The general sense I get from every Canadian politician, regardless of whether they're at the municipal, provincial, or federal, level, and regardless of party, is that they are much better at getting elected or re-elected than they are at actually passing legislation or making their stated platforms a reality. The federal level would be helped with an actual 3rd contender, but the NDP have been floundering since Layton passed. Instead the 2 major parties are just ideological vacuums with no point or goal but to cycle in and out of power.