i just want to throw this out there: the conservatives in ontario have a base, but you'll note that the very name of the party - progressive conservative - indicates that this base can at times be rather restive about the party taking centrist positions, and that there have historically been serious revolts amongst conservatives on the right, here in canada.

the biggest example is the reform movement, which revolted hard against mulroney. harper's distance from mulroney really wasn't about those envelopes: his base despised him. what do old reform voters think of his daughter? and, would they vote for her if she won?

(she won't win, unless everybody else gets banned from running)

our conservative parties tend to act more like a hillary clinton than they do like a ted cruz; they reach out to the right in a kind of superficial way by erecting left-wing strawmen and bogeymen, ultimately governing in a kind of corporatist manner, rather than from the back of a bible. they privatize things, cut services and still find ways to run deficits; they run governments into the ground. but, they don't tend to go after minorities or queer people. it's just not cultural, here.

that far right component of the base does exist, though.

so, who is in the spectrum that might take advantage of this?

that's a question, actually. i don't pay much attention to the far right in ontario.

i don't think social credit ever did well in ontario, but it is the origin of the far right in canada. i know that there is a christian heritage party that has historically done relatively well in the rural areas. the thing is that the pcs win a lot of these rural areas by 40% anyways, so it doesn't matter much if the chp gets 20%, when the conservatives get 60% (and the liberals get 15%),

again: doug ford doesn't live in this part of the spectrum. he has far more appeal to urban immigrants than he does to rural farmers. i mean, they'll probably vote for him, sure. but, if you sit them down, they'll probably complain that he's not much of a christian, and they're only doing so because the liberals are so godless.

but, tga appears as though she might. she might even be in the wrong party, really. and, it's an interesting question as to what kind of ruckus she's going to end up causing on the far end of the party's spectrum, as well as what kind of swing vote really exists there.

in a close election that comes down to a few seats, the chp could make a difference.

hey - the socreds once triggered an election at the federal level, when joe clark (in the same ideological camp as the mulroneys) refused to enter into a coalition with them, and couldn't pass a budget.

jagmeet singh must cut his beard.