The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

hobbyguy
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Re: The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

Post by hobbyguy »

At this point the CFP is just a fledgling. That said, there are some people with political views that have been or are involved with the CIC group that would at least, on the surface, give some credibility to the effort to build a new party.

Peter Kent (former Conservative cabinet minister), Marjory LeBreton (former senate leader), and Rick Peterson all bring some gravitas to the effort. Some other "names" that have been around this effort are Christy Clark and Andrew Coyne.

There is a lot of political know how and experience involved with this group. There is also an element of wild card in Dominic Cardy (a Tony Blair fan).

They may just hit a nerve with the major parties in federal politics. There are currently significant numbers of "blue Liberals" and "red Tories" that are less than happy with choices offered by any of the current parties. That's the political opening: there is no solid "political home" for for the fiscally/economically conservative (small c) and socially liberal (small l)/progressive core of Canadians.

Given the huge amount of effort, expenditure of "political capital", and money that Poilievre and the CPC have devoted to trying (unsuccessfully) to destroying the PPC, it will be interesting to watch the development of the CFP. My bet is that the Liberals will be taking note as well.

The polarization of our politics has, in my opinion, left a large gap in the center of Canadian politics. The CFP has the potential to fill that gap.

No illusions about "easy victories" for a new federal party. That said, there some spots in the country where such a center right oriented party could make some noise and perhaps some inroads if they can attract the right candidates. Spots like Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton, the Maritimes, and parts of BC should present opportunities for breakthroughs by the CFP.

This is a good development for democracy in Canada. We have been devolving into a two party system both federally and provincially, and that isn't healthy for the country's future.

ETA: by the way, it is the Canadian Future Party....
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Re: The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

Post by Spiff »

Thanks for the tip on Andrew Coyne.

It seems he was concerned about the definition of centrist.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion ... fine-what/

But I think the new party has stuck a very good balance. :up:

Also, I think if people bothered to watch the recent CPC Conferece plenary session they may have seen a surprising number of potential converts to this new venture.
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Re: The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

Post by hobbyguy »

Spiff wrote: Sep 22nd, 2023, 10:09 am Thanks for the tip on Andrew Coyne.

It seems he was concerned about the definition of centrist.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion ... fine-what/

But I think the new party has stuck a very good balance. :up:

Also, I think if people bothered to watch the recent CPC Conferece plenary session they may have seen a surprising number of potential converts to this new venture.
Yup. There are many sensible small c conservatives who have no use for the Poilievre driven politics of extremism. The CFP may offer them a political home.

The challenge for the CFP will be the creation of a credible vision for Canada's future. If they can do that - and looks like they can - then the CFP could grow into a winner faster than conventional thinking would presume.

Don't forget that the Reform party was seen as inconsequential and unlikely to succeed when they started up. So was the PPC but the PPC have made some real noise in Canadian politics. The CFP appears to be going after a broader audience than the PPC.
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Re: The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

Post by Spiff »

The, 'radical centre." [icon_lol2.gif]

"Michael Taube: Canadian Future, a party for losers

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/michae ... for-losers"
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Re: The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

Post by hobbyguy »

Spiff wrote: Sep 23rd, 2023, 5:27 am The, 'radical centre." [icon_lol2.gif]

"Michael Taube: Canadian Future, a party for losers

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/michae ... for-losers"
The very fact that the CPC touts are responding - so quickly and vehemently - is a testament to the reality that "red Tories" and "blue Liberals" are indeed a significant political force.

Canada and Canadian democracy are best served when there is a range choices and political homes for folks.

The Poilievre/Smith axis of CPC/UCP power is defined by groups like the Coalition Life Canada and Take Back Alberta (which as I understand it grew out of the Coutts blockade stuff).

Both the CPC and the UCP are attempts at "unite the right" parties. The problem with all such "unity" parties is that the moderates compromise and the extremists never will. Such "united" parties always (whether they are "unite the left" or "unite the right") move inexorably to the extremes. Canada is fortunate to have 3 parties on the "left" - which allows more diversity of choice. The center right (where a lot of small c conservatives reside) has been deserted by the CLC/TBA dominated CPC with Poilievre the negative at the helm.

The Liberals are not a favored choice of "red Tories" (e.g. former PMs Joe Clark and Kim Campbell) but neither are the firebrand populists and dogmatic ideologues of the CPC being led in the current iteration by Poilievre (the chameleon Canadian version of Nigel Farage).

It is important to recognize that Peter MacKay - a progressive conservative - got 1/3 of the votes in the CPC 2020 leadership race, and Erin O'Toole - a much more moderate figure than Poilievre the negative - got almost a third of the vote. O'Toole's commentaries upon leaving politics are quite damning of the Poilievre led CPC directions - which includes stamping out the PPC ( as yet unsuccessful). It is telling that the CPC "unite the right" party is soooo fragile that it cannot tolerate the existence of the PPC (whom I suspect will be around for quite some time).

As I commented earlier, the same types of assaults were made on the Reform party when Preston Manning kicked it into gear. That turned out rather differently than the pundits thought.

