Thomas Mulcair was just crowned leader of the [Not So] New Democrat Party of Canada. NDP President Rebecca Blaikie officially announced this and also stated unequivocally that he will be the next Prime Minister of Canada!
You can watch the Games of Delusion live here and the Harper Hatefest on Twitter here.
Update: For a fantastic analysis of Thomas Mulcair and his future, please read this from one of SDA’s favourite commenters, ‘ET’.
I just saw Libby Davies clapping & dancing on stage. Where’s a vomit bag when you need one?! LOL
Mulcair wins,the other 6 candidates point their fingers at the Conservative party as being responsible for their loss.
A crypto communist from Quebec…just what Canada needs.
A very, very bad omen*.
“How Thomas Mulcair won the NDP leadership
Toronto Star”
“*Glass falls from TO’s Trump Tower
Toronto Sun”
http://news.google.ca/
“he will be the next Prime Minister of Canada!”
This goes beyond delusional. The chance of Mulcair ever becoming Prime Minister of Canada is equal to the odds of the Montreal Canadiens and the Edmonton Oilers meeting in the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals.
That being zero.
“The next PM” was just jaw-dropping hilarious. Such is the delusion the NDP lives under.
And winning with just a 7% majority is hardly a sign of unity within the Horde Dippers. Four ballots? Unity? Hah!
I don’t mind the Dips living under their illusions, keeps them from seeing the obvious (Election 2011 was just the stars aligning a certain way, electing many dopes in Quebec.)
Well on the plus side, we’ll be able to understand his english better than tumor-ell.
Don’t underestimate Mulcair and his ambition. He does indeed want to be PM of Canada. And his followers want, one thing: Power.
The next focus is, of course, on the Liberals, who must move fast to counter Mulcair and the NDPs or be utterly demolished.
Mulcair will work to consolidate the NDP control in Quebec. After all, their current dominance in Quebec is sheer fluff. Can they hold on to it?
Then, Mulcair will want to move away from the NDP ideology (which is what Broadbest was so concerned about) – and become more centrist. Leftist centrism, aka, the Liberal party.
That leaves, as noted, the Liberals in the spotlight. Can they retain any strength, anywhere, in Canada? They used to hold Quebec, back in the early Chretien days before he allowed them to have ‘the Bloc’. They used to hold Ontario.
But – the rise of the unions, and the havoc the unions have created in key cities across Canada, with their exhorbitant demands, has created a problem for socialism – whether NDP or Liberal.
Will Rae become leader of the Liberals? Will the Liberals give up and join the NDP? Heh.
Who are these people at the NDP convention?
It was like a mass audition for the remake of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.
Knight
The usual, of course. Policy wonks, social workers, university profs, union officials, union officials, union officials and union officials.
Mulcair’s victory marks a new page in Canadian politics and a shift to the centre by the dippers.
Bolshevik Bob and the Liberal PTB must be peeing themselves about now.
The inevitable verbal jousting between Thomas Mulcair and John Baird promises to be political theatre at its best.
And it will be somewhat of a relief to listen a party leader who can speak French properly and not fracture it. One can only hope he doesn’t think in French.
On a negative note – methinks Canada is inexorably moving to a two party political system. Not a good thing.
Just look south.
The Tinfoil Hat Party say their voting was interfered with.. Like who would waste
their time, and why?
I believe Mulcair is a troofer and a corpser too.
The first ballot results showed that 70% of people voted AGAINST Mulcair.
His leadership is illegitimate.
Democracy is broken.
It’s time for NDP members to launch an Arab Spring.
sadly i watched a bit of the coverage this afternoon. only to laugh at the gongshow as their online voting system was constantly crashed. last i heardthey went with the lowest priced, non union provider from spain. they must have been taking lessons from the sask ndp.
well it isn’t as bad as Dion who 82.2% of Liberals didn’t want.
Does Mulcair frequent prostitutes or was that just a Layton thing?
Jeff at 10:16
Good one I needed a good Laugh.
Lions and tigers and bears Oh my. Lions and tigers and bears oh my. What ever are we to do.
Since Harper is the center not right wing like the left wing likes to point out it is going to get crowded.
The Cry Bitch and Complain network will call for an election so Tommy can stomp PM Harper. Not.
Mulcair will now take Harper, bend him over, twist his ear and make little Stevie squeel like a pig. Squeeeeeelll!!!! Hahaha.
