Liberals =/= New Democrats
December 2, 2008 · By Adam Dyck
Although it seems like everyone else in the political blogosphere has forgotten recently, the LPC and NDP are really not that close in matters of policy. Dion’s move to the left on issues such as the environment notwithstanding, the Liberals generally span from the centre-right to the centre-left. Very few of their supporters are particularly left leaning.
All biases aside, the two parties who would fit together best in terms of a coalition government (or at the very least, equally as well as the LPC and NDP) are the Tories and the Grits. They never will, but that is because of political reasons, not ideological.
Just saying.
“……….the Liberals generally span from the centre-right to the centre-left. ” etc….
On what planet?
Where have YOU been for the last 40 years… especially the last 18 of them….??
The LPC has not been any where close to center – right for many years.
I think NDP and Bloq are the best match because both leaders are Marxist.
OMMAG: To pretend that the Chretien Liberals were anything but centrist when it comes to the economy is incredibly foolish.
Many Liberals are those who would be very comfortable identifying as PCs or Red Tories, but vote for the Liberals either for historical reasons, or because of the more right-wing influence of Reform on the Conservative Party.
John Doe: The NDP and the Bloc would never have enough seats for a coalition government.
The Liberals have certainly been centrist with respect to fiscal matters, but I find the NDP and Liberals have had similar social priorities in the last few years. They may have had very different approaches or plans, but they definitely had some elements in common, particularly in comparison with the Conservatives.
These days though, there is one overriding priority that they have in common: dealing with Harper. This last economic update was, I believe, the straw that broke the camel’s back. Push came to shove, and the opposition parties finally pushed back.
“the LPC and NDP are really not that close in matters of policy”
They are now. The coalition policy framework spells out a social democratic philosophy, all traces of liberalism are gone.
An older thread could have been called “Canadian Alliance =/= Progressive Conservatives” but then, look what happened:)