As parliament nears its end for the current session, some reflection on the most recent sitting is in order. What better way to start than with the release of today’s EKOS Research poll where we find, yet again, stagnation in voting opinions across the country. The breakdown is as follows with the numbers in brackets indicating the percentage of support from the last federal election: Conservatives- 36.5% (37.65%), Liberals- 26.5% (26.6%), New Democratic Party- 16.7% (18.18%), The Bloc Quebecois (in Quebec only) – 39.8% (38.1%), The Green Party- 11.3% (6.78%) and undecided were in the 14.6% range. These figures show what many political analysts have known for some time, and that is that the electorate is not as volatile as it has been in the past. The biggest change is the rise in support for the Green Party, which jumped almost 6% from the time of the last election. It should be noted that the Green Party always tends to garner more support in a non-election year than it does during an election. The NDP’s numbers are down a bit too, but are actually trending upwards in recent months as a result of their stance on the Harmonized Sales Tax.  All the other numbers are relatively unchanged.  So what does this mean in real terms?
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As a Tory, I have to admit that I’m reveling in the woes of the Liberals, and elated at the Bloc getting a bloody nose. As a Canadian, and a voter, I’m tragically concerned with the serious imbalance within our political system today, and all Canadians should take note that a weak and indecisive Liberal party is a very bad thing for the democratic process.

That said, (I love that queue) for the first time in 25 years, I feel elation at the prospect of the erosion of the hold the Bloc has over Quebec. For the first time in such a long time, Quebecers are finally looking like they intend to get into the game federally, with more than just the token protest vote.

It’s about bloody time too. The Bloc has always been a “park vote here, no alternative” solution to most Quebecers, but it’s been done in the full awareness that the Bloc agenda has ever been set on the track of “how much can we screw the rest of the nation for”. As an Albertan, I’m painfully aware that Central Canadian politicians can be screwed for a fair bit by a blackmailing Quebec.
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