Saturday, November 14, 2009

Forrest Gump Politics: Canada 2000-2008 Federal Scene

The Politics in Canadian Landscape has changed and many still can't comprehend the results. In 2000 prior to the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party of Canada joining, many believed the natural governing party were destined to govern without interruption. A loss of fourteen percent of looks like this below.
That interruption became known as Stephen Harper and his success in bringing together two political parties to form the CPC. Most people at the time believed the uniting of the two parties would have done little to change the fortune of the Liberal Party of Canada. Today within the Ottawa bubble some believe the "shift" has been minor and can be undone with a new leader.
Many in the Ottawa bubble would like to cite a few reasons why the Liberal Party of Canada has lost power and have been unable to reverse the slide.
Today we are faced with a political party that has dropped from 40% of the percentage of vote to 26.3% in eight years. The trend and direction of the slide in "official" Polls have been steady and only negative.
Since 2000 the Liberals have had Jean Chretien, Paul Martin, Stephane Dion and Michael Ignatieff lead the party. Paul Martin left the party after losing power to CPC led by Stephen Harper.
Stephen Harper has led a minority government since 2006 when the Liberals hit 30.3%. In October 2008 the CPC won another minority government with the Liberals hitting a historic low of 26.3%.
November 2009, the Liberals are now "unofficially" back to their historic lows after some unofficial polls this summer showing a four percent gain from the October 2008 results.  A very small group in Ottawa and the MSM believe the Liberals are a serious threat and present articles in their defence on a regular basis. The official opposition has not been able to stop the gradual erosion of support since 2000. Today the Liberal Party has been weakened from presenting any serious or substantive issues prior to five days before an "official" campaign.
Nik Nanos Latest Poll on Best PM includes all the H1N1, faux scandals, HST torch relay criticisms from the opposition and the friends of the opposition in the Media.  The biggest drop in support is again the Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.
Are Canadians tired of the Spin and lack of substance from the Liberals and their friends in the media to provide an alternative?
Are Canadians paying attention to Ottawa's opposition parties criticism's to make a difference in support at the ballot box? Did Canadians lose interest in their traditional choices in federal politics?
Below are Websites, Reports, Publications that give greater detail.
A recommended Website that gathers information is Mapleleafweb. Another great site is Pundits Guide.
What is the turnout participation rates since 2000-2008 for Federal Politics?
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