2019 Newfoundland and Labrador Election

81 posts / 0 new

Fri, 2019-04-19 17:54

jerrym

With Premier Ball calling an election for May 16th, it appears to have caught the NDP, PCs and the new NL Alliance parties off guard as the election was scheduled for the fall. Ball is taking advantage of the fact his party has a full slate of candidates while all the other parties are scrambling to nominate them.

Liberal Leader Dwight Ball and Progressive Conservative Leader Ches Crosbie exchanged verbal jabs at brief rallies during Wednesday-evening news shows to kick off Newfoundland and Labrador's election campaign. Ball, coming off four years spent running the province, gave a speech to supporters at Confederation Building in St. John's. That was after he announced the May 16 election date. "Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are facing a stark choice," he said. "It's onward or backward."

Moments after Ball stopped speaking, Crosbie's speech began across town at the PC party headquarters. Using repeated rhymes, Crosbie took aim at Ball throughout the speech, referring to him as "dithering Dwight Ball." "As premier, I will defend our offshore rights, and I will make equalization fair, and I will tax Quebec power. Ottawa and Quebec City will learn the days of 'no fight in Dwight' are over," he said. He repeated, "No fight in Dwight," and, "Don't mess with Ches," while the crowd chanted, "Yes for Ches."

While politics in Newfoundland and Labrador has long been a two-horse race, this contest will feature four political parties.

NDP Leader Alison Coffin said her party is still getting candidates in place; she's only been leading the party since March, and said she was surprised by the early election call. The province wasn't supposed to be going to the polls until the fall. "We feel as good as we possibly can," she said, thanking the support team that was in place when she took over. "We're as ready as we can be."

The NDP will go into the election without two of its best-known members on the ballot. Former leaders Gerry Rogers and Lorraine Michael are stepping away from politics, but Coffin said they are still "staunchly by our side."

The newest party is the NL Alliance, led by former PC president Graydon Pelley. It was granted official party status only five days before the election call, but has four candidates in place. "Even though I don't feel that this is the way it should be done, Mr. Ball has dropped the writ and we're going to be on the ballot in 2019," Pelley said. ...

The Liberals have held a majority government for the last four years. When the election was called, they held 27 seats, while the PCs had eight and the NDP two. Three members sat as Independents.

The governing party has a full slate of candidates ready to go, while other parties are still scrambling to put people in place in districts around the province. The NL Alliance has members running in three districts on the Avalon and one on the west coast.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/writ-drop-newfoundl...

Fri, 2019-04-19 18:05

jerrym

Here's a list of candidates so far. The website will be updated as more candidates are nominated. The url also includes maps of ridings.

https://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/newfoundland-and-labrador-2019-ge...

Sat, 2019-04-20 10:20

Newfoundlander_...

The election has now been called for May 16.

As noted above, the Liberals have a full slate in place while the PCs are nominating their last few candidates. Nominations must be in by April 25, so if the NDP are going to run a full slate they have a lot of work to do. They currently have 5 candidates nominated out of 40 and I’ve seen no sign yet that they have other people ready to go. It appears this could be a bad election for the NDP.

Sat, 2019-04-20 10:33

Newfoundlander_...

If the NDP are unsuccessful with recruiting a full slate, which I believe is something they managed to do in only a few elections, it’ll be interesting to see if it benefits another particular party more. As the PCs are not overly ideological, compared to some of the other conservative parties across Canada, it’s not unusual to see people switch between supporting the NDP and PCs. The Liberals have managed to attract several candidates who have been described as “progressives,” including two former New Democrats. I’m not sure if that will benefit the Liberals among NDP-leaning voters or if it hurts them. I know last time there were people in both the NDP and PCs encouraging voters to vote strategically against the Liberals.

Sat, 2019-04-20 19:43

Ken Burch

It would be interesting to see how independent socialist candidates might do in the ridings where the NDP didn't nominate candidates. The party can't really complain about vote-splitting in ridings where it isn't engaged in vote-seeking.

Sun, 2019-04-21 06:21

Newfoundlander_...

Considering the lack of support the NDP receives in the vast majority of districts I doubt an independent socialist would do very well.

Sun, 2019-04-21 08:21

Newfoundlander_...

