Lots of nomination news for all!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/can-spurned-afghan-detainee-watchdog-topple-tory-mp/article1827850/

Solid candidate recruitment for the Liberals in Eastern Ontario, with Peter Tinsley,
former chair of the Military Police Complaints Commission, who will seek the Liberal nomination (and will almost certainly be the candidate) in Prince Edward-Hastings. Tinsley failed to be reappointed as chair after his investigations into the Afghan detainee file.

http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/282425--braden-seeks-liberal-nomination

And a contested nomination is in the works in ADFW, with longtime municipal councilor and environmental activist Dave Braden seeking the Liberal nomination, alongside former Ancaster councillor Bryan Kerman, and Maple Leaf Foods vice-president for environmental affairs Anne Tennier of Waterdown.

http://www.nsnews.com/news/2011+bumper+year+sausages/3930128/story.html

Interesting race shaping up in North Vancouver for the Liberals, with municipal councilor Roger Bassam now facing Kevin O'Brien, a veteran MLA and former speaker of the assembly in Nunavut. No word on former Green candidate Jim Stepehenson, who seemed to have declared a run, possibly dropped out, and maybe jumped back in.

Read more: http://www.nsnews.com/news/2011+bumper+year+sausages/3930128/story.html#ixzz17YtOYADD

http://www.simcoe.com/news/article/911725--guergis-insists-she-still-has-support


This article on the Conservative nomination for Simcoe-Grey mentions a name I haven't seen mentioned before, Paul Throop, a longtime Tory activist and staffer to Peter MacKay, who will face off against Collingwood mayor Chris Carrier and the star candidate who seems heavily favoured by the party establishment,orthopedic surgeon Kellie Leitch.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/kootenay_rockies/kootenayadvertiser/news/111282494.html

The Kootenay-Columbia Tory nomination has gained a new contestant, Dale Shudra, a local businessman.

http://www.ngnews.ca/News/Local/2010-11-30/article-2006683/County-councillor-David-Parker-seeking-federal-NDP-nomination/1

Rounding thing up, county councillor David Parker is looking for the NDP nomination for Central Nova. David is the brother of a local NDP MLA.

Nomination news from PEI and Quebec

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/10/22/pei-charlottetown-liberal-casey-584.html

The federal Liberal nomination in Charlottetown has a declared contender, with lawyer Sean Casey jumping in. Casey has deep roots in the party and in Charlottetown, serving as past president of the Liberal Party of Prince Edward Island and the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce.


http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1208969.html

Staying out east, former PC MLA and cabinet minister David Morse says he will run for the Conservative nomination in Kings-Hants. Morse had been the MLA for Kings South, but was defeated in the NDP wave which swept Nova Scotia in 2009. Interestingly, Morse confirmed what many have accused the Tories of, favouring government held ridings as part of government spending:

"It is increasingly obvious that Kings-Hants has paid a price as we have been left out of discretionary federal projects," Morse said in the release."

Interesting to see how those comments go over.

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-canadienne/201010/27/01-4336693-le-bloc-confirmera-le-recrutement-dun-ancien-du-npd.php

And a bit of a grab for the BQ in Montreal, with former NDP candidate in Hochelaga Jean-Claude Rocheleau running for the BQ in the east-end riding of La Pointe-de-l'Île, being vacated by Francine Lalonde. The riding is a BQ stronghold, with Lalonde generally winning by 40-50% of the vote over her nearest competition.

"New Democrats, both federally and provincially have unwaveringly opposed the HST." Or Not.

The federal and provincial NDP, particularly the provincial NDP here in Ontario, have attempt to make gains off the HST issue. (That the ONDP has seen its vote decline or stagnate in every by-election pace Toronto Centre, in which the HST was a non-issue, perhaps says something about the ability of the party to connect with voters, but that is neither here nor there.) In particular, the NDP has emphasized that they oppose the measure, with the federal and various provincial parties issuing joint press releases, like the one I took the quote in the title from.

So under the NDP logic that the HST is variously "a tax grab", tax credits "a bribe" and other vitriolic rhetoric, I wonder how they will play this:

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9015942.html


The Dexter government's budget includes a two-point increase in the provincial portion of the harmonized sales tax, bringing the province's share to 10 per cent, and a 15-per cent HST in total.

