A Canadian Election Summary, by a Canadian.

[Brundle_Fly]

Well the election is over, but it has really just begun. Your US headlines have it all wrong....

Canada Tilting right - MSNBC / Canada Pushes to the Right - Fox / Canada Goes Conservative etc etc

although we swung right and it's partially true....

if you look at the 2004 election, things will certainly not be as bad as it seems in your press...

2004 - Liberal 135 seats / Conservatives 99 / Bloq 54 / NDP 19

this year in the 2004 election you do see more conservative votes, but you also see that many seats also swung further to the left into the very liberal arms of the NDP

2006 - Conservatives 124 / Liberal 103 seats / Bloq 51 / NDP 29

Now in order for the Conservatives to pass any of their right wing whackery, they need 155 votes in the parliament. that means they either have to align with one of the Bloq, Liberal, NDP party to get something done. This was the same problem the government had in 2004, they end up looking useless because no one will partner with them to pass legislation. Especially crazy anti-Canadian political moves to the extreme right....

This would include healthcare privatization, abortion bans, voting reforms, social programs etc. (missile shields, soldiers in Iran)

This was a punishment vote, the Liberals screwed up and we are pushing them around, but certainly not out. The Conservatives have a little time to prove themselves or we'll vote them out of existence like we did in 1992. :)

Regardless, these Conservatives played it real cool to get in, they are not "cool or compassionate guys" like they said, and hopefully they will expose themselves for what they are pretty quick, at which point we call another vote of no confidence, hold another election and get our liberals back. Maybe a few more NDP as well. The NDP is great for adding balance and keeping them honest.

Also the Bloq Quebecois, the party that said it had nothing to lose, lost. They dropped three seats from their stranglehold on Quebec and its want to separate from Canada. It will be another four years before they can even try to leave our fine country, and thats fine by me, as I love going to Quebec, and I love it even more as a part of my Canada.

Well Peace out America, like I said, it ain't so bad, and we'll sort ourselves out.

Hope YOU GUYS do too!!!

NOALITOB-)

[napi21]

1. TThanks so much for the explaination.

It sounds like YOUR conservatives are almost as bad as ours! I'm glad they're going to be stopped from getting too crazy this time too.

Now, wish US luck that we can do the same thing in November here!

[Brundle_Fly]

2. YOU WILL!

the ground swell is even too great for diebold to tweak the numbers

[Brundle_Fly]

3. edit to add an afterthough....

we need more like this one.

[AX10]

17. Yes we do.

:hi:

[Syrinx]

4. Can I Come?

Your right-wingers aren't nearly as bad as our right-wingers.

[ClintonTyree]

5. Thanks, I'd been reading the "news" reports.........

and thought it might have been more of a Tory victory than appears true.

I agree that this was a wake up call vote for the Liberals and their ethical lapses of late. I certainly hope you're correct that they'll do much better in the future. I would hate for Canada to become, "USA Lite".

As for the Quebecois, I still can't see what they hope to gain by separating themselves from the rest of Canada. It seems like a, "cutting nose off to spite face" movement. I can't imagine Canada without Quebec and vice versa. Quebec is so dependent upon the rest of the country it seems suicidal. Oh well, that's just one dumb Yank's opinion.

I will never lose faith in our much saner and civilized neighbors to the north. Canada remains a beacon of sanity in a hemisphere that otherwise is divided and somewhat psychotic. ;) You guys take care, eh?

[wakeme2008]

6. thanks for the post

the US media has this as a BIG conservative win and that the ppl want US-lite govt.

[bliss_eternal]

7. So Canada would still be a safe, saner haven

for those of us that may seek refuge--if things get too bad here?

(i hope, i hope, i hope...;))

[regnaD kciN]

10. That's the thing that worries me...

I always figured that if things got crazy here (SCOTUS endorsed Bush's right to imprison "enemy combatants" indefinitely without trial, and prominent progressives started "disappearing" -- you know, all the things that are likely to happen if Alito gets confirmed :tinfoilhat: ), we were right near the border and a liberal-run Canadian government would have no humane alternative than to offer us political asylum.

I'm not so sure with the Conservatives in power. Granted, Little Stevie and the Disciples of Greed won't be able to pass much legislation due to gridlock, but wouldn't he still have the authority, on his own, to block asylum requests -- and even station troops at the border to turn back fleeing Americans right into the arms of Bush's waiting military police?

