Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Numb3rs

The latest Census figures are out, and for those who enjoy looking at those sorts of things, the Globe does a good job of breaking it down.


Oh, and in a completely unrelated story, Pat Martin is predicting the death of the NDP:

Martin said his party must make significant gains in the federal election many observers predict will come this year or be forced to admit it may never be anything more than a fringe player and end its 46 year existence.

[...]

"We've been suffering from that for years because we don't want to be seen as radical extremists," he added. "So, the result has been to bore people into some kind of stupor, where nobody has any idea what we stand for anymore."


My favourite part of this article is that the Edmonton Journal features it right next to a picture of Jean Charest and some children with the title caption "puppets and politics". In honour of Pat Martin perhaps?

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13 Comments:

  • Martin said his party must make significant gains in the federal election many observers predict will come this year or be forced to admit it may never be anything more than a fringe player and end its 46 year existence.

    I am sure members of the Green Party would trade positions with the NDP in a heartbeat. Are the Greens talking about packing it in? No, they are working hard to raise their prominence.

    Things could be much worse for the NDP - they do not have to fight/beg for a voice in the leadership debates.

    By Blogger Paul_S, at 4:50 p.m.  

  • Me thinks Martin is trying to put some fire in the belly of the NDP who see the Liberals pandering to the left.
    I also think he's warning Harper against engineering an election by raising the spectre of a NDP-LPC coalition government if he fails to bring in the numbers he wants.

    By Blogger molarmauler, at 4:56 p.m.  

  • It is touching the amount of concern being shown by Liberals over the continuity of a truly progressive party. Don't worry, we'll be fine.

    By Blogger Greg, at 5:08 p.m.  

  • Btw, Martin has more to say, here:

    http://www.ndp.ca/page/4997

    By Blogger Greg, at 5:12 p.m.  

  • If the devastation of 1993 didn't make the NDP pack up and go home, I doubt anything will. They're a fixture at this point.

    By Blogger IslandLiberal, at 5:27 p.m.  

  • Don't believe anything from that silly "online" census.

    By Blogger Hy Coup, at 6:36 p.m.  

  • Looking forward is not about "what would you do". It's about "what would happen next".

    Should the NDP choose to fold, where would their membership go? Sure, Dion has outflanked them on several issues, but I still don't see many NDP members becoming Happy Liberals.

    By Blogger Paul, at 7:46 p.m.  

  • If the NDP folded into the Liberals, how many "blue" Liberals would move to the Conservatives? It might not be a big gain in seats.

    By Blogger nuna d. above, at 7:38 p.m.  

  • As a side note I noticed Pat Martin hanging about the Lib Convey, I suppose as an observer. Possible future convert?
    Anyways, its time to unite the moderate, progressive, but fiscally responsible and not too radical, slightly left, but sometimes slightly right side of the political spectrum! Go Pat Go!

    By Blogger liberazzi, at 8:01 p.m.  

  • I think Pat Martin has come to the realization that he is on a sinking ship. Even though there has been all this hang wringing over the polls, the Libs are still competitive in BC, Ont and Quebec. Harpers vote base has stagnated and does not have room to grow, but the Libs do. Furthermore, if progressive voters are faced with another Harper govt, then I think we know where their votes are going to go. I also have a hard time beliving a Red Tory will go over to the dark side. Why keep spliting the vote, simply over a matter of pride and basically continue this cycle of minority govts? I think this is what Pat Martin has come to realize.

    By Blogger liberazzi, at 8:14 p.m.  

  • the social experiment of the 70"s is over the NDP can no longer be seen in any positive capacity ..ed is gone...bob is a liberal ...bc dippers are coming over in groves joining the ONLY true voice of reform the liberal party..30 second sound bite martin has finally said something worth listeneing to .he is going to be looking for help in the pogey line once our liberal heavy weight guy dan herle gets his election machine going..

    By Blogger Browners Blog, at 9:48 p.m.  

  • The reason I (and many others) put their time and effort into the NDP, despite the fact we will apparently never form government, is precisely because the Liberals only pretend to address some of our main concerns with lip-service announcements at election time...and then fail to deliver.

    That is why you will never see this NDPer fold back into the Liberals, ever...even when they come begging to us...

    By Blogger Sean S., at 12:36 p.m.  

  • By Blogger mmjiaxin, at 8:01 p.m.  

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