NDP federal candidates IV

Is that great news?  Unless she runs in a different riding, I don't think she will be able to win.  It's unlikely she can beat Gerard Kennedy in Parkdale-High Park.

She's a good candidate - passionate, intelligent and bilingual - but it will be hard for her to win.

This looks like it.

http://www.phpndp.ca/

The Langley Federal NDP riding association selected their candidate this week-end. 

Piotr Majkowski will be facing lacklustre Conservative MP, Mark Warawa.

http://www2.canada.com/langleyadvance/news/story.html?id=1cba88d6-1583-4...

Rumour has it that Rob Moir may run in Saint John this time.

Rob Moir ran a very strong campaign in Fundy Royal last time, but it's not a traditional area for the NDP. However with the NB Power sale issue reverberating, and our strong new provincial leader, Roger Duguay, really pushing the issue, plus the fact that the Liberals still have not renominated Paul Zed or put anyone else in his place, it could make for a good opening for Moir. Elizabeth Weir used to hold Saint John South provincially, I believe.

The latter--top contender being Barbara Warner (daughter of ex-MPP David Warner)

Thanks for the information.  I wasn't aware of the latest development concerning Churley.  I think it indicates that she realizes that after 2 losses in Beaches-East York to Maria Minna that it wasn't in the cards for her to win.  The voters made it clear they prefer Minna.

Therefore, I think it is good that she has opened the way for a new NDP candidate to emerge in Beaches-East York.

I think she also wanted a regular job and income.  Her risky decision to resign her Ontario provincial seat to run federally a few years ago meant that she is without a regular income or pension.  As she said in an interview, the changes Mike Harris made when he was Premier mean that former MPP's no longer have a pension plan.

Yes, but people who are ambitious and have political blood in them like Churley would probably prefer something a little more challenging and intellectually stimulating.

I think she took the job because she has been without a regular income since stepping down as an Ontario MPP, but her preferred job is probably still to be an MP.

Debater, you mustn't judge NDPers by such Liberal standards.

BTW: I was reading that there is a possibility that Judy W-L might run for mayor of Winnipeg. I guess if she did it would open up a supersafe NDP seat for some interesting new blood.

I also see that two people are duking it out for the nomination in Beaches-East York. http://www.beyndp.ca/ Matthew Kellway and Barbara Warner. Does anyone have any insight in the pros and cons of these two candidates and who people think is likely to win?

I'm not sure what you mean.  I am not judging her by any particular standards.  Churley herself talked in the past about the effect of the Mike Harris cuts to her MPP pension plan.  I'm just pointing out that she needs to earn a living.

And as I've mentioned in the past, please be careful about using political labels.

Glad that we have nice graphics these days.  The colour code certainly gives a nice visual interpretation of how regions vote.

What's interesting about Parkdale - High Park is that you can see the contrast between the provincial and federal elections.  The large swathes of red in the 2008 election show how well Kennedy did, whereas in the 2007 election you can see how Di Novo swept the riding provincially. 

Krago, it's really fantastic.  Thank you so much for contributing this work to our forum!

I'm not familiar with either of them.  Which of the two do you think was the strongest candidate?

Who's running in Scarborough SW?  Just wondering, because Warner ran there provincially in '03...

Mark Austin is seeking the NDP nomination again in C.C.M.V. at a nomination meeting this Sunday, January 31st.

Has anyone heard about either of the Quebec by-election candidates re-offering. 

I really hope Jean-Claude will stand again in Hochelaga.

No news out of D.C.H., O.O.

I'll try to pick up any more buzz when I'm at the N.S. NDP Leader's Levee in Halifax in late March.  If I see Kevin there, I'll ask him about it.

There is a candidate committed to running in DACH but his/her name cannot be released right now ;)

Considering he came in 4th with 9.4% of the vote, it's not surprising there are New Democrats who think they could do better than that. By comparison, the NDP got 13.2% in 2006 & 15.8% in 2004.

Honestly, Debater, this is really getting tiresome. Are you going to apologize for Liberals running candidates in Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, Palliser,Vancouver Island North, Surrey North, ... (I could go on)?

The point is that each party puts forward its best candidate, believing that it is best able to represent the interests of the voters in that riding, and then they let the PEOPLE decide. Running against a Liberal no more makes an NDPer a Conservative supporter, than running against a Dipper makes a Liberal an a**hole.