Iberia >
” ……squeeeeeel”
Like all inbred loony’s like to do.
Well or at least try, but that’s why Harper is insuring that normal folk’s can arm themselves. Good luck.
Prime Minister Dion. Hmmm….
Prime Minister Iffy. Hmmm….
Prime Minister Mulcair. Hmmm….
Quebec won”t dissapoint Mulcair . The NDP will definately be disappointed with Quebec .
“n a negative note – methinks Canada is inexorably moving to a two party political system. Not a good thing.
Just look south.
Posted by: Paul at March 24, 2012 10:11 PM ”
Methinks not. Do you honestly think the lying,scheming,scuzzie,commie Lieberal party will ever let the commie light NDPers take over from them? If anything,we are heading for many,many years of sensible gubermint.Well,as sensible as politicians can be.
Fantastic result, next best thing to Hedy Fry as leader.
The NDP will be all kweerbec all the time now, the have no representation on the Prairies or Atlantic and BC won’t get a look-in. Lots of disenfranchised beardy-weirdies and women with moustaches will now gravitate to the Greens splitting the commie voters even further.
Gotta go celebrate. No soft jobs for Broadbent to “solve child poverty” woo-hoo.
I think that Mulcair has several problems.
First, he’s from Quebec. Now, why is that a problem? Because Quebec is isolate, ideologically, from the rest of the country. It is a ‘kept’ society, existing within a dependence for its identity and its fiscal security – not within itself but on Outsiders, on the Rest of Canada. This sense of distance, of alienation, is embedded within you if you are raised in Quebec; you don’t even know you have this essential component of your identity: Us (Quebec) and Not Us (the ROC).
Second, as part of this background, Mulcair is also functioning within the 1950s view of Canada, which consisted of Ontario-Quebec as both the economic and political power. That is, the population base of Canada was, 80%, in those two provinces. They ran the nation. Is Mulcair aware that this is no longer reality? That both the economy and the demographic power have shifted West?
Third, we are moving out of the post war splurge on socialism and into a realistic world where we understand that focusing on the delights of the Consumption phase of the economic triad, is no longer sustainable. We must pay attention to the basic phases of Investment and Production.
The NDP have never, ever – and I mean never, ever, been involved in these two phases. Their focus has always been on the final phase: Consumption – and their agenda has been to force equality of consumption on everyone. Who will pay? Why, the private sector. And the future. This is no longer sustainable.
Fourth, the NDP, like all leftwing ideologies, has been based in two electoral areas:
The first is on identity politics, where it isolates ‘victim groups’ and makes them dependent on subsidies and special treatment by the govt. (A key example in the US is the Democratic demolishing black enterprise by defining them as a group and as victims). The Supreme Court in Canada has just set this up, for aboriginals, as law. But, although multiculturalism is entrenched in our Charter, we are moving away from it.
The second group is located in yet another ‘kept’ population; govt civil service, academics and the sophist intellectualists, the media. These people live very well off the largesse of the taxpayer, forming an elite set of bureaucrats, with jobs for life, and benefits and pensions unavailable in the private sector. Their unions, which are massive corporations, have only one agenda: money.
Now- this group selfdefines itself as’compassionate’; their compassion is shown by demanding that the private sector taxpayer hand over more money – to the ‘victims’ of the private sector.
But – the era of the unions, of the growth of a dependent population, is imploding.
Therefore, what is Mulcair’s ideology? And what is his population base? And – is he aware that Canada is no longer the same as it was in 1950?
And, there’s the Liberals. Will they disappear and merge (and I’m sure Mulcair will work very hard to achieve this) – or…?
ET/11:20 PM
interesting analysis as always. cheers
A pigs metaphor, huh? Bob Pig built his house out of straw, and Tom Pig built his house out of twigs, but Steve Pig built his house out of stronger materials that can easily withstand the strong winds of BS blowing from the wolf pundits. Lizzie Pig hasn’t yet achieved full Pig status because for now she’s only just a piglet.
ET – spot on at 11:20. Don’t forget the Green faction within the NDP (that is, the environmentalists that want to keep their party both the party of preserving Gaia and protecting the “working man”). The Left is trying to coalesce in a similar fashion to how the Conservatives did when the Reform, Alliance, and PC parties eventually merged into the current conservatives (including many of the red Tories leaving, going home to the Liberals) and the Liberals and NDP are doing a mating dance to determine who will get which fiefdom within the resulting party.
