Tuesday, January 03, 2006

What would be the ideal election outcome?


And by that, I mean a realistic outcome -- I don't mean someone piping up with "308 seats for the Green Party! Woo hoo!"

I ask because I'm at the point where I'm thoroughly fed up with Paul Martin and the Liberals. No, it doesn't mean I'd vote Conservative, God help me. But, really, what I'd like to see more than anything is a thorough housecleaning of that cesspool of arrogance that is the Liberal Party.

Having said that, from a progressive point of view, what would be the "perfect" outcome for the upcoming election? One that would keep the dingbats (from both the Left and the Right) in check?

The lines are open.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about this:

115 Liberals
30 NDP
10 Green Party
==============> Form a coalition gov't

Remainder split between CPC and BQ.

Dynamically speaking, the NDP and the Green compliment and counter balance each other on policy items.

I would hope that a structure like that would give an 'even keel' to the Liberals - who seem a tad adrift on some issues.

RP. said...

I know this wouldn't happen, but how does this work?

LIB 100
CPC 100
NDP 50
BBQ 48

..followed by any combination of 10 Greens and Independents to take up the rear.

The American Anthropologist said...

I think we should encourage people to vote NDP as the best realistic possibility is a Liberal minority that is forced to make a deal with the NDP. I thought it worked well when the corporate tax break was put on the back burner.
It forces the liberals to be liberal.
I remember the last election when the pundits talked about the natural coalition between NDP and liberals but I really don't think Martin wants to do that. He will only do it if forced.
Darkhorse prediction: A "grand coalition" between libs and conservatives. Am I Crazy? Just call me Belinda!

Anonymous said...

Ideal election?

Liberals 130, NDP 30 form coalition government.

Martin loses seat to BQ.
Martin loses seat to NDP in special election 2 months later.

Ha ha ha ha ha....

Lindsay Stewart said...

the ideal outcome would be a rhino majority. but that's just me, dreaming of a modern future and free drinks, everywhere, before noon and after midnight. i recall when they proposed to phase in the british system of driving on the left. starting with trucks.

sadly such glories will not come to be. so i'd settle for:

creepy uncle paul's gang - 100
mr. scary and the zealots - 99
the crock and bloc quebecois - 39
smiling jack's godless commies of love - 55
the largely anonymous landscaper's party - 15

same crap, different day. how come there's no bloq candidates in alberta? it would make sense. if you want to offload quebec and they want to leave, why not unite to make all those dreams come true? i think we'll end up with a variation on what we have now. no majority, a destabilized liberal minority. and no really compelling leaders in waiting. the libs and the cons are damaged goods.

we probably need to have a couple more crippled parliaments. enough bad government and partisan pettiness, to shake people out of their humming state of dull bliss. some smart policy wonks should be drafting proportional proposals, to be the first kid on the block to put a plan forward. martin needs to bow out gracefully and piss off. all of his elves need to return to their workshops, making broken things.

harper needs to do more bronco riding and get himself caught judging a wet tweed singlet contest. (t-shirts just aren't conservative) the cons need to become a national party. clear out the separatists, fundies, bigots and chittering cluster monkeys. the rehabilitation of petey mckay must begin, or some new chimp needs to be groomed, but harper is a broken mirror. bad boogum.

jack layton needs to shave. he needs to learn to tap dance. by god, he could make it on broadway. i like his poise and ability to speak out loud. he has a kind of game show host quality. in a fantasy world, imagine the look on bush's scraped up mug, having to meet a new canadian commie prime minister. i still remember the look of horror on david peterson's face when bob rae won in ontario. stranger things have happened. layton would also look right at home in the cowboy outit that harper was photographed in.

gilles duceppe. the only statesman in the bunch. too bad he plays for the team that wants to quit the league. if he were a federalist, i'd probably be supporting him.

as for the greens, if they flew any lower under the radar, they'd be burrowing. i'll probably vote for them anyway.

Mark Richard Francis said...

The ideal election outcome? One in which proportional rep suddenly showed up.

Anonymous said...

I think the answer is clear: a Tory government (minority or majority). A clear majority of Canadians want change (and their number is growing, according to today's newspapers, including in Ontario!).

"The Economist" has also recently warned us about continuing under a single-party dictatorship, as this would be bad for Canada's democracy (just look at Ottawa and Edmonton if you need good examples of how one-party rule not only diminishes, but actually destroys the democratic process).

The Liberals need some good timeout, just as the Tories were sent packing in 1993. Now, the Tories are rejuvenated and have regrouped and are ready for government. This is the same kind of prescription the Liberals are in dire need of right now.

Being out of government would do this country and the Liberal Party itself a lot of good. The Libs have lost their way; they are stuck in their own world of entitlement and corruption. The only way they can "repair" themselves is by spending some time in opposition.

Finally, I would personally welcome the addition of at least one Green Party MP this time around.