In my view, Rick Mercer is a funny guy who is pretty adept at being non-partisan.
...furthermore, while we are talking numbers, 70 percent of the electorate did not support Jack; over 80 percent of the electorate rejected Michael; while an overwhelming 95 percent of the electorate rejected Liz.
If you re-read it enough times, you might pick up a few pointers for the next time, but don't be surprised if the results next time are the same...
A pretty good analysis, Rick. On the other hand, I think the time at the massage parlour may actually come back to haunt Jack; not for going to the massage parlour (who cares?) but for his slippery answer in which he raises questions about his veracity. As for Mr Ignatieff, it was not his time at Harvard that hurt him, it was his abject failure at responding to the substance of the question that was being asked - "Did Mr Ignatieff leave Harvard because he wanted to be Prime Minister or did he really have a plan for Canada?" If Mr Ignatieff had spent more time outling a vision for Canada and less time on trying to identify faux scandals, he might still be Leader of the Opposition today.
Yeah, think Jean Charest, who was elected in Sherbrooke when he was in his 20s, the same riding where the 19 year old was elected. It would not be surprising if at least one or two of these young people were to be in Parliament for another 40 years.
...and before anyone remarks that the NDP is no longer smaller than the Liberal Party, this was a one off effect of a massive swing in Quebec. The NDP's prominence may well become the political norm in Canada, but we won't know for sure until after the next election.
The FPTP system forces major parties to move towards the centre to attract support. A PR system allows parties to adopt more extreme policies.
That may be your view, but in Canada, for example, a coalition of the Conservatives and LIberals, would likely reflect the views of many more Canadians than any government that is dependent upon the views of smaller parties.
If one believes that minority parliaments lead to too much partisanship, they should remember that proportional representation gives a lot more power to minor parties. We would have the tail wagging the dog with no hope of ever catching a break..Just think of the Bloc aving a perpetual veto....
It reminds me of when I was in BC when WAC Bennett was in power. It was not considered proper to support the Socreds, who were too populist for the elites but Bennett kept winning.
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Ruckus