In the fight against Quebec separatists, its often insisted that Canadian politicians need to "speak with one voice." And that might be true. Everywhere else, however, politics would improve immensely if we could choose between two clear ones. Canada is long overdue for a fundamental re-calibration of provincial politics. Perhaps at the next Manning Centre Conference, all of Canada's supposedly "right-of-centre" politicians   can get together and agree to forge a new provincial political brand (say, the "Conservative Party") that's present in all provinces. And then maybe all the left-wing people can meet at, I don't know, David Suzuki's next garden party or something.

There seems to be consensus among political commentators that Thomas Mulcair is better placed than the leadership candidates he defeated to keep Quebec in the NDP fold. However, how much of the ability of the NDP to keep its Quebec seats is in Mulcair's hands?