Congratulations to Martha Hall-Findlay, Joyce Murray and Bob Rae on their personal victories yesterday. Enjoy Ottawa but don’t move your summer clothes just yet.
Unfortunately, the election-night coverage I caught on CTV and CBC was devoid of analysis. Otherwise someone might have commented on the perilous grip the NDP seems to have held on third place. In Willowdale, the Green Party out-polled the NDP. In Toronto-Centre, home to one of Canada’s most left-leaning populace, the NDP was able to garner only 36 more votes – 0.1% than the Greens. In Vancouver-Quadra, on the left-coast, the spread was 0.9% from 272 votes. During the early returns, and until I turned out the lights, the NDP was trailing in all three contests, making it all the more intriguing that none of the reporters were commenting. Recall that by-elections are supposed to be the NDP’s strength in which they traditionally do well by flooding the area with paid workers and volunteers from the rest of the country. A clear demonstration of Jack Layton’s success in building a contender.
More important is the example of what third and fourth party voters risk from the Vancouver-Quadra results. The combined NDP and Green vote of over 7856 votes compares to the 151 votes lead for Joyce Murray. Once again, the self-indulgent leftists almost succeeded in electing another conservative. They are the kind of progressives that make Ralph Nader proud. Damn the consequences, indulge our egos.