The NDP still have just five candidates in place, and they are in the districts where the party is probably the strongest; St. John’s East-Quidi Vidi, St. John’s Centre, Virginia Waters-Pleasantville, St. John’s West and Labrador West.

What I find interesting is that it appears on social media that the party seems to be almost promoting the 5 candidates as their team. While Coffin has indicated she’ll run a full slate, which is starting to seem unlikely, I’m wondering if their strategy is shifting to where they’ll simply focus their attention on these 5 districts. I’ve never really understood the idea behind spending money on putting a candidate in place just for the sake of having someone’a name on the ballot in that district. I’d think energy and resources would be better spent in winnable areas. The optics to not running a full slate don’t always look good, but I don’t think many voters would even realize. Although at this point the new upstart NL Alliance has more candidates than the NDP, which is not a great look.

Wed, 2019-04-24 15:03

Newfoundlander_...

Since announcing that leader Alison Coffin was acclaimed as the candidate for St. John’s East-Quidi Vidi last Thursday, the NDP have made no further announcements regarding candidates. With nominations closing tomorrow at 2pm it appears as though the NDP will have just 5 candidates for the election. The campaign has been getting no attention as of yet, and it appears candidates are just focusing on their own campaigns.

Thu, 2019-04-25 16:19

bekayne

I guess this is Ches Crosbie's plan to make himself look younger by comparison:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/matthews-seeks-tory-seat-1.5108434

Fri, 2019-04-26 13:17

(Reply to #9) #10

Newfoundlander_...

bekayne wrote:

I guess this is Ches Crosbie's plan to make himself look younger by comparison:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/matthews-seeks-tory-seat-1.5108434

Not great when you have to get your CoS to run but I’d say Bill has a very good chance of getting elected in a seat that was unlikely to go blue.

Sat, 2019-04-27 06:48

#11

Newfoundlander_...

With 14 candidates on the ballot the NDP have not ran a fewer number of candidates since 1972 when there were just 3 candidates.

Many districts now are either a two-person race between the PCs and the Liberals - and in several others there’s an independent along with those who - leading to questions about where do NDP voters go and what impact could it have. The party does have a full slate of candidates in St. John’s, so their lack of candidates elsewhere may not play a big role as they usually attract little support outside the region. But still if races are close a couple of hundred New Democratic votes going to either the PCs or Liberals could make a difference. Ches Crosbie has already said that NDP supporters should feel quite comfortable voting for him, so it’ll be interesting to see if he actively courts them.

Sat, 2019-04-27 14:40

#12

Ken Burch

My impression has been that, in federal and provincial elections, most independent candidates-not all, but most-were right-wing types who were too egotistical and arrogant to work within party discipline or to do the kind of gladhandling necessary to win a PC, Reform, Alliance, or Con nomination-that they are generally bitter, reactionary loners. Does this square with what you've seen in Newfoundland?

Sat, 2019-04-27 15:59

#13

Newfoundlander_...

We see very few independents ever run. I think there are 9 this time and that seems higher than usual to me. I do know there have been instances in the past whereby a candidate who has lost their party nomination ran as an independent. Liberal MP Yvonne Jones is one of the few independents to ever be elected, maybe the only, and she ran after losing the Liberal nomination. I do know there’s a 2015 PC candidate running as an independent this election but not sure the reason.

Sun, 2019-04-28 00:58

(Reply to #13) #14

jerrym

Newfoundlander_Labradorian wrote:

With 14 candidates on the ballot the NDP have not ran a fewer number of candidates since 1972 when there were just 3 candidates.

I'm surprised they got 14 candidates, considering the snap election was aimed at catching the other parties ill-prepared, the new leader was acclaimed in March and there had been in-fighting in the party.

Sun, 2019-04-28 05:12

(Reply to #14) #15

Newfoundlander_...

jerrym wrote:

Newfoundlander_Labradorian wrote:

With 14 candidates on the ballot the NDP have not ran a fewer number of candidates since 1972 when there were just 3 candidates.

I'm surprised they got 14 candidates, considering the snap election was aimed at catching the other parties ill-prepared, the new leader was acclaimed in March and there had been in-fighting in the party.

Well 9 of them are last minute candidates who probably have no intention of running campaigns.

