Manitobans Headed to the Polls This Spring?

There is speculation that Manitoba NDP Premier Gary Doer will fast track an election this spring to avoid competing with an October 10, 2007 provincial election next door in Ontario. Ontario's election dates are fixed, Manitoba's are not. Because the NDP has a tradition of lending experienced political organizers to campaigns across the country, the Manitoba and Ontario sections of the party are unlikely to want to fight over scarce resources. Partisan considerations aside, is this a good way of determining election dates? This kind of partisan stunt feeds into voter cynicism about politics and the motives of politicians. Manitoba's government should really explore the possibility of adopting fixed election dates... and while they're at it, maybe they should take the advice of Manitoba's federal NDP MPs and adopt proportional representation and anti-scab legislation too.