Most of my political knowledge is based upon what I’ve seen is based on growing up in BC. Their core voting block will not care who is nominated as long as they belong the the right party. They see nothing wrong with the NDP being simultaneously the party of big government (government should control all), big minority (government must suppress others so no one else does better than we do, and no-one can develop things in Our Land unless we say so and get a big piece of the pie), big environment (no one is allowed to flourish or develop anything), and big labour (business must stay healthy enough to give us annual raises and bonuses for coming to work mostly on time). The Enemy is whoever does not believe, or who points out the inconsistencies in “our” worldview. The Enemy must be counteracted and destroyed (see “Rules for Radicals”).
For those low on comprehension, I don’t favor any of the above. I’m like a bird-watcher, trying to figure out what those who don’t believe the same things as me are likely to think. I am, however, looking for feedback on what parts I have right or wrong. The NDP has a lot more factions than what I listed, but I think that those are the core constituents.
Wow… ET… amazing… once again the insights and analysis from SDA contributors is something to behold. Thank you.
Some other problems….
Dissatisfaction with the status quo in Quebec will lead most to gravitate back to the Bloc. Voting for Jack in 2011 was a lark. Deceppe was complacent and the Bloc had stopped trying.
The motley crew that was elected in 2011 was a point well made for everyone, but as Lise St. Denis stated, “People voted for Jack Layton…and Jack Layton is dead.”
Secondly…the per-vote-subsidy is winding down. Next year it’ll be half what it was in 2011. By 2015….it’s gone.
Leftists tend not to dig into their own pockets for a cause…it’s their ideology….it’s the governments job.
“Mulcair will now take Harper, bend him over,”
Gee,Iberia, I don’t think Harper swings that way.Do you swing that way??
Pray that Harper lives a long life.
I think the NPD has some internal problems that have yet to come to light.
It is unusual for the defeated candidates in a leadership race to not throw their support behind one of the frontrunners.Martin Singh was the only of the 5 to pledge support.
Either Nash or Cullen could have swung the results,but they didn’t. That is puzzling. I do not think that the ‘setting the voters free’ idea is valid in this situation. The NPD are not an altruistic group of people.
ET: “Will Rae become leader of the Liberals? Will the Liberals give up and join the NDP?”
Only The Shadow Knows …
Mulcair also has an image problem. Lefty females often dislike beards. Mulcair must shave clean, move to a moustache, or risk alienating a portion of his base.
Marco – do you mean that lefty females feel challenged by males who have more facial hair than they do? (note: not men, males.)
The new NDP leader will immediately be under intense pressure to signal his future course of action.
Seek a photo op meeting with Obamugabe, Mullah Omar, Ahmadinejad, Hu Jintao plus a pilgrimage
to Marx’s grave and Lenin’s tomb?
.
Was it only me who thought that Topp looked like he believed his name was about to be announced as winner?
He looked quite self-satisfied just as “the next Prime Minister of Canada” was trumpeted and then, a brief tightening and diminishment of the smile before he went back to his game face.
Given the ideological chasm between the two top contestants, I’d wager that there will be an ongoing inner struggle for the soul of the party. One wants to reaffirm and strengthen it’s socialist foundation while the other wants to re-brand it as the ‘centrist alternative’ to what is already a very centrist Conservative Party.
Let the political infighting begin!
Wallj — I suspect you are correct about the divisions just beneath the surface. Someone (can’t remember who) was complaining about Dewar taking votes away from Nash. Presumably had he not been so arrogant in running, his votes would have gone to Nash who then would have come in ahead of Cullen on the second ballot. Then she could have thrown her support to Topp. By the time she had the opportunity, she was off the ballot and Mulcair already on the road to victory, plus her support was not enough at that point. I think there are many angry pro unionists out there.
http://m.straight.com/s?fid=22&a=644161&f=latest&s=60
Knight 99 – “Harper is insuring that normal folk’s can arm themselves” How so? Can you elaborate?