Tue, 2019-04-30 19:30

#16

jerrym

Here's the final list of candidates:

https://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2019/elections/0425n03.aspx

Tue, 2019-04-30 19:50

#17

jerrym

Below is a description of five of the possibly close riding races.

https://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/five-districts-to-watch-in-newfou...

Wed, 2019-05-01 18:16

#18

jerrym

The Newfoundland election debate can be seen below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdgzMGEQJ_s

Wed, 2019-05-01 22:15

#19

jerrym

Some impressions of the debate:

Ball was very aggressive and condescending, especially with Crosbie, virtually interrupting nearly every sentence. Crosbie was gentlemanly, but slow speaking and monotonal and therefore often looked overwhelmed. He also read a lot from his notes in the opening statement.

Initially, Ball was not as aggressive with Coffin, perhaps remembering what happen in 2015 between Notley and Prentice. However, by the middle of the debate he was continually interuptting her, reflecting probably his personality. Ball basically ignored any comments by others, which can be seen as evasive and/or effective depending on where you are coming from.

Coffin generally appeared confident for someone in their first provincial debate. She did read from her notes in her opening statement but to a lesser extent than Crosbie. She pushed Crosbie on privatization of health care and education, in the latter case, making him look evasive by getting him to say that it would depend on the circumstances. Towards the end she raised serious questions about job security, minimum wage, pensions, and long term employment strategies with either Ball or Crosbie, as well as on the environment.

Thu, 2019-05-02 08:27

#20

Newfoundlander_...

I found Ball’s performance interesting. It wasn’t necessarily bad but he was quite aggressive. That’s normally not his personality so I think he definitely feels that he’s in a fight, if he didn’t I think he wouldn’t have been on the attack like he was.

Crosbie struggled, he’s definitely out of his element with the cut and thrust of politics. I think had the debate been better moderated Crosbie would have come off better. He wouldn’t interrupt Ball, which allowed Ball to dominate in many of their exchanges simply because Ball interrupted and spoke over Crosbie.

Coffin did well for someone who is new at this. I found she spoke too fast at times, which made it difficult to understand the points she was making.

I don’t think the debate was very good at all, and most of that is because of the format. Neither of them won in my opinion.

Thu, 2019-05-02 14:50

#21

Sean in Ottawa

I think the publicity regarding the lack of canddiates could hurt the NDP even where there is a candidate. I hope they can elect a least a couple people.

Has anyone looked at the seats the NDP are contesting and see which, if any, they lack candidates in that could have been targets?

Thu, 2019-05-02 17:26

(Reply to #21) #22

bekayne

Sean in Ottawa wrote:

I think the publicity regarding the lack of canddiates could hurt the NDP even where there is a candidate. I hope they can elect a least a couple people.

Has anyone looked at the seats the NDP are contesting and see which, if any, they lack candidates in that could have been targets?

Totals from 2015 in the top "orphan" ridings:

Gander: 25.4%

Harbour Main: 24.2%

Waterford Valley: 19.5%

Conception Bay East-Bell Island: 13.7%

Terra Nova: 13.5%

Fortune Bay-Cape La Hune: 13.5%

Thu, 2019-05-02 19:22

#23

Newfoundlander_...

The only seats at play for the NDP are St. John’s East Quidi Vidi and St. John’s Centre. The two seats they currently hold and they’re in tough races in each one. They’ll have a respectable showing in Virginia Waters Pleasantville but I can’t imagine they’ll be in any position to actually win it.

It’s amazing to see the seats they had a nice chunk of support in last time and were unable to find candidates this time. Eastern and central Newfoundland have no NDP candidates whatsoever.

Thu, 2019-05-02 19:27

#24

Newfoundlander_...

Ches Crosbie has announced he will bring in a $25 a day daycare program for families making under $150,000. I believe households under $30,000 will not pay at all. It’ll be interesting to see if this type of policies helps him among New Democrats. While Ball has been able to sway New Democrats to his team I can’t point to any progressive policies that would have persuaded them to become Liberals.

Sat, 2019-05-04 06:48

#25

Newfoundlander_...

This article briefly touches on Ches Crosbie trying to woo over NDP voters.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/weekend-briefing-tory-strategy-1.5120003

Mon, 2019-05-06 22:33

#26

jerrym

The NDP has laid out its affordability action plan.

Increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2021

Collaborating with the Public Utilities Board to develop a realistic rate mitigation plan to keep rates at 13 cents a kilowatt-hour

Investing in child care with a goal of a $25-a-day child care program

Keeping the post-secondary education tuition freeze and reinstating the full needs-based grants program

Investing $2 million to retrofit more low-income households and $3 million to launch a small business retrofit program

Creating a regional public transit system that makes getting around more affordable.

"We are very concerned about the hydro electricity costs, we are very concerned about accessibility to child care and education," said Coffin.

"We are very concerned about women's rights and we are advocating strong policies that are going to help rectify those things." ...

"I am here to prove that there are better ways to make choices for the people of the province."

The NDP said it will be releasing its full party platform on Monday.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/ndp-nl-launches-aff...

Tue, 2019-05-07 18:02

#27

Debater

MQO N.L. Poll:

Decided and Leaning Voters:

Lib 48%

PC 36%

NDP 11%

NLA 2%

Other 3%

April 25-May 4

Sample: 375

MoE: +/-4.1

Total Undecided: 39%

Sample: 600

MoE: 4.0

https://twitter.com/MikeConnors/status/1125769758245367809

Thu, 2019-05-09 13:14

#28

jerrym

Debater, you old Liberal, not all polls show the Liberals in the lead:

Liberal Premier Ball is -13% in +/-, Crosbie -3% +/-, and Coffin 0 +/- (20% +, 20% -, 40% neutral as she has been leader less than two months meaning many barely know her). Not a good sign when you're leader is significantly negative, like Ball. Undecideds are 21%.

PC 33%

Libs 29%

NDP 12%

A big part of the problem for the Libs

https://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/tories-lead-with-eight-days-left-...

Other highlights from the poll:

65 per cent of respondents rated the provincial economy as "poor" or "very poor."

31 per cent of respondents, when asked what is the most important issue facing the province, responded "economy" or jobs. Health care was next with 18 per cent. The provincial deficit and debt come in at 11 per cent, with Muskrat Falls/electricity prices next at nine per cent.

53 per cent of respondents feel the province is heading in the wrong direction, while 33 per cent feel it's headed in the right direction. The rest are unsure.

48 per cent of respondents said it's "definitely time for a change," while an additional 19 per cent said change would be good, but not important. Twenty-two per cent said it's definitely best to keep the Liberals in office.

Forty-one per cent view Ball negatively, versus 28 per cent favourably and 27 per cent neutrally. For Crosbie, 30 per cent view him negatively, 27 per cent positively, and 34 per cent neutrally. Voters' impressions of NDP Leader Alison Coffin are split, with 20 per cent apiece for positive and negative, and 40 per cent neutral.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/abacus-data-poll-1....

Thu, 2019-05-09 12:51

#29

bekayne

Forum poll:

PC 42 / Lib 40 / NDP 13 / Oth 6

http://poll.forumresearch.com/data/3378d018-a80f-4817-9ae5-c18fc55e51cbNL%20Issues_May%208th%202019_final.pdf

Here's the funny thing: the poll has the NDP at 10% in "Grand Falls-Windsor and Central Newfoundland" (where they have 0 candidates) and at 9% in "Corner Brook and Western Newfoundland" (where they have 2 candidates)

Thu, 2019-05-09 13:18

(Reply to #29) #30

jerrym

bekayne wrote:

Forum poll:

PC 42 / Lib 40 / NDP 13 / Oth 6

http://poll.forumresearch.com/data/3378d018-a80f-4817-9ae5-c18fc55e51cbNL%20Issues_May%208th%202019_final.pdf

Here's the funny thing: the poll has the NDP at 10% in "Grand Falls-Windsor and Central Newfoundland" (where they have 0 candidates) and at 9% in "Corner Brook and Western Newfoundland" (where they have 2 candidates)

The margins in the provincial poll would make a 1% difference statistically insignificant. At the regional level the +/- margins would make any close measurements statistically meaningless in terms of measuring where a party's support is strongest.

Thu, 2019-05-09 13:38

#31

bekayne

My point is, why do pollsters prompt with the name of a party that at least half of Newfoundlanders won't have the ability to vote for?