:scared:

[xchrom]

8. thanks for the insight.

[BlueManDude]

9. the NDP is a spoiler party pure and simple

enjoy your new right wing governmnet.

you'll be begging for the likes of Martin in 5 years.

[regnaD kciN]

12. Not quite...

It isn't like the Naderites here in 2000, where the only thing they could do was drain votes from Gore and help elect Bush.

Since the NDP has a decent number of seats in Parliament, they stand in the way of the Conservatives there. And they certainly will join with the Liberals on almost all votes...plus put pressure on the Libs not to take too much of a DLC-like path once they regain power.

And I think your assumption of "5 years" of Conservative rule is way off. With the government as it's currently structured, I can't see it lasting more than a year or two. At worst, it will only last as long as it takes Harper and the Cons to piss off the Quebecois on something or other (probably having to do with exerting federal authority over some realm the Bloc believes should be a provincial matter). The Libs/NDP only need a little less than half of the Bloc to side with them on a no-confidence vote, and it's bye-bye, Cons.

And, while it's possible for the Conservatives and the Bloc, working together, to wield a solid majority for a jointly-acceptable agenda, I think you'll see that when pigs fly. Even though the BQ lost seats this time, they really hold the balance of power for the near term, and their desires are unlikely to square with those of the rural western provinces where the Cons draw their strength.

[SweetLeftFoot]

14. Except if

Even though the BQ lost seats this time, they really hold the balance of power for the near term, and their desires are unlikely to square with those of the rural western provinces where the Cons draw their strength.


certain types within the Cons who'd be happy for the West to effectively secede saw the opportunity to have Quebec secede, giving them English Canada with the progressive vote split between the Libs and the NDP ...

[endarkenment]

27. Not in a parliament.

Canada is not as deformed as our system. The lack of a majority means that they cannot push their rightwing agenda through. if they refuse to compromise they will just get kicked out again.

[Telly Savalas]

38. You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

[BlueManDude]

40. Layton is a shyster and you guys have fucked yourselves over

enjoy your right wing government. and if you think it will just go away in a year or two you will sadly be wrong. once the rwers set up their think tank and media apparatus in canada your fellow citizens will be just as gullible and distacted by rw horseshit as we are.

[AtomicKitten]

11. thanks for the education.

You've given more insight in your post than I've been able to ascertain. Still I think our wingnuts are loonier than yours, but then again you've now got Faux News, so I guess it's just a matter of time.

Bon chance!

[tsuki]

13. Understand that the xenophobic American press have or

want little knowledge of "foreign" affairs. (Sometimes, I wonder if a little knowledge is all they have of domestic affairs.)

The Payola Pundits will be exploiting the "Tory" success in hopes that it will rub off on their pResident.

Personally, I shall be using the intellect of our northern neighbors in voting in a minority government to create checks and balances. Democrats to the House and Senate!

[AX10]

15. Don't fall asleep though. Harper will use is power to....

promote a centrist agenda in hopes of getting more seats in the parliament, at this point he will swing to the far right, ala Bush. The Liberals need to find new leadership and new ideas.

[TrogL]

32. Paul Martin just stepped down as leader

I'm hoping Anne runs.

[enough already]

16. I "didn't feel so bad" after our nazis took the House in '94

12 years later and things are worse than I could have possibly imagined. Your trend is going the wrong way. You can't sit back and just assume this is going to be ok.

[DaveinMD]

18. I did

that was one of the worst nights of my life.

[tuvor]

23. The difference is...

...that our Conservatives don't actually control anything right now. They have to play nice with the other MPs.

Which leads to my bigger concern: that they *will* play nice with everyone, giving the appearance to more voters of being a good government, garnering more seats at the next election.

In the meantime I'll be doing what I can to make sure their true colours continue to be shown.

[Posteritatis]

34. Different systems

Imagine if a majority vote on a money issue in Congress - or on any issue Congress decided should be a confidence issue - could force both congressional and presidential elections on five weeks' notice, complete with the general pissed-offedness the electorate would have at the ex-governing party for being responsible for another expensive election campaign in a short period.

That's what our system includes, and what yours lacks.

This has happened in Canada before, several times. A Conservative minority government is a very, very weak creature, and they almost never end well - for themselves.