It will be the highest harmonized sales tax in the country.

Wait, I thought the NDP was, in the words of Andrea Horwath "the only party to oppose the HST federally and provincially"? Is that why Darrell Dexter, who just last year was seen as the darling child of the NDP, leading his party to victory in Nova Scotia for the first time, has not only not abolished the HST, but has actually raised it? Given that under the NDP system, the federal and provincial parties are joined, does this mean either the entire NS NDP will be disowned by the party, or the federal NDP MP's from the province magically be in favour of the HST?

Or will the NDP, and in particular, the ONDP ignore the issue because it ruins a talking point? I'm betting on the latter.

By-election analysis

Nomination news has slowed to a crawl with an election now being far on the horizon in seems, but there are the 4 by-elections coming up, so I'm going to break down each parties best and worst case scenario (within reason) for the parties.

Conservatives

The best case scenario for the Conservatives would be winning back the bedrock Tory riding of Cumberland – Colchester – Musquodoboit Valley (which outside of Casey being elected as an independent in 2008 and Casey losing his seat in the 1993 wipeout, hasn't elected a non-Tory since the 50's) by a healthy margin over a the NDP, which looks to capitalize on the popularity of the provincial NDP, which won the popular vote and 3 of the 5 provincial ridings that make up the federal riding, a strong second place finish in Montmagny – L'Islet – Kamouraska – Rivière-du-Loup (actually winning the seat is I think unrealistic), flipping New Westminster – Coquitlam from NDP to Tory, and getting 10% of the vote and getting the deposit back in Hochelaga, which like most East-End Montreal ridings are not fertile ground for the Conservatives. Worst case scenario, the NDP GOTV operation in CCMV turns out to be hugely effective, and the Dippers pull off an upset, the Liberals finish ahead of the Tories in MLKR with the BQ winning easily, the popularity of Donnally and HST anger propels a distant Tory finish in NWC, and Hochelaga delivers a -10% return.

NDP

The NDP go into the by-elections with high hopes, with a best case scenario being an upset in CCMV for Mark Austin, Fin Donnally comfortably holding NWC, a second place finish ahead of the Liberals in Hochelaga (they have been targetting the BQ working class vote heavily), and at least getting on the radar in MLKR, as they only won 5.5% of the vote last time around. Worst case scenario, the Tories survive comfortably with a local candidate in CCMV, putting the damper on hopes of an NDP Atlantic breakthrough, the economy first/tough on crime message of Dilworth flips NWC into the Tory column, attacks on the BQ fall flat in Hochelaga, leaving them stuck in 3rd place, and stay off the radar in MLKR.

Liberals

It's difficult to do a best case and worst case scenario for the Liberals while staying in the bounds of realism for these ridings, as none of them are Liberal friendly (to put it in perspective, in 3 of the 4 ridings last election, the Liberals didn't win a single poll in the riding, with Hochelaga returning the only Liberal polls, and not many). When I did an earlier analysis when the Liberals were doing about 10 points better in the polls than they are now I still didn't have them even coming within sniffing distance of winning, yet something tells me that after the Liberals return empty handed in terms of seat gains for this round we can expect another round of articles predicting Iggy's demise, overlooking the fact that it would be difficult to pick 4 ridings less likely to return Liberal victories outside of the rural Praries. Anyway, best case Liberal scenario, retaining second place in Hochelaga, finishing ahead of the Tories in MLRK, getting back to 10%+ (they finished in 4th with 8.5% last time), in CCMV and raise the vote in NWC to a more historically normal 20% or so. Worst case, they finish a distant third in MLRK, get jumped by the NDP in Hochelaga, finish -10% in both CCMV and NWC.

BQ

The BQ go in defending two seats, both of which are neither on a knife edge, but we can still form a best/worst case scenario. Best case is Daniel Paille continuing Real Menard's dominance of Hochelaga, with the Liberals finishing ahead of the NDP, damaging NDP hopes of prying working class francophone support from them, and comfortably holding MLRK over the Tories. Worst case, the NDP gives them a scare in Hochelaga, and the Tory GOTV operation pulls off an upset in MLRK. Hochelaga will be interesting to watch given an increasingly nasty back and forth between the BQ and NDP, with the NDP launching this attack site: http://www.blocageintermittent.ca/ and putting these posters up:

attacking Paille for his former ties to the Conservative government, which was countered by the BQ attacking NDP MP's for supporting getting rid of the gun registry with this rather brutal poster:

Greens

The Greens really have no stake either way in this round of by-elections, not running a candidate in CCMV last election and gaining between 2-7% in the other 3. If they could break 10% in NWC, which gave them 7% last time around it would be nice for them, but since they really have nowhere to go in the Quebec ones, up or down, and not running a candidate in CCMV makes direct comparisons difficult, this one is sort of a write off, analysis wise.

