Canadian federal election - October 19, 2015 (Official Campaign Thread)

[Cassius]

One query; why do the Conservatives seem to be doing so badly British Columbia? I know that BC has, traditionally, been one of the NDP's strongest provinces, but the Conservatives have won the most votes and seats there since their formation, and the province was a stronghold for the Canadia Alliance/ Reform party before that (although, if I recall correctly, Reform and to a lesser extent the Canadian Alliance had a stronger regional, non-ideological appeal, than the present Conservative party does, which might be a factor). But now the Conservatives seem to be polling third a lot.

[Cassius]

Should be remembered that the NDP also experienced a similar electoral pattern to the PC's and Ralliement Créditiste in the 1990's - they went from their best performance in history in 1988 to one of their worst in 1993, losing official party status just like the Tories did. They then rebounded, again like the Tories, in 1997, only to fall back in 2000, narrowly avoiding losing official party status again. Yet, in the end, as we know the NDP revamped itself somewhat and got a new, very popular leader, who was able to exploit the change political climate of the 2000's to eventually take the NDP to the status of Official Opposition. So I wouldn't count out the Bloc - obviously it's a very different party to the federal NDP and only competing in Quebec means that it faces a rather different task to a party competing across the country. Nonetheless, the Bloc has already been able to offset decline (in 2004), and circumstances may emerge in the future in which it is able to return to something like it's old strength.