

Face it, people, if the Conservatives lose the safest seat of safe seats – in downtown Cowtown, for crying out loud – it is not going to tell a happy story about where Canadians are at when it comes to Mr. Harper’s angry neoconservative caucus, a government so cranky it can’t even stay on the same page as its provincial cousins who run the government in Edmonton!

You're reading too much into it. It's easy for voters to protest in meaningless by-elections. The CPC candidate has not attended debates or been engaged with the constituents at all. People feel they are being taken for granted. There is very little to lose and lots to gain by a protest vote.

 

[taxslave]

You're reading too much into it. It's easy for voters to protest in meaningless by-elections. The CPC candidate has not attended debates or been engaged with the constituents at all. People feel they are being taken for granted. There is very little to lose and lots to gain by a protest vote.

Thats how we got reform in the first pace. It was a protest vote against the two eastern parties that we viewed as 2 sides of the same coin.

 

[Trex]

Harper did not call the byelections, our parliamentary system required it .
And its all pretty much a wash.
Politically no matter what happens it's no big deal
Probably a:
PC in Ont
PC in Alb
NDP in BC
But maybe, just maybe a greenie replaces a dipper in BC
OOOOHH the suspense of it all

 

[damngrumpy]

Ontario perhaps a Liberal or the NDP Ontario is a problem at times for the Conservatives
but not always. Calgary could and likely will go Conservative but BC will not go Green in
fact they might not even go NDP. This time there are other issues it is likely NDP but not
for sure.
The bigger picture here is not who wins but what was the percentage of the vote that will be
the real story. There are Liberals moving West and into Alberta. If you think about it the
reason the Wild Rose Party was shunned by voters north of Calgary on average is because
people moving into Alberta didn't buy into the party attitudes. Yes they did have some
success north of Calgary but in the big picture it was the undoing of Wild Rose.