3 Party System Rocks

Many Canadians are concerned about the recent Conservative Party victory which gave them a Majority. There are fears that the Conservatives will move Canada from a country that governs from the center to the right. Clearly a majority government will allow this shift in policy, but how hard will the shift be? It is a question that many of us in Canada ponder on a regular basis.The minority governments have pulled the reigns on Steven Harper and forced the politicians to compromise on policy, is this compromise dead? I think not.

The Conservative Party has a rare political opportunity over the next 5 years. It can govern and guarantee Conservative domination for the next 20 years or it can create a backlash that will bring the Liberal Party back to life. Here is the crux of the political environment. If the Conservative govern to far to the right, Canadians will resurrect the Liberal party in 5 years. The Harper government has a crucial political decision to ponder – what do we need to do to keep the Liberal irrelevant. The 3rd party plays a large role in how a government can operate.

If Canadians needed to make a decision between Conservative policy and NDP policy, then we would be drawn into the polarizing political arena that exist with our neighbours to the south. Don’t like to vote for extreme right or left political parties, what chose do you have. I feel for many voters in the US – Republicans or Democrat? Republicans are the rich kids who bully the poor kids into voting for a system that benefits a minority of people – that would be the rich kids. Democrats are the middle class that have all of the principled and honourable policy but lack the courage and conviction to actually do anything. Good Luck with that.

In Canada, The NDP has traditionally been the weakest of the 3 parties, but they had great influence in how the ruling party governed. Now, it is the Liberals who will have great influence in how the Conservative govern. The Conservative will be responsible for the resurrection of the Liberal party based on whether or not they govern to the center.