If NDP and Liberal leaders Jack Layton and Michael Ignatieff had taken the advice of their elder statesmen and looked for a way to pool forces earlier this year, the result of their joint efforts would likely be doing better in the polls than their separate parties.She later warns that if they don't there will most likely be a majority Conservative government after next election.
Instead, the end of 2010 finds the two main national opposition parties on opposite ends of a teeter-totter. They are each ensuring that the other does not go up very high or for very long.
Like the then-Reformers, some New Democrats continue to believe they will eventually overtake the Liberals or, short of that, at least gain enough ground to have a strong hand in any future negotiation with a minority Liberal regime.I think even with a Lib/Dipper merger they would have a tough time. I sense the mood of the public is now changing. They are moving more to the right looking for , smaller government, lower taxes, spending cuts, less red tape, reform of the criminal justice system, reform of the immigration system etc.
They are all more likely to end up sitting side by side across from a majority Conservative government.
A majority Conservative government is something this country needs especially if there will be difficult decisions that will have to be made in the near future about how to get our country out of deficit and debt, deal with the looming health care crisis, pensions etc.. Canadians find the Conservatives more trustworthy when dealing with those issues more so than the Libs or the Dippers. If the Libs and Dippers don't offer credible policy to deal with those issues, they will be climbing an uphill battle.
