NDP-Liberal coalition?
Hey, it's worked before. Ontario was governed from 1985-1987 by an enormously popular Liberal-NDP coalition led by David Peterson and Bob Rae. Now Nova Scotia Liberal leader Francis Mackenzie is floating the idea of propping up Darrell Dexter, the NDP opposition leader. As premier Rodney Macdonald's Conservatives only won a minority government, this is distinctly possible.
But let's look at the downside for the Liberals - if the NDP-Liberal government is popular, they risk getting hit the same way Rae did in 1987, when people credited Peterson with the popular moves the government had made, and rewarded him with a huge majority government. Nevertheless, the alternative is another two or so years of Conservative rule for Nova Scotia. If Dexter's looking to be premier, he should jump at the deal - two years from now, he can turn his minority into a majority, or lose it entirely. But what's he got to lose?
posted by Ryan Ringer @ 6/15/2006 12:46:00 p.m.
2 comments
2 Comments:
Dexter is possibly aiming to eliminate the Liberals entirely; bringing them into a coalition might allow him to usurp their popularity, but it also runs the risk of giving them legitimacy. If he and the NDP wait this out, and let the NS Liberals continue to waste, they might be in a position to do completely replace them, like the NDP did in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
I am not too keen on this myself. Like Ryan, I am a former Progressive Conservative who joined the Liberals after the Alliance took over the party. However, I still continue to support the provincial PCs where they exist. The reality is Rodney Macdonald is probably closer to Paul Martin ideologically than he is to Stephen Harper. Even Darrel Dexter is more centrist than Jack Layton.
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