Lawrence Leduc is a professor in the political science department at the University of Toronto. He was one of several I called up today to get their observations about Monday's byelection results.
Here's an excerpt of the note he was generous enough to send my way:
Three things seem to stand out. Given that by-elections are generally bad news for governing parties, the Conservatives did rather well. That may not say much of anything about a future general election, but it does run against the most common by-election pattern.
Second, the slippage of the Bloc in a riding that has been fairly reliable in the past may signal something. I have been expecting Bloc voting strength to erode for a long time now. But it never has. This could be an indication that the Bloc may have difficulty holding on to some of its long standing sources of support. However, the same caution applies. By-elections are not all that realiabe as indicators of longer term trends.
Finally, I am a bit surprised that other parties didn't seem to make any impact in these elections. By-elections are a natural stalking ground for Green parties, for example. But they seemed to be almost invisible this time. Wonder why. Didn't look like they even made an effort. Where was Elizabeth May over the past few weeks?
Can there be any greater rationale to look into the public subsidy of political parties than this example?
The GPC and its leader was no where to be seen in these by-elections as Lawrence Leduc pointed out. So, why not?
It's because taxpayers subsidize the GPC to the tune of $1.8 million per year, and the vast vast majority of these funds are devoted to electing Elizabeth May, directly or through her clingons. Why doesn't the presss look into this further?
Peter Stoffer took Mike Duffy to atask for his spending of public funds. David, why not look into this perversion?
How much do you want to bet Elizabeth May and company will be flying, en masse, to Copanhagen to criticise, once again, Canada in the world forum, where she, as GPC leader will have have absolutelyzerO INFLUENCE? Are we as taxpayers simply funding another E-NGO?
If there was a better case for eliminating public subsidies for political parties, it escapes me.
I hear you but while Stoffer was making a point about unelected senators, Ms. May and the Greens did get votes from millions of taxpayers who are presumably quite happy to see their $1.99 a year go to the Greens just as, I'm sure, you're happy to see $1.99 a year come out of your pocket and go to the political party you voted for.
I know it sounds crazy, but Elizabeth May just doesn't know much about politics. I know her well enough, having run her leadership Campaign in Ontario, and managed the National Canvas in that 2006 race. The problem is that she thinks she can do everything herself. She doesn't trust anybody that she didn't hire herself, and she thinks that she knows more than anybody else in the Green Party about politics.
As a result, the Party doesn't really do anything that she isn't personally interested in at the moment. At this moment, she is interested in winning a seat in SGI, (fat chance), so Catherine Johansen, putative and titular head of the election readiness committee didn't put a nickle of money, or so much as 1 staffer into supporting role for the by-elections. There it is in a nutshell. Please stay tuned though, there will be a Leadership race next year for the Green Party, and if she hasn't won in SGI, then there will be a new leader, with a bit more of a commitment to the Party, and less inclined to hire nincompoops.
True enough, though when she was touting herself as a Duffy predecessor in the coalition Dion gov't, she claimed SHE got close to a million votes in 2008.
Most GPC voters, I'm sure, would rather see their $1.99 subsidy spent in their riding, supporting the “grassroots” efforts of the local candidate they voted for.
These by-elections are a good litmus test of the shift and disconnect.
I know it sounds crazy, but Elizabeth May just doesn't know much about politics. I know her well enough, having run her leadership Campaign in Ontario, and managed the National Canvas in that 2006 race.
Get your' facts in line please. In the GPC, a proportion of the per vote subsidy is remitted to the local Riding association. How large a proportion is determined by a formula rewarding depth of EDA (riding) executive, and membership numbers in the riding. Therefore, a big chunk of the per vote subsidy is spent locally. You have verified the value of anonymous comments and commentators. Zero.