Of course not. No one needs to make them one.

I didn't say that the NDP has to help the Liberals win.  I said that NR was saying he basically hoped the Conservatives won.  

Obviously parties can be proud to announce that a candidate will be running in a particular riding - that's what the Beaches-East York NDP did above when they announced their candidate in a positive way.  What NR said was that he hoped a vote split would prevent the Liberals from winning and give it to the Conservatives.

Do you see the distinction?

And I was called a troll on another thread, perhaps you didn't notice.  I was also called tiresome above.  And most ridiculous of all, I was called sexist by remind for quoting an article in the Edmonton Journal about the NDP painting an orange pumpkin in a sea of blue in October 2008.  I would like to see an apology for that one.

Btw, I don't like the comment about "promoting your party".  I have said many times to stop labeling me as a Liberal when I am a Liberal-NDPer, and it has still continued.  I have tried to foster joint Liberal-NDP co-operation, but it is becoming difficult.

Just like the Liberals take the Canadian voters for fools, Debater similiarly takes the posters here for idiots. 

Debater uses the ole Mulroney tactics - throw enough mud against the wall and at least some of it will stick. Debater fits the Liberal mold to a "T".

I'm not sure if they have had their nomination meeting, but the probable Liberal candidate in North Vancouver, who is well intentioned, is a friend of mine. And  the Greens, had they half a brain, would have made him their national leader, but it's way too late for that. 

Realistically though, Michael Charrois, who definitely is, and his competition for the NDP nomination is as well,  superb candidates for the NDP, but alas, the federal election in 2011 will not produce NDP winners on the North Shore of Vancouver.  

What I thought was reasonably clear, before Liberal con artists twist the meaning of other people's words, was that the NDP will be so strong in North Vancouver that Saxton, the Conservative incumbent, will coast to an easy victory over the Liberal candidate no matter how good the Liberal candidate is.  Sad but true.

But carry on Debater with your absurdities.

"I have tried to foster joint Liberal-NDP co-operation, but it is becoming difficult."

...especially since Ignatieff decided a year ago that he would rather let Harper govern indefinitely than have the Liberals take power and have to involve the NDP in government as well. It shows that in the Liberal party its a higher priority to make sure that the NDP has any share of power than to get rid of Harper. How can you bother with a party with an attitude like that?

North Vancouver

I'm not sure if it's official yet about the 2nd candidate for the NDP so I'd prefer to keep it quit until it is, but the application has been submitted to the decision-makers who do the vetting. 

Jim Stephenson who had secured the nomination for the Greens in Sea-toSky last election, but stepped aside for that Liberal clown who jumped ship to the Greens and put May into the debates fiasco, was running for the Liberal nomination. I thought the Liberal nomination meeting was late last year but perhaps it has not taken place yet.

Jim would be a great MP but it's just not gonna happen, because Michael or whoever wins the NDP nomination will be a lot better organized this time around.

The Conservative incumbent Andrew Saxton will definitely get re-elected, regardless who the Liberal candidate is. Don Bell is old news in the area now.

There is only one riding on the North Shore provincially or federally where the NDP has any chance whatsoever, and that is Vancouver-Lonsdale, a provincial riding, but the local NDP braintrust ran a non-NDP supporter candidate last time, former North Vancouver Mayor Janice Harris who was smoked by the new Liberal candidate 

Yamamoto will be doubly hard to beat next time running as an incumbent.

The stupidity just makes you want to cry.

David Schreck,

http://www.strategicthoughts.com/

 last won the riding for the NDP in 1996 I believe.

"but the local NDP braintrust ran a non-NDP supporter candidate last time, former North Vancouver Mayor Janice Harris who was smoked by the new Liberal candidate Naomi Yamamoto"

I'm confused by the idea that a non-NDP supporter could run. Does the party and the local membership not vett candidates? This can't be right.

Janice Harris has been around the block politically having been a North Vancouver Councillor, a short stink as Mayor of North Vancouver, and also member of the Green Party. She has been at all candidate meetings where she has publicly trashed the NDP in the past. Janice wanting to become a MLA, but knew the Greens had no chance of winning. The NDP Lonsdale hierarchy wanted a name candidate but lost sight of the ball. They both fooled themselves, and both got what they deserved. With a different type of both candidate and campaign, the NDP might have won the riding, or at least come much closer to winning than they did.