More nominations

http://www.caledonenterprise.com/editorial/article/78527

With Garth Turner out in Dufferin-Caledon, a new possible candidate has emerged for the Liberals, long-time Caledon resident Bill Prout.

http://kingscorecord.canadaeast.com/news/article/822056

I reported on David Delaney looking like he was going to be the only candidate to put his name forward for the federal Liberal nomination in Fundy Royal, and this article shows that he was in fact acclaimed back on the 30th.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=291910090444

The NDP has a whole bunch of nominations coming up, and here is some news for them in Edmonton-Leduc, with Artem Medvedev, a research assisstant at the University of Alberta declaring for the nomination.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=76694965264

Staying with the NDP and Edmonton, 2008 candidate Mike Butler will take another crack at the NDP nomination for Edmonton Millwoods – Beaumont.

Numbers don't lie: Tories doing pork-barrel politics in Nova Scotia and beyond

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1147364.html

It should come as no shock that the Chronicle Herald is reporting that in Nova Scotia, stimulus money is pouring overwhelmingly into Tory held ridings:

More money — $162 million — is being spent in those three Tory ridings than in Nova Scotia’s other eight ridings put together...Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s riding of Central Nova is the big winner, with $87.7 million in stimulus money, 13 times as much as the $6.6 million being spent in Dartmouth, held by a Liberal. In fact, Mr. MacKay’s riding received more money than all five Liberal ridings in the province combined...

If the $322 million in federal stimulus funding so far announced were divided evenly among Nova Scotia’s 11 federal ridings, each riding would get $29 million. Central Nova is receiving about three times that much, while Dartmouth has received only a fourth of that amount...

The metro Halifax ridings — which lacked Conservative representation at either the federal or provincial level — got the smallest amounts of money, except for Halifax, which benefited from university infrastructure spending...

And further down the line:

Two large funding commitments in Tory ridings weren’t added to the list because they were not made under the Economic Action Plan. They are $66 million in funding for CFB Greenwood, including a new recreation centre, in Conservative MP Greg Kerr’s riding of West Nova, and $12 million for a new recreation centre in Pictou County, in Mr. MacKay’s riding...

Several similar projects in opposition-held ridings have been unable to get federal money even though they, unlike the Pictou County centre, have firm funding commitments from the provincial and municipal governments.

One of the Tory talking points when confronted with objective facts that money is flowing more into Tory held ridings is that Tory ridings tend have higher unemployment, so they need more funding.

Of course, the information gathered by the Chronicle Herald and census data clash with this. According to Pundits' Gude, the riding in Nova Scotia with the highest unemployment rate is Syndey-Victoria, a Liberal held riding, yet it has collected barely 1/3rd of the money that Central Nova, the seat of cabinet minister Peter MacKay has, $33 million compared with $83 million, despite having the 8th highest unemployment rate in the country. Going down the list, the riding with the second highest unemployment rate, and thus according to the Tory talking point, the most deserving of funding, is Cape Breton-Casnio, with the 10th highest unemployment rate, yet it has, according to the Chronicle Herald, received a relatively paltry $18 million. West Nova, a Tory held riding with an unemployment rate over 4 points lower than Cape Breton-Casnio, has received $41 million.