Poilievre himself knows that the CFP is a very real threat and it appears he has unleashed his minions to try to commit infanticide upon the CFP. I don't think that effort will succeed.

In the 1997 election, the Progressive Conservatives - trying to recover from the Mulroney disaster sell out of Canadians - got 20 seats in parliament and 19% of the national vote. That's the kind of representation that the CFP can shoot for to start. In my opinion Peter MacKay should never have sold out the PCs to the Reform bunch.

One only need look to the successes of Doug Ford ( a populist flavor of progressive conservative) and Tim Houston to recognize that there is a strong progressive conservative political constituency out there. In fact, it is my thought that a progressive conservative party would do very well in most parts of BC.

That's all "getting ahead of things" as the CFP is just in its infancy. Given the people involved, I expect that progressive conservative type party will emerge. I subscribed to their emails to keep tabs.

And don't forget, the only conservative to ever beat a Trudeau was Joe Clark - a progressive conservative - who was able to attract "blue Liberal" votes.

There are plenty of conservatives who disagree with the hardliners currently running the UCP/CPC axis.
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Re: The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

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And I believe some of them used to be here.
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Re: The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

Post by Gone_Fishin »

hobbyguy wrote: Sep 23rd, 2023, 11:49 am There are plenty of conservatives who disagree with the hardliners currently running the UCP/CPC axis.
Well, look what the cat dragged back in.

"Plenty?" Is that why Pierre has 42% support and Justin has 22%?

People know better than to split the center-right vote when the vast majority want to rid us of the corrupt, communist tyranny of the past 8 years.
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Re: The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

Post by Spiff »

And how many of you cared to look at the vote splits and the propsal components that were tossed out here?

https://www.cpac.ca/episode?id=edfcce6d ... 1e9a38359a
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Re: The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

Post by Rol-Tanguy »

Spiff wrote: Sep 21st, 2023, 7:16 am The Canada Future Party.

https://www.centreicecanadians.ca/post/lets-get-to-work

Yesterday I saw a Pierre Poilievere commercial. [icon_lol2.gif]
No, not to the Parties of Government nor really to any political scene. From the looks of it, it will only carry surface level changes in rhetoric while keeping with the pre-existing politics as is the case with all the other status quo parties.
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Re: The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

Post by Spiff »

Rol-Tanguy wrote: Sep 23rd, 2023, 3:25 pm
Spiff wrote: Sep 21st, 2023, 7:16 am The Canada Future Party.

https://www.centreicecanadians.ca/post/lets-get-to-work

Yesterday I saw a Pierre Poilievere commercial. [icon_lol2.gif]
No, not to the Parties of Government nor really to any political scene. From the looks of it, it will only carry surface level changes in rhetoric while keeping with the pre-existing politics as is the case with all the other status quo parties.
But the new party has yet to develop and present any policies other than to dump the Poilivier and Trudeau 'attitudes.'

https://www.centreicecanadians.ca/post/lets-get-to-work
Last edited by Spiff on Sep 23rd, 2023, 3:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

Post by Rol-Tanguy »

Spiff wrote: Sep 23rd, 2023, 3:35 pm
Rol-Tanguy wrote: Sep 23rd, 2023, 3:25 pm

No, not to the Parties of Government nor really to any political scene. From the looks of it, it will only carry surface level changes in rhetoric while keeping with the pre-existing politics as is the case with all the other status quo parties.
But the new party has yet to develop and present any policies other than to dump Poilivier's and Trudeau's 'attitudes.'
Exactly. It's about surface rhetoric. This makes, if even developed, any foundation of theirs built on sand. A reason why other parties of the status quo (such as the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, Greens, Bloc) do stand is partly because they have a more solid foundation to stand on that isn't based on contemporary "attitudes". The idea of a new party along the same lines as this proposal has been created before for the same reason, they don't stick.
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Re: The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

Post by Spiff »

Rol-Tanguy wrote: Sep 23rd, 2023, 3:42 pm
Spiff wrote: Sep 23rd, 2023, 3:35 pm

But the new party has yet to develop and present any policies other than to dump Poilivier's and Trudeau's 'attitudes.'
Exactly. It's about surface rhetoric. This makes, if even developed, any foundation of theirs built on sand. A reason why other parties of the status quo (such as the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, Greens, Bloc) do stand is partly because they have a more solid foundation to stand on that isn't based on contemporary "attitudes". The idea of a new party along the same lines as this proposal has been created before for the same reason, they don't stick.
A centrist party?

Well, let's stick around and see what develops.
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Re: The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

Post by Old Sailor »

Spiff wrote: Sep 23rd, 2023, 3:44 pm Well, let's stick around and see what develops.
I suspect a lot more Horse Puckey!
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Re: The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

Post by Spiff »

Draft policy framework that lead to the launch.

https://www.centreicecanadians.ca/post/policy-framework
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Re: The Canada Future Party: Will it be a threat?

Post by George Orwell 1984 »

Does anybody care ?

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