Last edited Sat Aug 21, 2021, 01:08 PM - Edit history (1)

Our problem is we have a 3 party system and the vote among progressives is split between Liberals and New Democrats.

Fortunately we have a rich tradition of strategic voting that can negate that disadvantage - as long as enough of us get out and vote.

but in politics, you have to find support where you can find it. No Prime Minister who tries to dismantle Canada's healthcare system, or interferes with women's rights to reproductive choice or gun control will stay in office very long. Canadians see these things as sacred. Canadian Federal governments are very sensitive to public opinion.

but his roots are further to the right, no center right for this asshole. O'Toole supports defunding the CBC, no carbon tax, go for pipelines, against the right to die with dignity and other issues. These are not center right positions, imo.

Interestingly, he was also a registered lobbyist for Facebook while working for Heenan Blaikie, a now defunct law firm.

when a Prime Minister is sworn in is to get re-elected. Defunding a national icon like the CBC will ensure defeat. The CPC supports a price on carbon but the proceeds go into a low carbon savings account. Pipelines are political dynamite but I don't hear many offers by Canadians to give their jobs to workers in Saskatchewan and Alberta who will be left unemployed if they can't get their resources to market. The CPC's policy on medically assisted dying is to make it a free vote.
Regardless of the rhetoric any political leader presents, governing leave a very narrow range of options, whether the Prime Minister is Liberal, CPC or NDP. Just like US politics, if a Prime Minister or President tries to drift outside that rang, they pay a heavy price. ie. the previous US administration. In the unlikely event Mr. O'Toole defeats Prime Minister Trudeau, you won't see much actual difference except in style.

the Conservatives. Kiss real environmental concerns goodbye as well continued support of social programs, there will certainly be more tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy at the expense of the poor and the middle class.

One needs only to examine Canadian history to see the distinct difference between the priorities of Liberal governments and that of the Conservatives.

The last true Red Tory Prime Minister was Joe Clark, every Conservative leader since then has been to the right of him, some far to the right.

There are some who might want to minimize the drastic differences between the two parties but that won't change the reality.

I guess I should defer to your expertise. I agree with you about Joe Clark. While he never got the chance to show his metal as Prime Minister, his term as Foreign Minister was impressive. Any assessments of Mr. O'Toole as Prime Minister will likely be academic. I suspect Mr. Trudeau will win a minority, but then my prediction in 2016 was for a massive win by Secretary Clinton. After President Biden's win, when the sense of relief wore off, US politics got boring (thank God) and Canadian politics suddenly got interesting.

and US politics, even having improved exponentially with the election of President Biden, still fascinating in it's propensity to stall any advancement due to the archaic use of the filibuster in the Senate.

I am not at all sure Prime Minister Trudeau will win at all as the Indigenous Peoples are very disappointed with the Liberal government given the lack of follow-through of their promises during the 2015 election and the pivotal role the Indigenous Peoples played in that election. The overwhelming number of them will not vote Conservative but some may well stay home as they did in 2019 which resulted in the current Minority government.

I will certainly be voting Liberal although, seeing as I live in Alberta, the wins in this Province by the Conservatives is a forgone conclusion.

Thanks for the respectful discussion on this issue, it is much appreciated.