NDP PLAYING INTO HARPER’S HANDS
Here’s an important question:
In this precarious Parliament, why does the federal NDP spend most of its time attacking the Liberals instead of Stephen Harper’s Conservative government?
The answer is this:
At the federal level, the NDP cannot replace the government. They can only jockey for position in opposition. They’ve never had the capacity to go further. And that’s especially true today.
In 4th and last place in the House of Commons, the NDP is steadily dropping in all the polls. The best they can do is salvage something in opposition. So that’s their focus.
By contrast, Liberals do not aspire to be perpetually in opposition. We want to earn the right to replace Mr. Harper and form a new government.
This difference in perspective explains why the NDP jump at every “confidence vote” in this minority Parliament to trigger a quick election. Their only goal is re-shuffling the opposition. If they had had their way, Canadians would have gone to the poll five times in the last seven months.
Canadians remember the last time the NDP played these “confidence” games in a minority Parliament. It was November, 2005.
The Liberal minority of that day was fighting for a national child care system, the Kelowna Accord for Aboriginal people, a coherent plan to fight climate change, tax cuts for middle-income families, and new funding for health care, Equalization, housing, innovation, infrastructure and student aid.
The NDP said they supported these things. But in a stunning display of self-interest, they sided with the Conservatives to force a snap election.
And with what result?
The NDP again finished last, but all the valuable initiatives noted above were trashed – because the NDP had paved Stephen Harper’s way to power.
A little “strategic patience” would have been a better idea!
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