I remember when for one brief moment in time progressives were united. Marching together to confront the Harper regime And how it lifted my heart and made me believe that anything was possible.
But that seems like so long ago. And now even after the catastrophe of a Harper majority, where vote-splitting played such a big role, my dream of seeing progressives unite under the banner of a brand new party seems further away than ever.
The NDP doesn't want a merger.
And who can blame them eh? Now that they can dream of being the government one day.
The Liberals don't want one either. And who can blame them either? The death of an old and proud party is a sad thing. And pain can be blinding.
The virtually unbroken string of Liberal governments that ran from 1963 to 1984 relied almost entirely on lopsided victories in Quebec. Were it not for Quebec, the PCs would have won a plurality of seats in eight of the nine elections held in this period.
Without a split conservative vote in Ontario, or a monopoly in Quebec, the Liberals cannot win a majority government by themselves.
And make them forget how much they could contribute to the formation of a new party.
But eventually the Liberals will see the light, and so I believe will the NDP. After two years of Harper's Thousand Year Majority, of leading the opposition but being powerless to stop the Cons from violating this country, I'm sure they'll also see the value of a merger.
And I'm also sure their large Quebec caucus will propel them in that direction. Because nobody wants to see the Cons defeated more than Quebecers do.
And in the end if will come down to what it always has been, a really simple proposition. Two progressive parties will always split the vote, and a united conservative party will always have the advantage.
Yup. As I said, it won't happen right away. And judging by this and this it won't be easy eh?
But it will happen because it is and always will be the best way to defeat the Cons.
And when we were together.
It was a special moment...
Recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers.
co-operation doth not a merger make,
ReplyDeleteIt was one of my favourite moments in politics.
ReplyDeleteIt was too bad that the Liberal leadership decided that their political party was more important than Canadians yearnings.
I hope instead of a merger, the right splits again. It probably will happen too if Harper decides to be accommodating and stays closer to the center than the right. I don't want a two party system and a merger of the left would create that. :/
ReplyDeletehi croghan27...I'm all in favour of cooperation. But didn't we try it this election? And look where it got us...
ReplyDeletehi jan...it was a grand moment. And yes you're right, when it really counted the Ignatieff Liberals let us down. His pathetic insistence that he would never form a coalition, helped further demonized the idea of a coalition, and eventually led us to disaster...
ReplyDeletehi prin...I too hope for a divided right, but unlike you I'm not afraid of a two-party system. I see it as inevitable, and a divided progressive movement cannot beat the Cons in today's Canada. As I've said many times before I was horrible at maths, but even I can figure that one out...;)
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