Thu, 2019-05-09 14:53

(Reply to #31) #32

jerrym

bekayne wrote:

My point is, why do pollsters prompt with the name of a party that at least half of Newfoundlanders won't have the ability to vote for?

They won't have a chance to vote for the NDP because Ball called the election immediately after the NDP chose a new leader following party in-fighting (which is the NDP's self-created problem) in order to take advantage of the situation. The fact that the party is registering in the 12% range under the circumstances suggests Coffin's performance at the debates and in the campaign has impressed some people.

Ball's rush to a surprise election when six out of ten already considered the NL economy to be in bad shape (see post #28) suggests he is not simply take advantage of the NDP's situation, but worried about delaying the election to the fixed date of October 21st because he expects the economy is not going to get any better and may well get worse.

Considering the fact that PC leader Crosbie's performance in the debate was not very good, Ball, other things being equal, should be well ahead in the polls, but two out of three polls show him in second. Or, as they say, "it's the economy, -------".

Thu, 2019-05-09 15:55

(Reply to #32) #33

bekayne

jerrym wrote:

Ball's rush to a surprise election when six out of ten already considered the NL economy to be in bad shape (see post #28) suggests he is not simply take advantage of the NDP's situation, but worried about delaying the election to the fixed date of October 21st because he expects the economy is not going to get any better and may well get worse.

With an October Federal election, was that really an option?

Thu, 2019-05-09 17:53

#34

jerrym

I'm sure it would have been an option if Ball thought it was more favourable to him. Do you remember the last Liberal who claimed that he did not have an option? I think it was 1984 and his name was Turner.

Thu, 2019-05-09 17:44

(Reply to #34) #35

robbie_dee

bekayne wrote:

My point is, why do pollsters prompt with the name of a party that at least half of Newfoundlanders won't have the ability to vote for?

If, as you say, there are regions of the province that have no NDP candidates running at all, and this pollster is able to break its results down by region, I agree that a better methodology would be to provide callers with a "script" that omits the NDP from the list of prompted answers when that party is clearly not an option for the individual being polled. Otherwise this poll risks over-estimating NDP support (by counting NDP votes where such votes are impossible) and being less predictive of the ultimate results. But presumably the pollster should still be prompting for NDP votes at least in the St. Johns area where there are a number of NDP candidates running.

Thu, 2019-05-09 19:10

(Reply to #35) #36

Debater

jerrym wrote:

Debater, you old Liberal, not all polls show the Liberals in the lead:

Jerry, I posted *one* poll, which was the current poll at the time I posted it.

And it was the first time I posted on this thread.

Your criticism of me is odd. I haven't posted on Rabble in months.

Thu, 2019-05-09 19:38

(Reply to #36) #37

jerrym

Debater wrote:

jerrym wrote:

Debater, you old Liberal, not all polls show the Liberals in the lead:

Jerry, I posted *one* poll, which was the current poll at the time I posted it.

And it was the first time I posted on this thread.

Your criticism of me is odd. I haven't posted on Rabble in months.

I did not have to go far to show your last statement is not true. I went to "After the Nanaimo-Ladysmith disaster...what now for the NDP?" which was at the top of the Canadian Politics section and what did I find posted there? On the first thread I looked at you made posts #2, 8, 22, 23, 27, 28, 37, and 48, all since May 7th mostly carrying out your usual the NDP is in trouble campaign that you have been doing for years. For someone who has claimed to have quit the Liberals, you show a remarkably typical Liberal party campaign approach.

Thu, 2019-05-09 19:43

(Reply to #37) #38

Aristotleded24

jerrym wrote:

Debater wrote:

jerrym wrote:

Debater, you old Liberal, not all polls show the Liberals in the lead:

Jerry, I posted *one* poll, which was the current poll at the time I posted it.

And it was the first time I posted on this thread.

Your criticism of me is odd. I haven't posted on Rabble in months.

I did not have to go far to show your last statement is not true. I went to "After the Nanaimo-Ladysmith disaster...what now for the NDP?" which was at the top of the Canadian Politics section and what did I find posted there? On the first thread I looked at you made posts #2, 8, 22, 23, 27, 28, 37, and 48, all since May 7th mostly carrying out your usual the NDP is in trouble campaign that you have been doing for years. For someone who has claimed to have quit the Liberals, you show a remarkably typical Liberal party campaign approach.