I just read that Jim Abbott the Tory MP for Columbia-Kootenay is retiring. While this riding went Tory by a wide margin last time - we should note that it went NDP a couple of times in the 80s and that some of it is NDP territory provincially. With Tory support in BC being in such a free-fall, I wonder if this could become an NDP target now that it is an open seat?

Oh c'mon North...she couldn't have been THAT bad in the job.

We hold or have held all 4 provincial seats in the area over the past 15 years.  I don't think we have nominated there yet, but last time we ran a visible minority candidate, retired paramedic Leon Pendleton.  According to his Facebook page, he was even endorsed by the local Green Party candidate, Ralph Moore, at the end of the campaign.

If he doesn't want to run again, there are some other fabulous potential candidates we could recruit in that area.  It would be competitive alright, but definitely doable.  And a HOTBED of opposition to the HST, I would imagine.

The Winnipeg South Centre NDP has nominated Dennis Lewycky as its candidate for the next general election.  Dennis brings to the riding his extensive experience as a researcher, communicator and organizer for governments, NGOs and unions here in Canada and around the world.

Check out his website at http://winnipegsouthcentre.ca

No, Dennis is no relation to former MP Laverne Lewycky.

Peter Thurley is running in Kitchener Centre.

Peter was recently recognized by The Waterloo Region Record (yes, they call it that now) as one of The Top 40 Under 40 (see page 19).

Just a comment to both sides of the great troll debate-- there are obviously three attitudes among NDP supporters with respect to other parties and none of them disloyal. When criticizing those who are displaying one of the other attitudes than the one you hold there is no need to assume the person is being disloyal to the NDP as all three points of view are held with an NDP focus and for the purpose of the best possible result for the NDP. The three are:

1) those who are solidly NDP but beleive that the Liberals are better than the Cons as the NDP can sometimes push them in the right direction and can help the NDP achieve its policy objectives at times. As well they see the puspose in stopping any potential for a Con majority or in some case a Con government.

2) those who are solidly NDP and beleive that the Liberals lie and cheat their way in to a centre left constituency while they actually occupy that space to the benefit of the rigth wing. They beleive the Liebrals must be broken and destroyed for the NDP ever to take power and any Liberal loss is a step in the right direction towards achieving a more honest-- and more polarized clear chocie between NDP progressive and Conservative capitalist positions. The Liberals by masquarading as progressives are less respectible in some respects than the Cons who at least don't go runnign after people who beleive in what we believe in to steal their vote. Some have even called the Liberal Party the Bait and switch party.

3) those who are solidly NDP and really could not give a damn about where teh other parties are and think it is a distraction. They want the NDP just to present its best policies and fight to win any seats it can and influence whatever government is elected.

All three are legitimate and I held all three positions and can move from one to the next in a given day depending on how I feel.

Can we please not accuse NDPers of being disloyal simply because they have different ideas about what outcomes for other parties are relevant or helpful to NDP interests in particualr or NDP principles and policies in general. That is tiresome.

I have my differences with North Report but there is no damn way that North Report is anything other than a loyal NDP supporter. But at the saem time North Report, it is important to recognize that those who may feel that a stronger Liberal party and a weaker conservative party may serve the NDP best in the next election. I can see the merits of all three positions and wish I knew the answers for certain.

I alternate between detesting Liberals and detesting Conservatives most. I think that has as much to do with whichever I ehard last as anything else.

The past-Tribal Council Chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, Lawrence Joseph, has announced his intention to run for the NDP nomination in Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River.  He has also been a municipal councillor and school board trustee in Prince Albert.

Here's the story in the Star-Phoenix.  So far, with Tania Cameron in Kenora, Crissy Sinipole in Sarnia, Lewis Cardinal in Edmonton Centre, and perhaps some others I'm not remembering, it's looking like the NDP is going to have a really strong slate of first nations and metis candidates.

I still think the Orange team stands a chance. Though of course I'd agree that this seat is a second tier target. I think, to some degree at least, Bill Bennett's re-election was bolstered by three things. A) he's a Cabinet Minister in the Prov gov't. B) He was also the incumbent. And C) I also distinctly remember a bit of race bating vs. his NDP challenger (a member of a local First Nations). Also, let's not over state the ability of condo owners (many of whom are rich vacation home owners) to influence the election. Unless this is like the Vancouver-False Creek of the interior, which I'd then wonder what these people do for a living.