[IdaBriggs]

19. Three Cheers for Canada! Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!!! nt

[Adelante]

20. Thanks for the explanation, it helps

But I can't help feeling that those numbers, your "punishment vote," could also reflect the kind of split in public sentiment that we've suffered for years. Practically speaking, I do see your political system offers leeway and doesn't have to end in paralysis, but in terms of public opinion, where does this election leave Canada philosophically?

[shadowlight]

22. The Conservative party only won 36.5%

of the popular vote.
Meaning the vast majority of Canadians are progressives.

[Adelante]

25. 63.5% progressives sounds good

It doesn't help me understand why they would elect this guy, though, even if the Liberal party fucked up. If we had 63.5% of the vote, I can't imagine we'd be where we are today in Bush hell.

Thanks very much. I know I'm really ignorant about how this all works and I appreciate the attempts you all are making to help us make sense of it.

[ieoeja]

29. Only if the Bloq is progressive.

Are they? If so, then why wouldn't they put together a coalition gov't with the Liberal party?

Not sure how parlimentary gov't works. Can a coalition gov't only be setup if it includes the biggest winner? Or can a coalition of the 2nd and 3rd place finishers take the reins of power since, in this case, they form a majority together?

[shadowlight]

30. I'm not positive.

I think if there is a vote of no confidence in this new parliament, then the Lib's and NDP could try to form a gov. I believe it is Parliamentary tradition for the party with the most seats to be given the opportunity to form a gov. Having said that I did read that the party that fell to a non confidence motion had first crack at trying to form a gov. in the new Parliament. Kinda confusing. And yes, the bloc is socially progressive.

[Posteritatis]

37. Socially and economically, they're between the liberals and NDP

Leaning a bit more towards the latter than the former.

In terms of the nationalism aspect of their politics, they're somewhat more sympathetic to the Conservatives, who want a weak federal government and devolution of power to the provinces. (Like Canadian provinces don't have ridiculous amounts of power to begin with - ha!) On top of that, Harper's pissed them off a few times during the election and before, and they're good at bearing grudges.

Most of the social, foreign policy, civil rights, etc. based policies the Liberals have been behind, at least a good chunk of tbe Bloc has been as well. If Harper tries anything stupid like massive tax cuts, or revisiting the gay marriage issue, or deploying to Iraq, or anything anti-Quebec (Canadian small-C conservatives generally loooooooathe the Quebecois), they'll join in the anti-Conservative pogrom which would result.

It's possible, constitutionally and legally, for a coalition government like you described to happen in Canada, but it's completely without precedent and flies in the face of institutional tradition, which is a really big deal up here.

[Boxerfan]

21. Thanks for the explaining

Sounds like the citizens actually have a say in who governs thier country & how. With checks & balances ta boot!

What are ye, some freaking communists!!:sarcasm:

[TrogL]

33. No, the Communists split the vote

Both the regular Communists and the Marxist-Leninists ran candidates.

[Posteritatis]

35. Yeah, they sure split that single ballot. ;) (n/t)

[samhsarah]

24. Thank you!!!!!

I have been so confused about this, Canada is our last great hope to the north and I did not know whether to cheer or cry about the election results. Thanks for posting this, and please, don't change (unless it's to the left, of course) We got it all wrong down here. (Well, 36% of us along with the help of Diebold do)

[guidod]

26. Thanks Brundle-Fly for this explanation.

l watched your updates yesterday and was on the edge of my seat. My next door neighbor is from Toronto and is still a Canadian citizen. The neighbor on the other side is a repuke hater as well. I live in a very conservative city and it's nice to have liberals on both sides of me. I think we're the only three liberal homes in the city. Good luck and thanks again.

[corkhead]

28. Thanks for the perspective. There is a silver lining to this cloud.

Looks like you are being polarized like we are down here though.

[Doctor_J]

31. Cons have been taking such a beating world-wide

that our media is looking for little crumbs of validation of Too Stupid To Be President. Your only realy danger is that the RW has taken over the media up there. If that's happened, you're pretty much fucked. That's the way it happened here.

[Brundle_Fly]

36. actually corporate interests

might have invaded some of our media.

The CBC remains very unbiased and pretty damned cool.

( I am comparing to FOX or MSNBC and CNN here )

[Vidar]

39. Thanks for posting.