Steve_

Left wing party is the NDP - right of centre are the BC Liberals and right of them are the tories.

The main confusion is that the BC Liberals and the Federal liberals are quite distant in their views on most topics, so in most provinces the NDP are a marginal left-wing party and the Liberals are the main left of centre party, but not in BC.

At the federal level it's mainly the NDP and the tories. Because the NDP are the main left-wing party in BC they basically get identified that way at the federal level as well, because the Liberals have brand confusion in BC.

At the Federal level the tories are the tories, the NDP are similar to the Liberals in the UK and the Liberals are similar to Labour in the UK.

The NDP have their power base in BC, some urban parts of Toronto and for some reason they've suddenly become popular in Québec. Supposedly they are now the replacement for the Liberals at the Federal level but personally since Jack Layton (charismatic leader) died I think they're going to implode and the Liberals will recover - the Liberals have been in power longer than anyone else at the Federal level. As a result BC gets a bit marginalized usually as they don't elect many Liberal MPs, but now the tories are in power that has all changed.

Basically - if you're right-wing you vote BC Liberal at the provincial level and tories at the Federal level. If you're left-wing you vote NDP. Usually.

JonboyE

I don't agree with this. Conservatives in Canada are near the right wing of the conservative party in the UK. The Liberals in both countries, nominally at least, are centrist. The main difference is that the NDP in Canada are still left of centre like the UK Labour party used to be before it became "New."