Quote:
Originally Posted by Willravel
Conservatives in Canada are basically the same as Democrats here in the United States (center right). Imagine a US which has a far left party, center left party and a center right party and add a bit of delicious maple syrup and you've got Canada.
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This is almost correct. There are three left-wing parties. One is only in Quebec representing Quebecois interests, the Bloc Quebecois. One is the Green Party of Canada, a minority party representing green politics, though they've just won their first seat in the House of Commons. One is a national social democratic party—the New Democratic Party (NDP)—that has had some minority influence in the House of Commons for a while but have just won for the first time in history the status of the Official Opposition, and they did this by more or less doubling their seats in the House. None of these parties are "far left."
The Liberal Party of Canada, though considered centre-left does veer close to the centre quite often. Until recently, they were considered the "ruling party" of Canada, and much of that has to do with this centrism.
The Conservative party is an amalgamation of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Reform Party, which makes them a mixed-bag of small "c" conservative issues, including both fiscal and social platforms. They are both centre-right and right-wing depending on the issue, the politician, and the political environment. Comparatively, however, they are probably like the rightest of Democrats and the leftest of Republicans.
If you consider the recent platform they ran on, the Conservatives clearly went for centre-right over right-wing. Social conservative values were notably absent for the most part, while still maintaining the conservative brand otherwise.
It should be a lesson to the GOP. If they want to be a ruling party, perhaps try to encompass more voters, which tend to gravitate nearest to the centre.