It appears that our Canadian brothers and sisters

[hifiguy]

have wised up in a big way.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34578213



That is one brutal ass-whoopin' handed out by the Liberals and New Democrats.

Do I recall correctly that the New Democrats usually align with the Liberals? If so, there is a 2/3 majority for liberal/left parties

[frazzled]

1. No, the problem has been that the NDs and the Ls have previously split the vote

This time, they worked together. You need a big tent to win.

ON EDIT: The Liberals are the center left party; the New Democrats are "social democrats." Speak amongst yourselves on the subject of pulling together to beat conservatives.

[Hortensis]

2. I just hope it's catching. Would Bernie be a New Democrat, do you think?

[frazzled]

3. Yes ...

if he deigned to "join" a party in Canada, that would probably be it.

[Hortensis]

20. :) Thanks.

[hifiguy]

8. Our "Center Left" party has been sold to

and infiltrated by the Turd Way corpocrats to the point of near-collapse.

[cprise]

19. Can't split the banks... Oh no. That wouldn't be "Democratic"

And Dems are doing BADLY at the state level.

Both parties are imploding from opposite directions.

[Hortensis]

21. But on the plus side, look at what the Canadian "centrist" liberals plan:

* Boost spending to build infrastructure, stimulate the economy, and create lots of jobs.
* Increase taxes on the wealthy and cut taxes on the middle class -- that giant sucking sound reversed.
* Fix problems with their voting system.

And more. Surely they're going the right direction?

[hifiguy]

22. The equivalent of the Canadian center-left would be run out of the US' corporate

"Democratic" party on a rail. Come to think of it, they already have been, starting in 1993. I think they are almost all gone now.

I am very happy for the Canadians, though.

[Hortensis]

23. Bernie would be most likely to belong to the New Democratic Party, not

the Liberal Party. You're right that the Canadian never let their billionaires and extremist right wing on their conservative party drag Canada as far right as our GOP/TP and its billionaire puppeteers did.

[Doctor_J]

24. just like Hillary's plan!!!!

[hedgehog]

4. K&R

[Puglover]

5. A BIG K n R!!!!!

It will be fascinating to see who will rec this thread!!!!!!!!!

[potone]

6. Yes, indeed it is a major victory.

All hail Canada! May we do as well in the next election! This could be the beginning of the end for the neoliberal regimes that have impoverished people around the world.

[KamaAina]

7. I notice they have added 30 seats since 2011.

What's up with that? Is that based on population growth? Come to think of it, it's only tradition that keeps the size of our Hose fixed at 435.

[hifiguy]

9. Indeed.

But a permanently fixed number of seats makes gerrymandering so much easier.

The Canadian "Repigs'" seat share dropped from 54% to barely 29%. That is a major flushing of the Augean stables.

[Lochloosa]

10. The number of representitives in our House is based on population. This changes every 10 years.

Only the Senate stays the same unless we add another state.

On edit, I am wrong about that. 435 is the max by law. The number each state receives changes every 10 years base on population.

Whoops...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reapportionment_Act_of_1929

[KamaAina]

11. The number of representatives for each state changes every 10 years.

The total number has been fixed at 435 for decades. After each census, states that gained population gain setas at the expense of those that lost population (or didn't grow as fast).

[Lochloosa]

12. I just edited my post. You are correct.

[geardaddy]

13. Nice to see BQ get more seats, too. n/t

[Thespian2]

14. Thanks for this...

Canada started a huge wave with Vote Together...to rid the country of Harper's conservatives who have spent almost 10 years devastating Canada...the NDP, democratic socialists, had a lead at one time, but voters here believed that the Liberals had the best chance to win ridings...thankfully, they were right, and today Harper is no longer Prime Minister...Now, the pressure must be put on Trudeau to make sure he does the right thing about climate change and the TPP...groups, including Greenpeace, have already declared that they will keep the pressure on him...

From the Maritimes, the best part of Canada...

[hifiguy]

15. The Maritimes are a part of the world

I have wanted to see for a very long time. "Rugged beauty" is a pitifully inadequate phrase from what I have seen in pictures. Pix did no justice to the amazing beauty of New Zealand and I doubt they do to Labrador, Nova Scotia or PEI either.

[Thespian2]

18. Thanks again...

I think you are right...I am in the process of moving from PEI to Nova Scotia...natural beauty is a good way to describe the Maritimes...

[WillyT]

16. HUGE K & R !!! - THANK YOU !!!

[Rex]

17. It pisses off the status quo bootlickers!

So he must be doing something right!

[moondust]

25. Canada’s 78-day-long national campaign nightmare is over.

http://www.vox.com/2015/10/19/9571457/sentences-canada-election

The longest campaign in Canadian history.

I'll bet it didn't cost waste a billion dollars.

[akbacchus_BC]

27. Actually, we were glad that it took 78 days. We got to know

who Mr Trudea's platform consisted of, but Harper miscalulated, he thought the Liberals and the NDP would run out of money to challenge him.

[akbacchus_BC]

26. It is not that we have wised up. Lots of us never liked Harper!

But after two years in his term, the other parties challenged him and when we voted again, Harper got a majority and since then, he controlled Canada, locked out the media, stopped scientific research, stopped charity to third world countries and even followed the US in cutting funding to the UN when the UN accepted Palestine as a State. We were tired of Harper, he had to go!

My only regret is that the NDP is not the official opposition party. Lots of Canadians are really conservatives!

[Major Hogwash]

28. Congratulations on booting Harper out.

I think everyone has had enough of the way the wealthy members of the oligarchy were ruling the planet.

[GliderGuider]

29. Canadians got fed up in a big way.

This was the largest example of strategic voting in our history. It was effectively vote of non-confidence in Heartless Harper himself.

The NDP lost ground both to the strategic nature of the voting, and probably also because Harper made the niqab an issue in Quebec. Tthe NDP had gained a large number of seats there in the last election. However, Quebec is a stronghold of anti-niqab, anti-immigrant sentiment, but the NDP couldn't support that exclusionary position. So their support softened, which made the strategic anti-Harper switch to the Liberals much easier. As a result the NDP lost much of their socialist support (and seats) in Quebec.

That doesn't let the NDP themselves off the hook, though. They ran a stodgy campaign, with nothing new to offer - we'd heard all their promises and platforms before. Tom Mulcair's 1970s professorial look didn't help either. Canada was in the mood for new, so we elected the sexy kid from a party we'd forgiven for past scandals.

IMO