Jerry, the NDP is in trouble. We do ourselves no favours by refusing to acknowledge that reality.

Thu, 2019-05-09 20:22

(Reply to #38) #39

jerrym

Aristotleded24 wrote:

jerrym wrote:

Debater wrote:

jerrym wrote:

Debater, you old Liberal, not all polls show the Liberals in the lead:

Jerry, I posted *one* poll, which was the current poll at the time I posted it.

And it was the first time I posted on this thread.

Your criticism of me is odd. I haven't posted on Rabble in months.

I did not have to go far to show your last statement is not true. I went to "After the Nanaimo-Ladysmith disaster...what now for the NDP?" which was at the top of the Canadian Politics section and what did I find posted there? On the first thread I looked at you made posts #2, 8, 22, 23, 27, 28, 37, and 48, all since May 7th mostly carrying out your usual the NDP is in trouble campaign that you have been doing for years. For someone who has claimed to have quit the Liberals, you show a remarkably typical Liberal party campaign approach.

Jerry, the NDP is in trouble. We do ourselves no favours by refusing to acknowledge that reality.

I did not say the NDP does not have problems. I am commenting on Debater's posting tendencies that favour the Liberals and attack the NDP. Despite the Liberals losing more than half their 2015 vote in the Nanaimo by election and losing their lead over the Conservatives, the effects of the SNC Lavalin scandal, and the potential for further bad news coming from the cancellation of the Admiral Norman trial, Debater carries on in the same old manner about the Liberals and NDP.

I also described in my own posts elsewhere that the NDP needs to move to the left on climate change and and social issues, go after those who hide their money in tax havens and tax shelters, and eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, or they will be outflanked on the left by the Liberals proclaiming they are the party of the left (and then of course following the same greenhouse gas targets as Harper, failing to introduce a meaningful pharmacare or daycare program, failing to deal with the glaring tax problems, and failing to fund Indigenous programs etc.). Trudeau has already said the lesson from the by election loss is that the majority of the population supports dealing with climate change. Sounds like 2015 all over again. So they will run with a similar program that has similar results. As always, they Liberals will run to the left and rule to the right.

The NDP are now in danger of losing more voters to the Greens on environmental issues and possibly even social issues. However, a good platform, the failure of the Liberals to come close to many of their 2015 promises, as well as their scandals, does still leave the party with a chance of doing well in the upcoming election. The population is uncomfortable with this government, so things are still in flux.

My prediction of the most likely outcome of the fall election after the Nanaimo, which is I posted in the byelection thread, is that the Green vote will rise but any gains in seats by them will be far outweighed by losses of the Liberals and NDP because the Greens are coming from so far behind in so many ridings across the country and not likely to pick up many ridings. Thus, the by election increases the chances of a Con majority, although, as in many other countries where the population is unhappy with their poltical parties, the actual results are still in flux.

Fri, 2019-05-10 20:10

#40

NorthReport

Don't worry Debater, if I were a Liberal supporter like you, I too would have run for the hills during the past year, as it has been nothing but disasterville, both federally and provincially for the Liberals, and it also looks terrible for the Liberals in our upcoming federal election in October.

Contradictory polls agree on one thing: Dwight Ball's Liberals are in trouble

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/grenier-nl-polls-1.5129644

Sat, 2019-05-11 01:04

#41

jerrym

The Conservatives have dropped candidate Michael Normore in Cartwright–L'Anse au Clair after the public reaction to his anti-gay, anti-abortion, and anti-immigrant comments on the internet were discovered by the media, after leader Chas Crosbie initially supported him. It is too late to replace him. His name remains on the ballot as a PC since advance poll voting has already taken place. Crosbie says if Normore wins he will not be seated as a PC.

NDP Leader Alison Coffin released a statement on behalf of the party, condemning the PCs for allowing Normore to run and reaffirming her party’s pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ+ stance. “This is in complete violation of our basic human rights covered by the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Code,” Coffin stated. “It is disturbing that he passed the vetting process of the PCs under the watch of their leader Ches Crosbie.” (https://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/former-pc-candidate-to-run-as-an-...)

