2012-05-18

Murphy: Mulcair Threatens The Confederation

"Why is Mr Mulcair so very early in the game insulting premiers, attacking the West, and setting up, if he continues this tack, the worst possible outcome: frictions within the confederation, between East and West, Quebec and Alberta, provinces and the federal government?


"It is the most divisive debut of any opposition leader I can recall, and potentially very dangerous to Confederation."

Rex Murphy, CBC The National, 17 May 2012


4 comments:

Loraine Lamontagne said...

Mulcair is just following in Harper's footsteps - remember the culture of entitlement of the Maritimers? However, there are a lot of more votes, and possibly NDP votes in the West. Mulcair's comments carry heavier political weight - and not in his favour I believe.

igm said...

And with the seat redistribution, the West will have even greater clout--and rightly so.

Anonymous said...

@Loraine Lamontagne

I dunno, I can't imagine there are many seats for the NDP to lose or gain in Alb. or Sask.

So then the question is... will this cost them in B.C. (where they do have something to lose) and is that more then offset in the industrial/manufactoring centers in the East?

igm said...

The NDP didn't win many seats out West but they made significant vote-share gains, mostly at the expense of the Liberals. Another six percent overall gain in vote share means a possible seat in Fleetwood, PittMeadows, Nanaimo, and Vancouver Island North. They are close to a breakthrough in BC.

Check out the BC results here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/#/295

Evaporating those gains may be the price of consolidating Quebec support for Mulcair. Those 103 seats in hand are worth quite a few seats in the Western bush.