Couple of points. In the Liberals we have a Toronto Rump Party, led by a former NDP Premier who bankrupted Ontario. In the NDP we have a former Liberal for a leader who is also a French Citizen. At the same time NDP support has collapsed in Quebec and the BLOC is back. The NDP and the BLOC policies of Separatism in Quebec are pretty much identical federally. Keep in mind the Liberal God Father Trudeau is also the Father of Separatism in Quebec. It was his concentration of all power into Ottawa that created Separatism in Quebec. Harper wisely, by decentralizing and returning to Constitutionally Correct Federalism or respecting the Division of Powers under the BNA in Sect 91 & 92 of the BNA. Took the wind out of the BlOC sails in Quebec. The NDP filled that vacum temporarily it seems. Now the NDP will be in a death struggle against the BLOC in Quebec. At the same time Harper played another card, and created an additional 30 seats in English Canada, after winning a majority without Quebec. Harper has sucked up all the air in the centre of the Political Pie in Canada. Now the NDP/LIB/Bloc SEPARATIST Parties are left to gut each other in a 3 way Mexican Knife Fight for the crumbs from the Socialists, Communists and Greens as Harper consolidates with much of those 30 new seats in the centre. A good portion of them in Western Canada which is his base now. He will use rural Ontario and increasingly the 900 zone in Ontario as his swing. The NDP/LIB/BLOC SEPARATIST parties are going to be lying in the shadows and stinking like Weasel Sh*t for a few years. The historic shift of money and political power to the New West is a train that has left the station with Harper as the Engineer and Conductor and he has slammed the door on the boxcar on the hands of the Welfare Bum Parties of Canada…It will prove increasingly hard for the Fringe Parties like the Liberals and others of that Ilk, as he has also cut of their big source of funding by getting rid of the Poll Tax or Voter Forced Union Dues by ending the Voter Subsidy to Political Parties. I think soon he will slam the lid shut on the Lefts Fake Charity Funding by Foreign Interests like Avaaz and Soros etc. Hopefully he guts the CBC in this budget, which will be the equivalent of duct taping the mouths of the Left in Canada. The Harper Purgative is roiling the bowels of the Socialists in Canada mightily. And Harper has the keys to the washroom. Watch the brown stains grow on the backsides of the Socialists as they struggle over the one hole sh*tter that Harper has boobie trapped for them….
Thomas Mulch-hair, Prime Minister of Canada.
It does have a ring to it.
Sylvanguy…how about mule-hair.
How about March-Hare ?
Isn’t the CBC covering the NDP convention a bit like Bonnie covering Clyde?
Couple of observations:
When the mule was on his way to the podium Don Martin was trying without success to get a running interview with him. Mule’s handlers don’t seem to care for the media much and particularly the english media.
When the mule did his victory speech, he spoke almost exsclusively in french and when he did speak english, he did not repeat what he said in french.
His first interview was with Radio-Canada, this is not pointed out as bad or good, I’m pointing out how the man interacts. His next interview was with Mansbridge, where he was asked about a possible merger with the liberal party…to which he catagorically insisted no.
Mansbridge did however remind the mule that he asked the same question to Peter MacKay and Peter also stated “uncatagorically” there would be no talks with the other party.
So from this writers perception, I see a Quebec politician that is experienced in playing the political game in Quebec.
ET was correct I believe in that the mule is looking at the situation from a 1950 perspective.
I’ll modify that sentiment by saying that as a Quebec nationalist/fair-weather federalist he see’s Canada as a power sharing agreement between two nations. This world view has some unwritten rules:
1-The Quebecer’s rule of alternation, where the PM chair is expected to be filled alternately by a Quebec franco-phone and an anglo from the ROC.
2-Quebecer’s expect their politician’s to make unrealistic promises, the costs of which will be borne by the ROC who in their opinion has an unfair advantage.
3-Quebec will favour its own during an election and expect that he/she will lie to win votes, so long as the lies are spoken in english and the voters being lied to are in the ROC.
Now these unwritten rules are dependant on the balance of power remaining in the Toronto-Montreal corridor. Economics however have changed that situation dynamically, a higher Canadian dollar fueled by wealth generation in the resource sector. ANother being that the election funding rules are now changed, which has taken the oxygen supply away from those that operate under the old rules.
One last obsevation about the mule.
He quit the liberal party in Quebec around the same time that Adscam was making the news.
Aside from that I’ll make a closing comment on the latest truth ad from the CPC. It wasn’t done to remind voters about the dangers of Bob Rae, it was done to define the next leader of the NDP and to refresh voters memories of what happens if they start to think “what harm could they do?”.
