Harper wrong on NDP and Quebec

The Globe and Mail:

As many provinces know well,” Stephen Harper told a crowd of supporters during the Calgary Stampede, “no honeymoon passes as quickly and as completely as one with the NDP.” According to the Prime Minister, Quebeckers will be seeking an annulment at the first opportunity and it will be his Conservative Party that will reap the benefits of the rebound.

But aside from one infamous example, there is very little to backup Mr. Harper’s claim that provinces, let alone many, have a history of a rocky relationship with the NDP.

In the two Prairie provinces, the New Democrats have formed governments multiple times and have won re-elections, while in Nova Scotia the NDP government of Darrell Dexter elected in 2009 is still ahead in the polls.

In Saskatchewan, the NDP’s predecessor, the CCF, formed government for 20 years between 1944 and 1964, winning five elections under Tommy Douglas. The NDP returned to power in 1971 and held office until 1982, and more recently the governments of Roy Romanow and Lorne Calvert governed the province for 16 years between 1991 and 2007.

Manitoba, too, has had three stints of NDP government. The first was elected in 1969 and was in power until 1977, the second held sway for most of the 1980s, and the current NDP government was first elected back in 1999 under Gary Doer. His successor, Greg Selinger, is in a good position to win re-election this fall.

The Prime Minister was apparently in the midst of a little unfounded rhetoric, but it may be hope rather than history that is informing his predictions on the political future of Quebec.

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