Here are some province-wide numbers, again using Pundits' Guide:

Average unemployment rate in Liberal ridings in Nova Scotia: 10.5%

Average unemployment rate in Conservative ridings in Nova Scotia: 10.4%

So as you can see, Liberal and Conservative ridings on average have virtual the same unemployment rate. Lets compare that to the number of projects on average in Liberal vs. Tory ridings, and the amount of spending calculated by the Chronicle Herald:

Average number of projects and spending in Liberal held ridings in Nova Scotia: 18, and $16 million

Average number of projects and spending in Conservative held ridings in Nova Scotia: 38 and $54 million

This extends beyond Nova Scotia obviously. According to the Status of Infrastructure Funding Report by Gerard Kennedy, in Ontario, of 10 ridings which recieved the most funding, 6 were Tory held, and 5 of those 6 were held by either cabinet ministers of the Parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister. Indeed, Carleton-Mississipi Mills, home of cabinet minister Gordon O' Connor recieved more money than the Liberal held Mississauga East-Cooksville, despite Mississauga East-Cooksville having an unemployment rate almost twice as high. Tory arguments that Tory ridings get more funding on average because of they are larger and rural and need more money are also debunked, as the Tory held riding of Oakville, a suburban riding of 83 square km, got $10 million more than Liberal held Guelph a demographically similar riding at 92 square km. It's also worth noting that the different between Guelph's and Oakville's unemployment rate is 0.2%. Additionally, John Baird's suburban Ottawa West-Nepean district of 88 square km got almost as much spending as Guelph, despite OW-N having almost half the unemployment rate as Guelph.

The numbers don't lie: If you don't live in a blue riding, Stephen Harper just doesn't care.

By-election analysis

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/091003/national/fed_byelections

With 4 by-elections now seemingly coming up, now seems as good a time as any to take a look at each riding.

New Westminster – Coquitlam

Located on the edge of greater Vancouver, the riding is a traditionally a swing riding between the NDP and the PC's/Reform/Alliance/Conservatives, (the Liberals haven't won in the area that makes up the riding since the 1968 Trudeau victory) although the Liberals have occasionally made it a 3 way race when the vote has split since then, finishing close thirds in 1993, 1997 and 2004. The Liberal vote collapsed last election, going from 23.5% and 11,931 votes in 2006 to 11.3% and 5,615 votes in 2008. The riding has been often been a person battle between Dawn Black from the NDP and Paul Forseth from the Conservatives, facing each other in 2006, 1997, and 1993. On paper, this is the Liberals best chance of winning one of the 4 by-elections, although that isn't saying much, a more realistic goal would be lifting the Liberal vote from the lows of the 2008 results into the mid-20% range that the party usually turns in when it is perfoming normally. From all I have heard, Fin Donnelly was a good choice for NDP candidate, as the riding is often split between the more NDP friendly New Westminster and the more Tory Coquitlam, and Donnelly was a fairly popular Coquitlam councilor, so in addition to the normal NW NDP vote that helped Dawn Black, he can probably have a personal vote in Coquitlam. The Liberals should, as I said, focus on simply trying to reach say, 25% to show they are back on their feet in the ridings, and should in particular try to work on getting Green voters to go Liberal.

Prediction:
NDP-39%
Conservative-32%
Liberal-23%
Green-6%
(I didn't do it deliberately, but this result would basically mirror the 2006 result)

Cumberland – Colchester – Musquodoboit Valley

The NDP has high hopes for this rural Nova Scotia riding, vacated by former Tory Bill Casey. They are still hoping to ride the wave created by the provincial party's victory in the most recent provincial election, in which the NS NDP won 3 of the 5 provincial ridings in CCMV, and if the combined total of all those ridings were combined, it would produce an NDP victory. I think though, that the Tories should hold this one. Conservative candidate Scott Armstrong was a middle-man between Casey and the federal Conservatives, and is respected by both Casey loyalists and Tory diehards, so he should be able to pull out most of the old Tory vote for himself. The riding has a very long Tory history, with Casey's election as an independent, and the 1993 PC wipeout (in which Casey lost the seat) being the only times the riding has voted anything but Conservative since 1957 (and even prior to that, the seat leaned Conservative, going all the way back to Father of Confederation Charles Tupper). I expect a Tory victory with the NDP a strong second, and the Liberals making up some of the ground they lost in 2008.