That riding has swung all 3 ways within the last 20 years. Provincially the NDP holds a lot of the terrain. Getting organized early would appear to be key, as there's a lot of ground to cover. Gary Merasty won it for the Liberals on an increased turnout, so I'd have to assume that getting the aboriginal communities organized (and properly registered on the voters list) would be job one there.

Perhaps a colour-coded map of the riding from the 2008 election might provide some further insight into what I mean in terms of the political division between Kootenay-Columbia (the East Kootenays) and the "heavily-orange" eastern portion of BC Southern Interior (West Kootenays) on the other side of the "Kootenay Pass". Revelstoke is part of Kootenay-Columbia while Castlegar and Grand Forks are part of the West Kootenays.

Very nice map, Centrist!  Is that by polling division winner for the 2008 federal?  Also, are the red bits over on the left Kamloops?

ETA: Oh, and are the gradations in shading based on percent of the vote?

Neither that or Kamloops. Have to go get a map to say what it is.

I was wrong. Red bits would be Whistler.

So, no anomalay there.

Well that makes sense then, since the Liberal candidate there last time was the mayor if I'm not mistaken.

Kamloops used to have a decent Liberal vote, but it fell away to the Conservatives last time.

Harbour, what harbour? What Robert? Oh, NS not BC.

Robert Chisholm lives in Porters Lake [east of Dartmouth], not that it matters really.

The map is not mine. It's from somewhere else on-line but yes the map is apparently created from polling divisions based upon party victory margins with the differing shading levels.

And the red/green portions on the left of the map are from the Whistler/Pemberton areas. Kamloops is the riding touching Kootenay Columbia at its northern top and Kamloops includes that poll striped blue/orange. The problem with these maps is they don't show detailed NDP strength on the north shore of Kamloops, for example, due to the small area and population density.

Threads - The orange splotches in the middle of Kootenay-Columbia are "probably" Golden and Kimberley.  Elkford, Sparwood, Fernie are the dark blue area in the Elkford Valley adjacent to the AB border and below that Green splotch on the AB side.

BTW, the poster "Krago" here posts the best colour-coded constituency maps that I have ever seen.

Is there a nominated or known likley candidate running against Chuck Strahl? I know he is up to 3:1 over the NDP, but he can't be too many years from retirement, and as unlikley as it may seem now, it may not be that far off this riding following the trend of others shifting substantially from blue to orange.

Yes, I know what Chilliwack and surrounds are like. Notwithstanding that....

This won't apply to the next election, but in the election after that BC will get a bunch of additional seats and it could be that something news gets carved in the interior that is winnable for the NDP - though i think its more likely that we ebenfit from a new seat on Vancouver Island.

That also opens another possibility. There has been some murmurings that Stoffer might run for mayor of Halifax and depending on the timing of the next federal election, that would create vacancy in his seat.

Stoffer is running again federally, I'm told.

I believe the Nunziata case settled that if a MP declares as a candidate for nayor, they have to resign their federal seat.  It makes no sense for Peter to give up his seat to run in an October 2011 mayoralty race and he would probably be a candidate in any federal election held in 2010 or early 2011. After that, he could might let the riding association  schedule a new nomination meeting  in early 2011 and he can hold on to his seat until he is ready to declare.  Within six months of his resignation, there would have to be a federal by-election date set..

Whatever must happen,  or does not have to happen, formally- Peter Stoffer cannot run in the next federal election and then say he's going to resign and run for Mayor. If he wants to run for Mayor, then he will inform people he will not be running again for MP. Now I really have no idea- no guess even- if he will want to do that.... but if he does plan to go for Mayor, I would think he will not annouce that he is not running again for MP until he has to [give the party and riding association decent time].

Nice map. But I was refering to the Provincial scene and how that translates to the Federal one. Not that I think the federal NDP is anywhere near taking the seat now. Besides, I imagine that should the NDP ever want to form the Official Opposition, let alone a government, they would need to take what would be considered second (or maybe third-tier) targets in the here and now. So basically I think it's worth throwing a few dollars into that riding in the hopes that should things pick up for the NDP campaign, they'll have the resources to put some pressure on the Conservatives.

Long