The Canadian Election Thread

[Albert Flasher]

[FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=Sienna]A few of you may know that, for the better part of a month, there has been no government in Canada. The Minority Librel Government was given a non-confidence vote by the opposition and disolved by the Governer General.

Now, after a campaign of propogandga, negative attack ads, lies, promises, more lies, and photo-ops, the election is once again looming.

For those who don't know, I'll give you a rough rundown of the electoral system of Canada:

In Parliment Hall, there are 300+ seats. Each of these seats represents a riding somewhere in Canada. Each riding has a series of MP's (Ministers of Parliment) all trying to get the same seat. Each MP belongs to a certain political party. There are four major political parties, which are: The Librels (Paul Martin), The Conservatives (Stephen Harper), the New-Democrat Party (Jack Layton), and the *shudder* Parti Quebecious (Gilles Ducceppe).

Now, each riding votes on the MP they want. When an MP is elected, he/she goes to Parliment Hill in Ottawa. Basically, whichever Political Party has the most seats gets elected (i.e if 60% of all seats are Librel, Paul Martin is the Prime Minister). There are two situations here. Either:

There's a minority government, where the party with the most seats has less than 50% of all Parliment seats. Basically, six months go by where nothing is accomplished and than the government is disolved and we have another election, wasting more money.

There's a majority government, where a party controls over 50% of all seats in the Hall. Usually more things get done in a majority government and in about 4-5 years we have another election.

It's a needlessly complicated and overall stupid way of running a country but that's the way she goes.

Just to give you a rough idea of how the different parties behave on a regular basis, here's a rough summary of one of their debates:

Questioner: *Random, well thought out question*

Paul Martin: *Answers by discrediting Stephen Harper*

Stephen Harper: *Answers by calling Paul Martin a crook and a lyer*

Jack Layton: *Well thought out and articulate response. Unfortunatly for Smilin' Jack, no one gives a **** about what he thinks.*

Gilles Ducceppe: *Reminds everyone not to froget about the best intrests of Quebec*

So that's the way she goes. If anyone's intrested, I will update the thread as news comes along. As it stands, most preliminary polls show the Conservatives winning in a minority government. This worries me. Although I disagree in general with the Conservatives, Stephen Harper quite literally makes George W Bush look intellegent, making it even worse.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[OMNOMNOMALY]

[COLOR=Indigo][FONT=Trebuchet MS]I don't really believe we have any great candidates running. The NDP would do a decent job, unfortunately, as you said, nobody seems to care. We also have the Green Party who are very cute and have lovely ideas, but will never ever even get a seat, let alone win the entire election. Most disappointing. And don't forget the Marijuana party. Whose entire purpose is to be elected, legalize marijuana, and then resign. Um. Sweet. :rolleyes:

I'm really afraid of the Conservatives winning. You're right, Stephen Harper is an idiot. An idiot who wants to privatize our healthcare and take away gay marriage. In short: He wants to turn us into America with a smaller population. Atleast, that's what it seems like. In my opinion, anyway >_> I'd rather the Liberals any day. And NO it's not just because I'm in Alberta where everyone is getting a $400 prosperity cheque. [/FONT] [/COLOR]

[r2vq]

[QUOTE=Ziggy Stardust][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=Sienna]Questioner: *Random, well thought out question*

Paul Martin: *Answers by discrediting Stephen Harper*

Stephen Harper: *Answers by calling Paul Martin a crook and a lyer*

Jack Layton: *Well thought out and articulate response. Unfortunatly for Smilin' Jack, no one gives a **** about what he thinks.*

Gilles Ducceppe: *Reminds everyone not to froget about the best intrests of Quebec*[/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE]

Haha, [i]somebody[/i] is an NDP supporter. ;)
The Conservatives seem to be criticizing the Liberals a lot about their past scandals and criminal affairs. They want to er... "stand up for Canada" while a lot of my Liberal friends are Liberal because they believe that Martin is the lesser of two evils... or that Harper is in love with Bush.
Also, a lot of my friends are NDP supporters but think nobody else will vote NDP so their vote would be wasted. Though, I've been on a Canadian Forum where the general consensus is that Layton is an idiot.

I can't say I agree with [b]any[/b] of the Conservative policies that I've heard, but I must admit that I am terribly left.

-Arvi

[Albert Flasher]

[FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=Sienna]I've noticed that a lot... the 'What good will one vote do' mentality. Jeez, 90% of NDP supporters don't vote for them because they think that their vote will be wasted, or they don't vote at all. It's really rather sad... I mean, if all the NDP supporters who aren't voting went out and voted they'd win by a landslide.

I also don't like the people who vote for somone because they hate somone else, no matter if they agree or not with their policies. It seems stupid and petty. Funny how politics go.

Those 'Stand up for Canada' ads may well be the worst campaign ads I've ever seen... especially the one where he's talking to a woman and than somone asks him a question... even when it's rehearsed Harper can't dish out and charisma or intellegence.

Although the Librels have their share of wierd policies... the handgun ban is the only one I really disagree with. Crime is part of it, but there's a lot of times when people (Mostly in BC) have to use a handgun to defend themslelves from a wild animal, and a barreled gun really wouldn't cut it. Than there's the obvious 'Badguys will get guns, banned or not' arguement. IMO that was the deathblow to the Librel campaign. [/COLOR][/FONT]

[OMNOMNOMALY]

[QUOTE=Ziggy Stardust][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=Sienna]

I also don't like the people who vote for somone because they hate somone else, no matter if they agree or not with their policies. It seems stupid and petty. Funny how politics go.

