A new poll finds that the NDP surge wasn’t a fluke, but instead is here to stay, however, that didn’t stop 16 seats from going blue as a result. These vote splits mainly occurred in Ontario at the expense of the Liberals. Meanwhile, there is speculation as to whether the NDP’s Quebec counterpart the Quebec Solidaire would ride the same wave. A recent poll also suggests that if Quebec voted today, the separatist Parti Quebecois would form a majority government.

While Manitoba controls its flood and got two Prime Ministerial visits and plenty of support, Quebecers are left to deal a retreat of Canadian Armed Forces, all the while, Harper visits the rest of the brigade in Afghanistan. NDP leader Jack Layton took the opportunity to tour the region and called Harper’s actions ‘an insult.’ He is the first national leader to tour the region and many of his newest seats are in the area.

Conservative-minded people are supposed to take a minimalist mind to government. Reduce state intervention, reduce state size, reduce state spending. Today, Stephen Harper unveiled the biggest cabinet ever and appointed 3 unelected ministers to the senate. During his term in office, spending  increased and Harper plans to spend more on prisons, corporate tax cuts and F-35 fighter jets.

From the student to the environmentalist to this, a father and his wife who claim they are nobodies but are denouncing Harper’s Conservatives, tossed in the rain with distress on their faces. Harper has slapped democracy again. Yesterday, Michael Ignatieff welcomed a group of Conservative supporters to his crowd, and today, the Conservatives ban what they would consider a foreigner – a person who does not share their views. Tomorrow is the election and everything must be considered. In the previous post, we covered the agendas, and there are several features and posts on the incumbent’s government. Governments should be held accountable for their actions and Harper’s party is avoiding it at all costs.

The Conservatives only had one defense when it came to the Motion of Contempt that kicked them out of power. It was that it was a solely opposition-based ordeal. Now that the Auditor General comes out with a report on the G8 and G20 summits echoing the opposition’s call of ‘lack of transparency,’ Harper will have quite a bit to worry about. From the campaign of accountability came the ‘In and Out’ scandal, staffers who are being investigated for fraud, G8 funding for borders which landed 300km away from any type of border and was used as bribe money for a riding.

Conservatives say that it is “normal” for their ridings to get more funding than those that belong to the opposition. Larry Smith is running as a Conservative candidate in Montreal and said that the unequal spending allocation was to, as CTV reported, make the political process more favorable to their supporters. Smith is using the argument that having him win the riding would bring more funding to the riding.

Michael Ignatieff and the Liberal party have a lot to be happy about. His campaign is going well. Tory lies have no effect, and as an added bonus, they have gained 5 points in the polls in the last week – indicating that a Harper majority is out of the question. While it’s still the first week, if the trends continue, the Liberals may have a good shot at forming the next government.