The NDP--A National Party?

That means the same questions still stand--can you be an effective representative when living outside of the riding? Obviously the practice of parachuting is used by ALL of the major parties. So is it a valid practice, or should there be some sort of rule that says you need to live in the riding?

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Now call it extreme if you like, but I propose we hit it hard, and we hit it fast, with a major, and I mean major, leaflet campaign.--Rimmer, Red Dwarf

It is really bizarre because I know in Municipal gov, you have to live in the district you are running in, and I thought that applied to all levels of gov; but apparently not, I don't think it is the right way to do things. I don't really believe that a candidate can represent the people of a riding if they haven't lived there. I also don't like the situations where a low profile candidate is ousted to make room for a high profile candidate, I have seen that going on as well; and the other argument which is weird is why was there so much contraversy over Sheila Copps and her rival(can't remember his name) but it seemed that the issue was about who lived in the new riding??? Why was that if it isn't policy?

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If I stand for my country today...will my country be here to stand for me tomorrow?

PS It's not exactly fair to say the NDP calling itself a national party should come into question because the party has at least one parachute candidate too. I never suggested that about the Greens either. Of course calling a party a national party has nothing to do with whether some of its candidates live outside of their ridings.

The question is whether it's fair to say that there's a "candidate in every riding", a claim the Greens had made and the NDP hadn't when I first mentioned this in a previous post. I believe the latest press release from the NDP DOES now make that claim, making the party fair game for this discussion.

I think it would be very interesting to compare all of the parties (BQ, Green, NDP, Lib, Cons) and list how many candidates from each party are parachutes, compared to how many candidates they are running in the election.

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Now call it extreme if you like, but I propose we hit it hard, and we hit it fast, with a major, and I mean major, leaflet campaign.--Rimmer, Red Dwarf

I think for some ridings, it makes no difference. When I was living in the Yellowhead riding and Joe Clark was the member, he lived outside Stony Plain. He couldn't live in Hinton and Edson and Draton valley - but he still could relate.<p> If member lived in south Edmonton, but they were elected in Edmonton East, they could stil relate to the people there, but if they were elected in Calgary North, I doubt if they could relate.<p> If someone runs to represent 100,000 people those 100,000 people should find out if the candidate can relate to them or not.<p> <p>---<br>"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme" Mark Twain <br />
"The greatest price of not participating in politics is being governed by your inferiors." Plato

Until Friday, I did not have an NDP candidate in my riding. No one listed on the website. I just started noticing signs for a candidate yesterday. The first campaign sign I saw this election period was for the Greens though <p> <p>---<br>"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme" Mark Twain <br />
"The greatest price of not participating in politics is being governed by your inferiors." Plato

I am on the side of - live in the riding or you cannot run. It is better for democracy in my mind. Drop-ins just does not seem fair - especially to the small parties.

This issue is Canada wide. From the Greens to the NDP to the Conservatives to the Liberals. We have husband and wife teams in my area running in different ridings for the same party.

It only seems logical that a local would understand local issues better. Especially in far flung rural ridings. How easy is it going to be to see your MP when they too have to travel many hours just to get to their riding? Sure urban ridings can be rather condensed but for anyone that lives in a large urban area would know - every little area can differ quite alot from the next neighbourhood.

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If there was ever a time for Canadians to become pushy - now is the time - for time is running out on this nation called Canada.

Yeah, drop ins to me smack of corporate planting. I beleive you must live in, and know your riding inside out. It`s strengths, weaknesses, problems, demographics, economics, etc.

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Dave Ruston

Consider: in 1984 Brian Mulroney won one of the largest Federal majority governments in Canadian History. But he didn't win his own seat. A fellow MP stepped down and he moved to the Pictou/Antigonish/Gysborough riding, lived there for as long as he needed to do to be considered a resident, and hasn't lived there since. He was living in the riding he was MP for, so wasn't really a parashute candidate, but still. I smell another argument for proportional representation of the List-Seat kind... Under that, the cadidate isn't bound geographically to start with. Although it seems absured that a party couldn't find someone in the riding to represent them.

The same happened to Tommy Douglas when he first ran for federal office, I believe in the Prince Albert, SK riding. Some one stepped aside for him in Naniamo, BC which had a long history of supporting progressive candidates (thanks to Lord Dunsmuir's coal mines). <p> If you had banned parachute candidates, we would have never had Medicare in Canada! <p> Plus, later in Douglas' career, after he retired I believe, the NDP candidate in Burnaby, BC had a heart attack during or just before the campaign. Douglas stepped into the breach, ran, and won I believe. You could probably make the case that Tommy Douglas was a serial parachute candidacy offender--probably the worst offender in Canadian history! <p> And some people dare call him the greatest Canadian ever.

I think the more accurate term for the NDP is New Demolition Party.

Care to say why???That could be seen as a positive or a negative...if you mean they'll demolish the corruption and corporate takeover, I'm all for it...if you don't then what do you mean?

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If I stand for my country today...will my country be here to stand for me tomorrow?

Your NDP candidate in Toronto-Danforth is, of course, the current city councillor for the area, Jack Layton. True, he doesn't live there (he lives with his wife Olivia Chow in her riding of Trinity-Spadina) but he has represented the Toronto-Danforth area since 1994 and knows the area inside out.

Compare that to the fact that four of the five Liberal candidates in the Vancouver area who all live in Stephen Owen's ultra-wealthy Vancouver-Quadra constituency.

Every party runs candidates who don't live in their constituencies. Sometimes they are "true" parachutes like David Emerson in Vancouver-Kingsway, sometimes they are people who know their ridings intimately like Jack Layton.

Whoever it was above who wrote that municipal candidates must live in their wards, is dead wrong.

whether morally correct or not, the practice of "parachuting" has a major precedent stretching back to confederation: Sir John A. McDonald was the MP for my riding... Victoria, BC. I could be wrong, but i do not believe he was a resident here.
and though i recognize he had many shortcomings as a leader in terms of humanity, he showed an uncommon backbone to our southern neighbours and their "Manifest Destiny" and avoided losing our western acquisitions to them by determination and a dogged use of espionage. perhaps if our mother England had been similarly patriotic in its dealings with James K. Polk, the Oregon Territory would be ours today.