Ches Crosbie, the leader of Newfoundland and Labrador's Progressive Conservative party, says a candidate opposed to legal abortion and same-sex marriage will not be in the Tory caucus if elected on May 16. It's a complete turnaround from Crosbie's comments a day earlier, when he said he did not agree with Michael Normore's views but believed him to be a "fine candidate" who could still represent his district well, according to a CBC report. The CBC uncovered social media posts in which Normore, running in a southern Labrador district, opposed same-sex marriage and abortion, except to save a woman's life. He also favoured more background checks for immigrants. There was a strong reaction on social media, with some Twitter users writing that the issue had convinced them not to cast a ballot for the Tories. Crosbie told reporters Friday that after initially defending Normore on Thursday he was made aware of on social media.

https://www.nsnews.com/n-l-tory-leader-boots-candidate-opposed-to-aborti...

Sat, 2019-05-11 03:17

(Reply to #41) #42

bekayne

jerrym wrote:

The Conservatives have dropped candidate Michael Normore in Cartwright–L'Anse au Clair after the public reaction to his anti-gay, anti-abortion, and anti-immigrant comments on the internet were discovered by the media, after leader Chas Crosbie initially supported him. It is too late to replace him. His name remains on the ballot as a PC since advance poll voting has already taken place. Crosbie says if Normore wins he will not be seated as a PC.

NDP Leader Alison Coffin released a statement on behalf of the party, condemning the PCs for allowing Normore to run and reaffirming her party’s pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ+ stance. “This is in complete violation of our basic human rights covered by the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Code,” Coffin stated. “It is disturbing that he passed the vetting process of the PCs under the watch of their leader Ches Crosbie.” (https://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/former-pc-candidate-to-run-as-an-...)

Ches Crosbie, the leader of Newfoundland and Labrador's Progressive Conservative party, says a candidate opposed to legal abortion and same-sex marriage will not be in the Tory caucus if elected on May 16. It's a complete turnaround from Crosbie's comments a day earlier, when he said he did not agree with Michael Normore's views but believed him to be a "fine candidate" who could still represent his district well, according to a CBC report. The CBC uncovered social media posts in which Normore, running in a southern Labrador district, opposed same-sex marriage and abortion, except to save a woman's life. He also favoured more background checks for immigrants. There was a strong reaction on social media, with some Twitter users writing that the issue had convinced them not to cast a ballot for the Tories. Crosbie told reporters Friday that after initially defending Normore on Thursday he was made aware of on social media.

https://www.nsnews.com/n-l-tory-leader-boots-candidate-opposed-to-aborti...

The Conservative lost to the Liberal in that riding by 89.87% in the previous election.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartwright-L%27Anse_au_Clair

Sat, 2019-05-11 10:11

(Reply to #42) #43

robbie_dee

jerrym wrote:

NDP Leader Alison Coffin released a statement on behalf of the party, condemning the PCs for allowing Normore to run and reaffirming her party’s pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ+ stance. “This is in complete violation of our basic human rights covered by the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Code,” Coffin stated. “It is disturbing that he passed the vetting process of the PCs under the watch of their leader Ches Crosbie.” (https://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/former-pc-candidate-to-run-as-an-...)

https://www.nsnews.com/n-l-tory-leader-boots-candidate-opposed-to-aborti...

Is the NDP even running a candidate in this riding?

Sat, 2019-05-11 13:06

(Reply to #43) #44

bekayne

robbie_dee wrote:

jerrym wrote:

NDP Leader Alison Coffin released a statement on behalf of the party, condemning the PCs for allowing Normore to run and reaffirming her party’s pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ+ stance. “This is in complete violation of our basic human rights covered by the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Code,” Coffin stated. “It is disturbing that he passed the vetting process of the PCs under the watch of their leader Ches Crosbie.” (https://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/former-pc-candidate-to-run-as-an-...)

https://www.nsnews.com/n-l-tory-leader-boots-candidate-opposed-to-aborti...

Is the NDP even running a candidate in this riding?

No. That would have been the 40th candidate.

Sat, 2019-05-11 16:10

(Reply to #44) #45

jerrym

robbie_dee wrote:

jerrym wrote:

NDP Leader Alison Coffin released a statement on behalf of the party, condemning the PCs for allowing Normore to run and reaffirming her party’s pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ+ stance. “This is in complete violation of our basic human rights covered by the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Code,” Coffin stated. “It is disturbing that he passed the vetting process of the PCs under the watch of their leader Ches Crosbie.” (https://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/former-pc-candidate-to-run-as-an-...)

https://www.nsnews.com/n-l-tory-leader-boots-candidate-opposed-to-aborti...

