NDP and Liberal Merger Talk

[dogcom]

I was reading in the paper that a majority of Canadians who vote those parties think it might be a good idea to merge them in order to defeat Harper and the Conservatives. For me personally that would leave me no choice but to vote Conservative in the next election. If however the Conservatives really screwed up and that might force me into a different party that might appear because of the Conservative screw-ups.

The NDP has a lot of good ideas but for whatever reason can never come up a way to pay for them except to borrow money or tax the hell out of everyone in hopes that the money will come that way. Also when they are in power they will solve problems by doing nothing like leaving known crazy people on the streets to hurt others because they say they have a right to be there and shouldn't have to get treatment.

So to me if this merger happened it would be a terrible day for Canada and send us the the other half of the way to Greece.

[Spidey]

I think the problem is that the Federal Liberals and NDP have fairly different political agendas. While Mulcair could probably easily mesh with Liberal views, the NDP still has a strong Libby Davis type faction. If a merger did happen, I don't envision the two parties keeping all their combined votes. More right leaning Liberals may head towards the Conservative camp or keep alive the traditional Liberal banner. And if the combined party was too centrist, I could see some NDPers joining the Greens or forming another labour party.

What the Liberals need is a new leader. I think the Conservatives have cornered much of the center and the NDP has the center-left. It may go against tradition, but I think there may actually be room on the center-right for a more business-oriented Liberal party - along the lines of a Gordon Campbell (former BC Liberal leader) or John Manley type Liberalism. Who would lead such a party is the million-dollar question.

[carverman]

I
The NDP has a lot of good ideas but for whatever reason can never come up a way to pay for them except to borrow money or tax the hell out of everyone in hopes that the money will come that way. Also when they are in power they will solve problems by doing nothing like leaving known crazy people on the streets to hurt others because they say they have a right to be there and shouldn't have to get treatment.

I think that you have hit the nail on the head. NDP is a socialist party.

While they have lots of good ideas to spread the wealth around, they have no solutions for a balanced budget either.

I remember the NDP Rae days in Ontario and how they came up with the ideal of "spending their way"
of the 80s recession back then. It didn't work then and left the provincial budget in a shambles, more than in today's dollar costs of programs and "Premier Dad" .the tax man
and it won't work in the future. While Jack Layton had some good ideas, he never
got a chance to implement any of them..and perhaps we should leave it at that.

With the economy weak, the last thing you want to have is a bunch of elected candidates on their popularity, who haven't a clue on how to run a country.

[Daniel A.]

A two party system may work better than the current system all those years of minority government and the cost of elections.

I'd never vote for the Conservatives they in my view have little respect for Canadians, with all the real problems that can be addressed they chose to deal with things that they decided on.
There Law & Order crap in a country where crime has been falling is nothing but a waste of money.
The current bills before Parliament that they want to ram through affects the rights of every Canadian.

[Eder]

I voted for a Law and Order agenda and was happy the majority of Canadians shared my view.

I would be upset if Liberals and the NDP throw their ideology out the door just to buy an election but it wouldn't surprise me...they were ready to rule Canada with the Bloc as their partner so anything is possible.

[andrewf]

I voted for a Law and Order agenda and was happy the majority of Canadians shared my view.

What majority?

[dogcom]

Spidey you are right I don't think a merger is likely to happen and if it did it would have to be the NDP doing all the merging and still be called the Liberal Party that is farther left then it is now.

I said it on another thread that the NDP or the Liberals only plan for law and order is to do nothing and hope the bad guys just go away. The Conservative plan is build more jails and I used to think that was a good idea until I saw how well that has worked in the US and how much it cost.

We need new ideas to reform and make people pay for the crimes they committed and also leave a message to younger people that crime doesn't pay. Of course they need to go farther and address poverty and family issues that the NDP would like to address by just throwing money down a hole instead of finding ways to try to make people productive and contributing to our society.

[carverman]

The Conservative plan is build more jails and I used to think that was a good idea until I saw how well that has worked in the US and how much it cost.

As the population grows, so will the ratio of nut cases and other criminals..so since we don't put them to death anymore, what are we supposed to do with the likes of that young man that likes to dismember and send parts in Canada Post all over the country?

We will need more jails and more superjails for the future..because we don't have the gulag penal colonies like the soviets had to deport all criminals to Siberia to work in the mines/forests or starve to death.

We need new ideas to reform and make people pay for the crimes they committed and also leave a message to younger people that crime doesn't pay.

That is a JOKE? Most criminals except for child killers get a slap on the wrist and maybe a minimum sentence. You can't force them to work community service,because they don't want to in the first place... and there isn't enough supervision in the second place.

You can't force them to join the army, because there are no wars we are currently involved in...and other than low paying jobs..there are no jobs out there to keep them employed and rehabilate them.

Then there is the drugs and the criminal activities to feed the drug habits.

No simple solution here...we are starting to go the same way as the US.

Of course they need to go farther and address poverty and family issues that the NDP would like to address by just throwing money down a hole instead of finding ways to try to make people productive and contributing to our society.

How are you going to make people more productive when there are fewer jobs for them, other than low paying minimum wage jobs? Make higher education free..maybe?

[LondonHomes]

Will never happen.

The NDP may have more popular support at the moment but the Liberal party still has a stronger membership, any "merger" would result in the Liberal membership taking effective control of the new party. A leadership vote would end up with Bob Rae or Trudeau as the leader and Muclair playing the role of Peter MacKay.

[Toronto.gal]

I voted for a Law and Order agenda and was happy the majority of Canadians shared my view.

+1.

Has anyone taken the 'Brain Grade test'? The lumosity ad popped up.

Wonder how the Conservatives would score vs the Liberals and New Democrats.