Thomas Mooch-hare, Moonbat: Outremont, Quebec.
Boy those NDPQ minions were working overtime in getting his Wiki page updated!
Under the paragraph of “Advocate for improved environmental rights” comes this snipet of a gem:
“…..to create a new right, the right to live in a healthy environment that respects biodiversity…..”
Move over Lizzy May.
Oh RFB, that is too funny, but so correct. The sphincters of the Canadian lefties could and should be used to cut steel pipe. As long as Steven Harper is in power this is a resource that is going untapped, just look at their contorted continuous lemon sucking like looks on their faces, this is just great watching. Mulcair will be another Broadbent Mcdonahaha Layton like leftie, some leftie please tell me WHO, has financed this fringe festival partie all these years, how can and could a political party that has only ever garnered roughly 10 percent of the most stingiest, poorest monetarily, misguided people of Canada, ever keep going? Like Maos party in China and Castro in the early days I guessing, money has always flowed from Russia
Yes, as others have pointed out, the loss of that basic funding source, that enforced contribution by the public to each political party is a major concern.
The Bloc relied heavily on this fund. Quebecers are not known for donating to charity or to government.
The NDP and Liberals are also functioning within an electoral base that does not contribute, on their own, to any charity or funding.
So- money is a very real problem for the leftwing parties. The Conservatives on the other hand long ago turned to grassroots funding from private individuals and have been very successful.
The other thing is: ideology. The Liberals long ago, and particularly in the era of Chretien, moved out of policy and programs. They focused on: power. Their current dilemma is that, without power, they do not exist. That’s a very real problem.
The NDP, on the other hand, were all about and only about: ideology. Not power.
The thing about being ‘all ideology’ without the power and therefore necessity to implement these agendas is the heady, emotional freedom of such a lifestyle. You can say anything without the concomitant duty to make it actual. You can be a teenager and threaten to leave home and not be obliged to do so.
So, the NDP were entrapped in the security of their seminar rooms – words, words and more wonderful emotional words. heh.
The Conservatives, on the other hand, are not ideological but infrastructural; that is, they do not envisage a ‘future perfect social order’. The Conservative perspective is infrastructural: smaller govt infrastructure, (enables more political and economic freedom), and a focus primarily on large scale infrastructure (enabling saving, investment, trade, security). They don’t move into social issues.
The dilemma for the two leftwing parties is very real. It’s easy and often inevitable in times of economic wealth, to move into a socialist perspective. But when the economy reduces its offerings, then, socialism, or the ‘taking money from the private sector to distribute to others’ becomes less feasible.
The left, who are heavily in the govt funded employment sector (civil and public service, academics) have set up a system where most of their lifestyle is protected from this same Tax Agent. Their benefits and pensions are not taxed and both are beyond the realm of the private sector.
These benefits are major lifestyle comforts, and include extra vacation time, sick leave, travel costs (disguised as conference costs), meals and meeting costs (heh), office equipment (that new computer); phone costs, tuition costs…they are major lifestyle benefits.
These people are the Liberal/NDP supporters and the ideology of the left can’t lose them. But, can the private sector support them? Will the private sector like this use of taxpayer money? The public service unions are becoming aware that the electorate does NOT like their demands.
So, where does that leave the Liberals and the NDP? As others have noted, there’s the Bloc and the Greens to also deal with, each with their own agendas, and neither are part of the Conservative realm.
Joseph – nice comments. Exactly right about the Quebec mindset and their focus on ‘two nations’. You have to live there to ‘feel’ it; it’s not a conscious perspective.
And yes, Mulcair was a Liberals. Remember, Bob Rae was the leader of the NDP party in Ontario.
And, with Mulcair living in the 1950s, when the apex of political, demographic and economic power was Ontario-Quebec – are they aware that this is no longer the reality of Canada?
Just go to Statistics Canada and check out populations and changes; check out GDP – it’s all there in hard facts.
Another reality is the change in the USA. And elsewhere. As noted, it’s easy to be ideological when the economy is bursting with wealth and productivity. But, when the economy falters, people move back from the seminar rooms to reality. It’s interesting to watch – how can a political party such as the Liberals, who have no policies and only had power, operate without power? And how can the NDP, who were only about ideology, exist without ideology? Fascinating.