Ontario 2011 (6th October)

[Insula Dei]

How important is this election for the federal Liberals? Should we assume that a disasterous showing may be the final blow, or should we go by the general 'no real connection between the federal and the provincial level' principle?

[Insula Dei]

How important is this election for the federal Liberals? Should we assume that a disasterous showing may be the final blow, or should we go by the general 'no real connection between the federal and the provincial level' principle?

Unimportat. During most of the 69 years the Liberals were in power in Ottawa, there was a string of unbroken Conservative governments at Queens Park (Provincially)

But couldn't a crushing Liberal defeat be interpreted as a firm rejection of the entire Liberal project, and result in the federal party's crisis worsening even more? I'll happily grant you that there isn't a direct corelation between provincial and federal election results, but the election itself might have an impact on the general political atmosphere, or so I'd think.  

[Insula Dei]

Without polling, the NDP does not form opposition I think.

Huh? can you explain that a little more

Opinion polls play an important part in the narrative of an election campaign and can help to creat an upwards trend for a party. I suppose that's what Hatman's getting at.

[Insula Dei]

Ontario might well be heading for the best possible result (a Liberal minority government) on these figures