Is the NDP even running a candidate in this riding?

Is your point that she should not waste her time criticizing what she sees is a human rights issue because her party is not running a candidate in the riding?

Sat, 2019-05-11 17:43

#46

NorthReport

Bingo!

Sun, 2019-05-12 14:40

#47

jerrym

Three pairs of siblings are running in the election, including one pair for different parties (NDP and PCs).

The Tory leader’s Liberal opponent in the St. John’s district of Windsor Lake is political rookie Bob Osborne, brother of incumbent Liberal Finance Minister Tom Osborne, who is seeking re-election in a district he has represented since 1996.

Brothers Jim and Paul Dinn are running in different districts for opposing parties, with PC incumbent Paul seeking re-election in Topsail-Paradise and Jim after the St. John’s Centre seat for the NDP.

While Ches is touring the province, Beth has been focusing her efforts on door-knocking in her district of Virginia Waters-Pleasantville.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5268310/tory-leader-crosbie-nl-election/

Tue, 2019-05-14 11:14

(Reply to #47) #48

robbie_dee

jerrym wrote:

Is your point that she should not waste her time criticizing what she sees is a human rights issue because her party is not running a candidate in the riding?

No my point is that it would have been a more effective criticism if the NDP was prepared to present voters in the riding with an alternative candidate that they could support. I guess the long and short of Coffin's position is that voters in the riding should vote Liberal since there is literally no other choice (even spoiling their ballot could just end up helping Normore since it would be one fewer vote counted against him).

NDP is presenting 14 candidates. Do any of them have a good chance of being elected given current polling? Even the leader herself in St. John's East-Quidi Vidi? Or will the NDP be wiped out again here like in every Maritime province excluding Nova Scotia?

Wed, 2019-05-15 03:33

#49

jerrym

And my point is that sometimes you have to speak up on an issue because its part of your core values. As to the fourteen candidates that problem was not created by her but the party in-fighting before she became leader. I thought she has run a good campaign under the circumstances. We will find out tomorrow whether it was enough to win any seats.

As for the Liberals, when Crosbie noted that one of the Liberal candidates had made negative comments about gay marriage the best Premier Ball could come with is a statement that's he evolved.

Wed, 2019-05-15 05:19

(Reply to #49) #50

Newfoundlander_...

robbie_dee wrote:

jerrym wrote:

Is your point that she should not waste her time criticizing what she sees is a human rights issue because her party is not running a candidate in the riding?

No my point is that it would have been a more effective criticism if the NDP was prepared to present voters in the riding with an alternative candidate that they could support. I guess the long and short of Coffin's position is that voters in the riding should vote Liberal since there is literally no other choice (even spoiling their ballot could just end up helping Normore since it would be one fewer vote counted against him).

NDP is presenting 14 candidates. Do any of them have a good chance of being elected given current polling? Even the leader herself in St. John's East-Quidi Vidi? Or will the NDP be wiped out again here like in every Maritime province excluding Nova Scotia?

I wouldn’t be surprised to see the NDP hold the two seats they have now and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them wiped out. I don’t know which outcome would be better for the party.

Wed, 2019-05-15 11:41

(Reply to #50) #51

Stockholm

Newfoundlander_Labradorian wrote:

[quote

I wouldn’t be surprised to see the NDP hold the two seats they have now and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them wiped out. I don’t know which outcome would be better for the party.

How exactly could it ever be "good" for a party to get wiped out and lose all its seats and likely end up in bankruptcy protection? That sounds like the old "we had to destroy the village in order to save it" line we heard from the Americans during the Vietnam war!

I have not been paying much attention to this election but it seems to me that after all the division and toxicity associated with Lorraine Michael and all the caucus splits etc... this election could be a chance for the NL NDP to reboot. They have a brand new young leader who seems well spoken and qualified and they have brand new candidates in the couple of seats where they are in contention (e.g. St. John's Centre and Labrador West). They could finally be able to get something off the ground with no one left from that dysfunctional group that were all elected in 2011...

2019 Newfoundland and Labrador Election

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