Nova Scotia Election
Well it looks like Nova Scotians will be heading to the polls on June 13, 2006. I personally believe Rodney Macdonald of the Progressive Conservatives is the best choice. Now some of you may ask me why I am not endorsing the Liberals. I should remind everyone I was initially a federal Progressive Conservatives and only switched due to the Alliance takeover of the PCs. Since the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservatives have very few Reformers amongst their ranks and Rodney Macdonald is a Red Tory I don't see anything wrong with supporting the Liberals federally and PCs provincially. That being said I would have no problem with the Liberals winning, indeed I would much rather they won over the NDP.
posted by Monkey Loves to Fight at 10:35 PM
4 Comments:
I think the Nova Scotia Conservatives will return to power. I just hope that they form a majority government this time.
The Nova Scotia Liberals have almost no chance of winning government in this election. The PC's won the most seats in the 1999 and 2003 provincial elections, and the NDP has been the Official Opposition since the 1998 election.
The most recent poll put the PC's in the lead with 34% support, 30% for the Liberals, and 27% for the NDP. Go Tories!
I agree the PCs will probably win, although the NDP could win a minority possibly, but you are right the Liberals aren't likely to win and the PCs are the only ones who could get a majority.
I should note despite being a Liberal federally, I would vote PC if I lived in Nova Scotia. Rodney Macdonald is pretty centrist when compared to Harper. In fact the provincial PCs are on average about 10% higher in the polls than the federal Conservatives, largely because Atlantic Canada has a lot of Joe Clark type Red Tories who still support the PCs provincially, but go Liberal federally.
While I am no Joe Clark type Red Tory, I am not a neo-conservative or social conservative either.
Lets also remember they are the PROGRESSIVE Conservatives, not just the CONSERVATIVES so there is a difference between the two.
Actually, the SES Research poll which was released on May 11th showed the federal Conservatives with 37% support in Atlantic Canada -- compared with 35% for the federal Liberals. As you may recall, SES had the most accurate polling during the recent federal election.
The provincial Conservative governments in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador are all supportive of the Conservative Party of Canada.
The Nova Scotia PC Party (much like the PC Parties of Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario) are coalition parties of those who used to be supporters of the PC Party of Canada and the Canadian Alliance -- who now support the Conservative Party of Canada. Harper's inclusion in his cabinet of former provincial Conservative Cabinet Ministers from Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario proves this point. Former Newfoundland and Labrador PC MLA Fabian Manning is also now sitting in the CPC caucus.
In Nova Scotia, PC MLA Brooke Taylor was a long-time supporter of the Reform Party and Canadian Alliance before the creation of the Conservative Party of Canada.
The name "Progressive Conservative" only came around when the Conservatives parties were renamed Progressive Conservative after former Manitoba Progressive Premier became the federal PC Leader in 1942.
One of the reddest Tory Prime Ministers in history, John Diefenbaker, preferred to be called a Conservative rather than a Progressive Conservative.
The SES Poll for Atlantic Canada showed a margin of error of +/- 10% so except for Ontario, the West, and Quebec, they should be treated with caution. If you look at the SES graph during the election for Atlantic Canada, the numbers were all over the place. SES was the most accurate nationally since the sample was large enough.
The provincial Conservative governments in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador are all supportive of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Thats definitely the case in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Less so in Newfoundland & Labrador and Nova Scotia were both premiers voted Conservative, but neither actively campaigned for them.
The Nova Scotia PC Party (much like the PC Parties of Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario) are coalition parties of those who used to be supporters of the PC Party of Canada and the Canadian Alliance -- who now support the Conservative Party of Canada. Harper's inclusion in his cabinet of former provincial Conservative Cabinet Ministers from Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario proves this point. Former Newfoundland and Labrador PC MLA Fabian Manning is also now sitting in the CPC caucus.
I don't have a problem with coalitions. The BC Liberals even have a few former Alliance members. What I have problem with is when they control the party as they do federally. In Nova Scotia, the caucus is overwhelmingly dominated by former Progressive Conservatives, with a couple of Alliance members.
The name "Progressive Conservative" only came around when the Conservatives parties were renamed Progressive Conservative after former Manitoba Progressive Premier became the federal PC Leader in 1942.
One of the reddest Tory Prime Ministers in history, John Diefenbaker, preferred to be called a Conservative rather than a Progressive Conservative.
I really don't care about the name. That isn't an issue for me, it is the party's values. The current Conservative Party are a bunch of rehashed Reform/Alliancers using the Conservative name to make themselves more electable. If they ran as who they were, they wouldn't be in office. Now the party does have some former Progressive Conservatives, but none of them have any influence on the PM. His inner-circle are all former Reform/Alliance members.
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