Day 36 — Vote for democracy: Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow says, “On May 2nd, I am asking you to vote for democracy. Vote for the recognition of the right to water, vote to address climate change, and vote for respect for our democracy. Vote for fair trade not ‘free trade’ agreements and for the renewal and expansion of public health care. Read the party platforms and make your choice. Let’s vote on May 2 and win the Canada we want.”
Party platforms: CTV has reported, “According to results of the Nanos poll conducted for CTV and The Globe and Mail, more than half of voters continue to rank party platform as their top deciding factor. That far outstrips those whose decision is based on the party leader (21.2 per cent), local candidate (14.8 per cent) or traditional support for a particular party (8.8 per cent).” To see those platforms, go to:
Trade justice and Eau Secours surveys: Council of Canadians trade campaigner Stuart Trew writes, “Two surveys were released (yesterday) on how party leaders feel about the Canada-EU free trade negotiations. The first, by the Trade Justice Network and Quebec Network on Continental Integration (RQIC), was answered by the NDP, Liberals and Bloc… The NDP were the most critical of the negotiations, with the Bloc a close second. The Liberals were very supportive of CETA. In fact, they cited GDP gains higher than those the Conservatives have been claiming. …The Conservatives, who obviously support CETA, did not respond.” The second survey was done by Eau Secours. To read more, go to http://www.canadians.org/tradeblog/?p=1522.
Video for democracy: To see Maude Barlow’s latest election commentary on video, go to http://www.canadians.org/election/.
Not Harper: Conservative leader Stephen Harper was greeted last night in Brampton, Ontario with a ‘Not Harper — canadians.org’ banner’. Harper was in Brampton for a rally and for Toronto mayor Rob Ford to publicly endorse him. CBC TV in Ontario showed a clip of the banner and an interview with Council of Canadians Ontario-Quebec organizer Mark Calzavara.
Toronto Star endorses the NDP: “New Democrats have shown at the provincial level that once in office they can square their social conscience with fiscal responsibility. They are the party of Tommy Douglas, Allan Blakeney and Roy Romanow — pragmatists with a vision and a heart. Now that a much more significant role beckons at the federal level they must accept the challenge of developing that approach nationally as well. …Voters who believe Canada should aspire to something greater than the crabbed, narrow vision offered by the Harper Conservatives should look to Jack Layton and the New Democrats on Monday.”
First he lost the UN seat: The Canadian Press reports, “Mathieu Ravignat is…the NDP candidate in Quebec’s Pontiac riding. The man he’s trying to unseat is Canada’s minister of foreign affairs. Conservative sources say Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon is in danger of going down to defeat in his riding across the Ottawa River and west of the capital. He has been placed on the ‘watch list’ the Tory war room keeps of incumbents that are in political peril. Conservative sources say surprising NDP strength in the nearby ridings of Hull-Aylmer and Gatineau is spilling over into Cannon’s rural, largely francophone riding. Cannon cancelled a scheduled interview because he said he needed to concentrate his media time with local reporters.”
House plants? The Red Deer Advocate reports, “An Earl Dreeshen lawn sign was propped up in the chair that the Conservative incumbent would have occupied at Thursday’s candidate forum for the federal Red Deer riding. But his absence didn’t stop someone in the audience from asking him a question. ‘Do you think constituencies are effectively represented by humans or house plants? This is a relevant question since so many Conservatives are skipping out on public forums,’ said forum moderator Bill Moore-Kilgannon, executive director of Public Interest Alberta (and Council of Canadians Board member) who read the question to laughter from the crowd of about 90 people at the Golden Circle.”
Transformative moment? Judy Rebick writes on rabble.ca, “If everyone votes, the NDP will certainly be at least the official opposition for the first time in Canadian history. This week on The National, Alan Gregg projected the possibility of a ‘transformative’ moment in Canadian politics with the NDP winning a minority government.”
Electoral change after the election: Carleton University professor Radha Jhappan writes that in the 2008 election, “the Conservatives got approximately twice as many votes as the NDP (5,204,468 to 2,516,935), but almost four times as many seats. (The) Green Party won no seats despite winning the votes of 940,000 Canadians.” The Council of Canadians has consistently supported proportional representation and continues to call for this more democratic electoral system.
Today’s poll: The Vancouver Sun reports this hour (7:15 a.m. ET), “If an election were held tomorrow, the Conservatives would command 38 per cent in support, down five percentage points from a week ago, according to an Ipsos Reid poll for Postmedia News and Global National. The NDP would claim 33 per cent support, up nine points in the past week. The Liberals have dropped three more points and now sit at 18 per cent. The Green party sits at four per cent nationally, unchanged from a week ago. Other polls in the past few days have shown similar margins.” The Toronto Star reports, “The NDP are at 33 per cent support nationwide, up three percentage points in recent days and just four points back from the Conservatives who are at 37 per cent, up two, according to the latest Angus Reid poll done in partnership with the Toronto Star and La Presse. The Liberals have dropped by three percentage points this week to 19 per cent. That’s where the NDP stood at the start of the campaign, illustrating the stunning turn in fortunes for both parties. The Green Party is up one percentage point to 4 per cent.”
Brent Patterson, Political Director, Council of Canadians Support rabble today!
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