National Post: NDP making huge gains as Canada tilts leftward

SLM

The Velvet Hammer
Mar 5, 2011
29,151
3
36
London, Ontario
I know, she's so mean!!!

Yeah, I'm a harsh mistress. ;)

Sounds like the crap coming out of shops in Kensington Market.



Are you dissing Larry? Lol.
 

SLM

The Velvet Hammer
Mar 5, 2011
29,151
3
36
London, Ontario
There is no geeetar...how do I play along?

I don't know.

On a completely unrelated topic, I dated a guy in high school who was in a "band" (ie, they got together and messed around on instruments once a week) but they couldn't play anything except for the theme song to Barney Miller.

I'm not sure why I told you that but it just popped into my head and I felt like it. Lol.

You and Karrie both!!! I love it!!!

Hence the reason you were so quick to jump at my 'challenge' Lol.

I like Larry, his mom was over the top though.

The mom is always over the top in sitcoms!

Larry was cool though.
 

Bar Sinister

Executive Branch Member
Jan 17, 2010
8,252
19
38
Edmonton
Go ahead, tank the dollar and watch resources go out the door even quicker when they are cheaper.

P.S. A lower dollar means less income from royalities.

Actually it means more. Alberta receives more in Canadian dollars for its oil the lower the price is in US dollars

We'll see. It is in between election. If I remember correctly polls once had the NDP at over 40% in the 1980s. But that disappeared as soon as an election was called.
 

damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
9,949
21
38
kelowna bc
Actually like it or not more than one poll has shown this same trend. Remember
this is three years from an election, but the country is sliding left even if we take
the NDP out of the equation. Europe, is just the beginning, people are no longer
content with austerity in the west. What that means is uncertain, but the constant
service cuts and tax hikes or service hikes as they are sometimes called, are no
longer acceptable.
We are all in for a very rough ride.
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
116,224
13,914
113
Low Earth Orbit
Actually it means more. Alberta receives more in Canadian dollars for its oil the lower the price is in US dollars

We'll see. It is in between election. If I remember correctly polls once had the NDP at over 40% in the 1980s. But that disappeared as soon as an election was called.
No no no.
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
39,817
471
83
How census figures cement Harper’s grip on power

The 2011 census confirms what the ballot box has already told us: Aspiring Canada votes Conservative.

If the NDP or Liberals are ever to win government, they must break the bond between these aspirational voters and Stephen Harper.

The latest tranche of data released Tuesday morning by Statistics Canada paints a picture of a country that is about to get old. The population of seniors is growing; for the first time, those who are getting ready to leave the labour force (age 55 to 64) exceed those getting ready to enter it (aged 15 to 24).

But the country is not aging uniformly. Younger, working-age Canadians are moving West, to where the jobs are. And within the big cities, the downtowns are aging differently than the suburbs.

The Conservatives are the party of the West and the party of suburbs. That is why Stephen Harper is Prime Minister.

Once again, the census paints a picture of three Canada’s. The proportion of the population over 65 is higher than the national average in Quebec and in Atlantic Canada. Ontario is about average. The West, except for the retirement Mecca of British Columbia, is younger than average.

Generally, an older society is a poorer society, because seniors consume more from government than they contribute through taxes, and because the economy is unable to provide the jobs needed to keep young people from leaving town in search of work.

These consuming provinces east of the Ottawa River predominantly vote NDP or Liberal. The contributing provinces of Western Canada, where a booming resource centre acts as a job magnet, vote Conservative.

But it’s much more than a story of East versus West. Even more, it’s a story of downtowns versus suburbs. As the census observes: “Differences in age structure between central and peripheral areas are particularly striking” in Canada’s largest cities.

In the suburban communities surrounding Toronto, the percentage of families with young children is well above the national average. The percentage of older Canadians is below average. These edge cities – Brampton, Mississauga, Vaughan, Markham, Ajax and Pickering, Oshawa –are largely middle-class. They have large populations of working parents. They pay more in federal taxes than they consume in federal services. Many of them are immigrants who have done well. In the last federal election, almost every riding in this suburban belt went Conservative.

In Toronto itself, the number of both seniors and families with children is both below the national average. The city has a large population of singles and DINKs, (double-income-no-kids). Many of these voters are well-educated professionals who work the financial, educational and cultural industries. And the ridings of downtown Toronto are Liberal or NDP.

Both the demographics and the political results are mirrored in Vancouver, (though the population of retirees is higher there, thanks to the weather).

Local cultures, of course, influence results. In Montreal, the Liberals did well in English enclaves; in Calgary the Conservatives prevailed in every postal code; parts of rural English Canada, though older and poorer than the national average, voted Conservative for cultural reasons.

But where it counts, in the populous communities outside the downtowns of cities in English Canada, suburban middle-class voters who seek a better life both for themselves and for their children vote for the party that they believe will look after the economy, protect their jobs and keep their taxes low.

In the next election, these suburban cities will receive the lion’s share of the 30 new seats being added to the House of Commons. Those seats will go Conservative, too, unless the Liberals or the NDP can think of a way to make aspirational Canadians change their minds.

How census figures cement Harper's grip on power - The Globe and Mail
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
39,817
471
83
The one thing I really don't like about NDP taking a lead in trend polls is all the spoiled brat name-calling and mud-slinging the pout causes

True.

With a conservative government, we get to enjoy legitimate criticism. With an NDP government, we get to hear about rub and tugs and remortgaged homes. ;)

There is no geeetar...how do I play along?

You sing a long by going WUBWUBWUBWUB. :)