Marching, Chanting Marxist Slogans, Riding Bikes...

...does not a strong and effective opposition make!

Jesse Kline: Is Jack Layton responsible for the NDP’s poor performance?
Dec 27, 2011 – 10:00 AM ET Last Updated: Dec 27, 2011 12:54 PM ET

The NDP won a historic victory in last May’s federal election — becoming the official opposition and relegating the Liberals to third-party status for the first time in history. But one could be forgiven for not noticing.
The new era of Parliamentary civility we were promised in the spring quickly evaporated as the opposition came to realize they have very little power in a majority Parliament, other than trying to convince the public to oppose the government’s agenda. The Tories did pretty much exactly what they said they would — introducing bills to end the gun registry, kill the wheat board, institute copyright reform and make sweeping changes to the criminal justice system. And yet, any time the news media wanted to get the opposition’s view on these controversial issues, it seemed as though it was Bob Rae and the Liberals who were being quoted.
Perhaps us media types are partly to blame — reporters have gotten in the habit of looking to the Liberals for comment and there are fewer experienced MPs on the NDP bench. But most of the blame has to be placed on the inexperienced NDP leader, Nycole Turmel, and the man who put her there: Jack Layton. Read More »

Kelly McParland: The plight of the NDP — earnest, well-meaning and very unlucky