Conservative-46%
NDP-34%
Liberal-18%
Green-2%

Montmagny – L'Islet – Kamouraska – Rivière-du-Loup

Held by the BQ since 1993, the Conservatives had hoped that the Mario Dumont effect would deliver this seat to them as part of the Quebec breakthrough that would yield a Tory majority, which ended up falling flat (although the riding was ultimately one of the few in Quebec in which the Conservatives did better in 2008 than in 2006). Prior to 1993, the seat had flipped a couple times between the Liberals and the PC's (and featured the Rhino Party finishing in third ahead of the NDP in 1984). The Tories had hoped to lure Dumont into federal politics and take a run at this seat, but Dumont declined, and the 15% showing of the ADQ in the Riviere-du-Loup by-election that followed Dumont stepping down can't bode well for the Conservatives (in fairness, many Quebec Conservatives were supporting the Quebec Liberal Party candidate in the by-election). The BQ should hold onto the seat, and the real battle will be for second place. If the Liberals can muscle ahead of the Tories, that would show the party is taking root in francophone, rural Quebec, while a Tory hold of second place would allow them to ride the narrative of a Liberal falling in Quebec. I think ultimately the Liberals will finish slightly ahead of the Conservatives.

Prediction:
BQ-43%
Liberal-27%
Conservative-23%
NDP-5%
Green-2%

Hochelaga

Probably the easiest seat to analyze, this is a safe BQ East Montreal riding. Real Menard never won less than 45% of the vote, and with the BQ lining up probable star candidate Daniel Paillé (although he must win a contested nomination first), this should be a fairly easy BQ hold. The Liberals won a respectable share of the vote last time around, and the NDP is hoping to maintain the relatively strong performance they had last time around, running 2008 candidate Jean-Claude Rocheleau. I've heard no word on potential Liberal or Conservative candidates.

Prediction:
BQ: 47%
Liberal: 25%
NDP: 15%
Conservative: 9%
Green: 4%

NDP/Green Nomination News

http://www.amherstdaily.com/index.cfm?sid=290539&sc=58

The NDP have a candidate in Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley, which is on the way to having a by-election unless a federal election happens. The nomination was going to be contested, but 2008 candidate Karen Olsen has stood aside for Mark Austin, a local farmer. The NDP is hoping to make gains of the back of the provincial NDP's victory in the recent election, which delivered Atlantic Canada's first NDP government, with the NS NDP winning 3 of the 5 ridings which make up CCMV.

http://www.westislandchronicle.com/article-382575-Greens-campaigning-two-elections-ahead.html
A few Green candidate names in Quebec I haven't seen before, Ryan Young in Lac St. Louis and Jonathan Lumer in Pierrefonds-Dollard. 2008 candidate Peter Graham, who ran in Lac St. Louis, is heading to the Eastern Townships to run in Compton-Stanstead.

Cindy Duncan McMillian wins Pontiac, and Nova Scotia newa

Just came in now that McMillan will once again challenge Lawrence Cannon as Liberal candidate. I endorsed Greg Fergus last night, but this was in no way a slight to Ms. McMillan who ran a good hard campaign against Cannon last time around, and who I believe can defeat Cannon. I hope to get a chance to get out to Pontiac at least once during a general election.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Columnists/1142228.html
This article looks at election buzz in Nova Scotia, and has a few nuggets. Former Liberal MP Robert Thibault looks to run for the West Nova nomination, but he may face a challenge. Liberals are also gearing up in South Shore-St. Margaret’s, with former MP and current provincial party president Derek Wells running, as well as software engineer Mark Delory, with previous provincial candidate Rick Welsford considering a run. For the NDP, former MLA Kevin Deveaux is eyeing a run in Dartmouth-Cole Harbour, currently held by Liberal Mike Savage.

Late nomination news

Renee Hetherington has won the Saanich-Gulf Islands Liberal nomination, while Jim Burrows crushed 2008 candidate Tracy Parsons in Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley, winning 175 of 206 votes.

Halifax

Two candidates have emerged for the riding of Halifax.

Dr. Stan Kutcher, Associate Dean of International Medical Development & Research with Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Medicine and Sun Life Financial Chair in Adolescent Mental Health, is going to give the nomination a go. I actually have a personal connection of sorts to this, Stan's son, Dan Kutcher, was the campaign manager for Charles Sousa's sucessful provincial campaign in Mississauga South.

Facebook event here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=100711459701

Also in the mix is Chris Crowell, a community activist and businessman. His facebook group can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=90017328325&ref=mf and his website can be found here: www.chriscrowell.ca

Nova Scotia headed for NDP majority?

