The pandemic has left its mark on Canada's political parties. Chantal Hebert writes:
Never have so many Canadians had to rely on governments for so much and for so long as they have over the past 12 months.
Given that, it should come as little surprise that the pool of progressive voters and the ranks of those who support government activism seems to have expanded over the course of the COVID-19 episode.
That reality has caused considerable pain for Conservatives -- who are philosophically committed to the principle of less government:
A year into the pandemic, the Conservatives are the only federal party that is consistently falling below its last election score in voting intentions.
Even as a debate has raged over the federal delivery of vaccines, the Conservatives, who — based on their seat count — are best positioned to replace the Liberals in government, have failed to hang on to their 2019 audience, let alone add to it.
Every national poll published since Feb.1 has Conservative support hovering around the 30 per cent mark. That’s down four points from the party’s election finish.
The same fate holds true for Conservative premiers:
Over on the Conservative side, the reviews range from decisively mixed in the case of Ontario’s Doug Ford and Manitoba’s Brian Pallister to outright negative in the case of Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe and Alberta’s Jason Kenney.
Even in the Conservatives’ heartland, the pandemic is doing the Canadian right no favours.
The pandemic has also improved prospects for the NDP:
As support for the Conservatives has shrunk, that for the NDP has expanded. In all but one of the last six national polls, the New Democrats have scored better than in the last election.
That is not to say Jagmeet Singh is necessarily on a roll. Historically some of the NDP’s best polling results have been achieved between elections.
We'll have to see if the Dippers fortunes have improved permanently. And the Green Party is still trying to find its footing under its new leader, Annamie Paul.
So, despite Justin Trudeau's stumbles, the Liberals appear to have weathered the pandemic pretty well.
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14 comments:
Just like their Republican blood brothers, the reformatories began to believe their own lies. They escalate the falsehoods steadily as their echo chamber got louder and more shrill.
Blinkered by hubris, O'Tool and his brains trust ignored the fact that Trudeau was accurate in his promises of vaccine delivery timelines. Liberal popularity fell as the neocon press and tory potentates hysteria rose but is now rising again as the vaccine strategy proves itself.
Although they are no longer the CRAP party, they should have seen this coming.
O'Toole's folks are wedded to a particular view of the world, rumley. What they fail to understand is that the pandemic has changed the world.
Jagmeet has been swinging at lob balls. O'Toole is the unforced error. Justin can't connect. What's to choose from?
:Never have so many Canadians had to rely on governments for so much and for so long as they have over the past 12 months.
Whilst many will never admit to it, it is becoming quite fashionable to be a socialist nowadays!
TB
Politics is always about choosing the least offensive alternative, Mound.
Sometimes, TB, the government -- not the individual -- is the best alternative.
Adding to Mound's post, the Green Party seems to have been hijacked by identity politics and the woke crowd. Climate change is being pushed to the back burner. There's no party focusing on the big threats.
Parties that don't focus on the threats tell voters what they want to hear, Toby -- not what they need to hear.
Recalling Churchill's comment that "Sometimes it is not enough that we do our best. Sometimes (in gave emergencies) we must do what is required," we see the inherent failure of politics today. They are under no need to do what is required or even their best. All they need do is an appropriately less lousy job than their nearest rival. You can form a powerful majority in this country by achieving less than 40 per cent of the vote. 25-30 per cent would vote for you out of brand loyalty. That means you need to pick up 10 to 15 per cent of the remaining 70 per cent to gain absolute power. You can make no end of grand and empty promises to get that remaining vote and then renege on those solemn promises after the votes are tallied.
Governments chasing a 36-39 percent vote share put their partisan interest ahead of the nation's needs.
The need for proportional representation becomes more painful with each passing day, Mound. Unfortunately, our pain threshold remains exceedingly high.
It's always bad news for the NDP when something like this allows feckless leadership to hold on a while longer. The old union guys know it, but they're mostly gone now. The ones that remain are getting worn out.
The former Prince Harry's dogs are really happy.
@ Owen 1:18 pm
O'Toole's folks are wedded to a particular view of the world, rumley. What they fail to understand is that the pandemic has changed the world.
Paging Mr. Kenny, paging Mr. Kenny.
I agree that O'Toole's people have not realized the world has changed but my impression is that Jason Kenny and Doug Ford are even farther behind. The Alberta Gov't's plan to privatize much of health care and the Ont Gov't's plans to slash education staffing strike me as not likely to be the most popular programmes in the coming months.
The old union guys knew how to do politics, John.
Kenney and Ford have been behind the curve, jrk. We'll see if they catch up to where their constituents are.
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