When Donald Trump says something about Canada, it favours the Liberals, and when he's not focused on Canada, it favours the Conservatives, says pollster Nik Nanos. Meanwhile, pollster Frank Graves says he's seeing the worst level of despair since he began polling in the 1990s and says the challenge for the government is to provide optimism, security, and prosperity.
Sure, you can put centre wherever you are comfortable. You’re missing the point I’m trying to make though (deliberately, I assume), and that is that the NDP used to be a bit more to the left, and now they have moved a bit more towards the centre-line moving in the rightward direction on that spectrum. Some might say “shifting a bit to the right”. Maybe not a lot, but enough to water down their platform and push them at least firmly into just centrist territory and not centre-left, but I still consider them just to the right of centre.
I think so much of Western societies have shifted quite a bit to the right along with increased globalisation and free trade, and a bunch of US influence and missions trying to eradicate socialist governments, that it has blurred where ‘centre’ is on the spectrum, and ‘centre’ to many people has moved rightward along with the general sentiment of society today. Which is why I think a centre-left party a little bit further left of the NDP would be nice. That or if the NDP shuffled left a couple times and decided to be bold and go all-in on a proper all-encompassing left of centre policy.
I actually agree with a lot of what you’re saying, except perhaps what is considered center. I absolutely agree we could use a more left-leaning party, whether that is the NDP or a new party, but more importantly, we need a system that allows more than two parties to consistently have a meaningful impact in government.
I don’t necessarily think this new party, or the new NDP, should be as left-leaning as you do, but that also wouldn’t matter as much if we didn’t have the lack of representation that parties with less but still notable support receive in our current system.
But you’re also saying NDP is right of center, and I suspect even Europeans in general wouldn’t agree with that, let alone North Americans.
Sure, you can put centre wherever you are comfortable. You’re missing the point I’m trying to make though (deliberately, I assume), and that is that the NDP used to be a bit more to the left, and now they have moved a bit more towards the centre-line moving in the rightward direction on that spectrum. Some might say “shifting a bit to the right”. Maybe not a lot, but enough to water down their platform and push them at least firmly into just centrist territory and not centre-left, but I still consider them just to the right of centre.
I think so much of Western societies have shifted quite a bit to the right along with increased globalisation and free trade, and a bunch of US influence and missions trying to eradicate socialist governments, that it has blurred where ‘centre’ is on the spectrum, and ‘centre’ to many people has moved rightward along with the general sentiment of society today. Which is why I think a centre-left party a little bit further left of the NDP would be nice. That or if the NDP shuffled left a couple times and decided to be bold and go all-in on a proper all-encompassing left of centre policy.
Sure they shifted right but they are not right of centre.
I actually agree with a lot of what you’re saying, except perhaps what is considered center. I absolutely agree we could use a more left-leaning party, whether that is the NDP or a new party, but more importantly, we need a system that allows more than two parties to consistently have a meaningful impact in government.
I don’t necessarily think this new party, or the new NDP, should be as left-leaning as you do, but that also wouldn’t matter as much if we didn’t have the lack of representation that parties with less but still notable support receive in our current system.