The previous polls out of Nova Scotia had shown a narrow NDP lead, with the Liberals in second and the governing Conservatives headed for third place, and this poll: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nsvotes2009/story/2009/05/31/ns-poll-ndp.html gives the NDP a huge lead over both the Liberals and the PC's, although the Liberals maintain second place. If the trend holds, it would be the first time since the start of the decade long rule of the PC's that a ruling party would be pushed to third place, after the John Hamm PC's knocked the Liberals out of government in 1999. As much as I can tell, that election was also the last time a governing party in Canada was pushed down to third place (if anyone can correct me go ahead).

The momentum clearly seems to be going the NDP's way, with the poll pegging them at 44%. Even with some of that number being inflated by racking up majorities in downtown Halifax, it would be very difficult for the NDP not to get a majority with such a vote. Liberal leader Stephen McNeil says the Liberals have some internal numbers that suggest a more competitive race, and this poll does not confirm one potential bright spot for the Liberals: Unless a massive PC recovery takes place during the last week, this election is no longer being fought on the PC record, but on the potential for an NDP government, and with the PC's bleeding support (indeed, every poll taken near/during the election has shown them getting gradually lower and lower)everywhere, the Liberals are the clear alternative to the NDP, and if the NDP loses any support, it will probably go to the Liberals. Stephen McNeil looks to at the very least, make solid gains off the 2006 result, and should have a solid and larger Liberal caucus behind him.

Tories show true colours on Youth

Check out my entry into the YLC positive politics contest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MevlKbbGzdM
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With the NS Tories running third, I can understand why Conservative Premier Rodney MacDonald would want to try and rally the base, but this move reeks of being an electoral "Hail Mary". For the Tories, however, this bound to be intercepted pass shows true Conservative colours on youth: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nsvotes2009/story/2009/05/21/novascotiavotes-curfew-tories.html

PC leader Rodney MacDonald said he can't think of any reason why a child would be out on the street at 1 a.m.

Oh, I don't know, how about, not committing crimes? The fact that similar curfews have been struck down across the country doesn't seem to matter, as this is just another example of when it comes to crime/justice issues, the Tories will always put effectiveness and legality behind raw partisan appeal.

NS Liberal Leader McNeil wins debate

My entry for the Young Liberal Positive Politics challenge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MevlKbbGzdM&feature=channel
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The momentum continues for the Nova Scotia Liberals, after a strong debate performance by Liberal leader Stephen McNeil.


...he was least often the target of his opponents and therefore suffered the fewest body blows.

Meanwhile, McNeil provided mostly concise, detailed responses and was particularly strong on taking Nova Scotia Power to task, on killing gas regulation and on strengthening health care.

The rise of McNeil and the Liberal Party was noted in a second consecutive poll showing the Liberals within striking distance of the NDP, and running ahead of the governing PC's who have been pushed down to third.

All Nova Scotians remember to get out and vote Liberal!

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Check out my other video, a spoof of the Tory attack ads: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNZ0aIeBczI&feature=channel

NS Liberals set for impressive gains

My entry for the YLC Positive Politics Contest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MevlKbbGzdM
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http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nsvotes2009/story/2009/05/19/ns-election-poll.html

The second poll in a row, and the same trend, with the NDP having a healthy lead, the governing PC's pushed back into 3rd place, and the Liberals set to jump from 3rd to becoming the officially opposition. The NDP may have failed to take back BC, but it looks increasingly likely that Atlantic Canada will have its first NDP government. The Tories falling from government to third would be a serious body blow, and lets hope the Liberals and Stephen McNeil can take advantage of this collapse.

Another example of positive Young Liberal politics

View my entry for the Young Liberal Positive Politics competition here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MevlKbbGzdM
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While I can only make videos, I figure a Young Liberal (technically he just aged out, but I'll allow it) who is making a very substantive contribution to advancing Liberal values should be highlighted.

http://liberal.ns.ca/nslp_9313.html

Colin Hebb, a former executive member of the Nova Scotia Young Liberals, is running as the Liberal candidate in Dartmouth South-Portland Valley. Colin is running a strong campaign as part of the Nova Scotia Liberal team, which looks to makes some impressive gains this election, which is shaping up to be a tough three way fight. Show your support for Colin by becoming a supporter at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Colin-Hebb/87311561075?ref=ts

Let's help elect Colin and other Nova Scotia Liberals and show that liberalism is out in full force, working for Canadians, all across the country.