Those 'Stand up for Canada' ads may well be the worst campaign ads I've ever seen... especially the one where he's talking to a woman and than somone asks him a question... even when it's rehearsed Harper can't dish out and charisma or intellegence.
[/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS][COLOR=Indigo]My parents are doing the whole vote for someone else because they hate the Liberals and Conservatives thing.. My Dad is voting for the Green Party >_>

The Stand up for Canada ads are pretty bad, but I think what's worse is the envelopes that Laurie Hawn the Conservative representative for my city sent out that had written on them "If this was from the Liberals, it would be filled with cash." They can't stick to the topics. They're trying to win by making the other parties look as bad as they can, and we're getting to the point where it seems like they're not even using facts, but they're taking stuff out of context and starting rumours. Lame.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Ellerby]

[quote name='CoLoR_Me_EviL][FONT=Trebuchet MS][COLOR=Indigo]They're trying to win by making the other parties look as bad as they can, and we're getting to the point where it seems like they're not even using facts, but they're taking stuff out of context and starting rumours. Lame.[/COLOR'][/FONT][/quote]
[color=#333333]
And the other parties aren't?

There was an ad that the [COLOR=Red][b]Liberals[/b][/COLOR] put out a while ago that basically said "Stephen Harper has a dog. You know who else had a dog? Adolf Hitler. Vote Liberal."

Personally, I believe very much in [COLOR=blue][b]Conservative[/b][/COLOR] policies. But I do agree that people should not vote [COLOR=Green][b]Green[/b][/COLOR] just because they don't like any of the other parties. If everyone did that, [COLOR=Green][b]Green Party[/b][/COLOR] would be elected (as if).

But I do think that over time you'll see that the [COLOR=Green][b]Green Party[/b][/COLOR] will come to be more and more popular. And what of Belinda Stronach?

I live in the area Belinda Stronach is running in and it is unbelievable how many supporters she has. For those of you who don't know, Belinda Stronach was last elected as a [COLOR=blue][b]Conservative[/b][/COLOR] and then switched to the [COLOR=Red][b]Liberal[/b][/COLOR] side. Now I realize that if you wanted Martin to be elected, you would have to vote for Stronach, but even so...[/COLOR]

[OMNOMNOMALY]

[QUOTE=White][color=#333333]
And the other parties aren't?

There was an ad that the [COLOR=Red][b]Liberals[/b][/COLOR] put out a while ago that basically said "Stephen Harper has a dog. You know who else had a dog? Adolf Hitler. Vote Liberal."

Personally, I believe very much in [COLOR=blue][b]Conservative[/b][/COLOR] policies. But I do agree that people should not vote [COLOR=Green][b]Green[/b][/COLOR] just because they don't like any of the other parties. If everyone did that, [COLOR=Green][b]Green Party[/b][/COLOR] would be elected (as if).
[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[COLOR=Indigo][FONT=Trebuchet MS]Sorry, I didn't specify. I meant that all the parties are turning away from the issues and focusing on personally attacking eachother. They're definitely not going to be elected based on their platforms, at the rate they're going. It's going to be all about who comes out looking the best after all is said and done.

As much as I agree with the Green Party, and as much as I'd love to see us clean up our environment, I just don't think the Green Party would do so well in running the whole country. Though I would prefer them over the Conservatives...[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Burori]

I'm voting for whomever will promise to assassinate the entire PQ party.... other than that I will stick to just voting quebec to stay a province nuff said. as long as we dont vote for a war hungry idiot who fantisizes about riding nukes into a war I'm happy. (Not trying to make that sound anything close to america mind you I am just stating that we are a goddamn peace keeping country... Hell if I have to go to war.)

[DBZgirl88]

[COLOR=#004a6f]I don't like overgeneralizing when it comes to politics. Although I don't support the conservatives, some people are really make them look like they're pure evil.

I 'm pretty much paying no attention to ads, especially the propapanda filled attack ads.

I've simply looked through all the policies, and so far I'm pretty pleased with NDP. I'd like a change in government. I want to give them a chance.[/COLOR]

[r2vq]

The election is (almost?) over!

125 Seats Conservative
102 Seats Liberal
51 Seats Bloc Quebecois
29 Seats New Democratic Party
(this may change)

Right now Paul Martin is making a speech about his plans post election...

After 56 days of intense campaigning, full of promises and mud-slinging, the Conservatives have squeezed into leadership with another minority government. Stephen Harper, the 34th Leader of the Official Opposition, is officially the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada and the first Conservative Prime Minister in 13 years.

Although he wont officially become Prime Minister until he is sworn in with the Governer General, Wikipedia has already identified him as the Right. Hon. Stephen Joseph Harper.

It looks like the Conservatives voters stood up for their Canada.

How do OB'ers feel about this? Personally, I'm not very happy. I never agreed with the conservative party's ideas. A lot of people are saying, though, that because it's a minority government, another election is on the horizon.

-Arvi

[DBZgirl88]

[COLOR=#004a6f]I'm not happy with the results, except for the fact that NDP has won many more seats than last time. I'm glad its a minority government. NDP can keep the conservatives in check. Let's see the tories even try to privatize our healthcare! We don't need a social hierchy thank you very much.[/COLOR]

[OMNOMNOMALY]

[QUOTE=r2vq]

How do OB'ers feel about this? Personally, I'm not very happy. I never agreed with the conservative party's ideas. A lot of people are saying, though, that because it's a minority government, another election is on the horizon.[/QUOTE]

[COLOR=Indigo][FONT=Trebuchet MS]According to a friend, they can only stay in office for about 2 years as a minority government. I hope that's it! *crosses fingers*[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Burori]

Well thank god Block Quecbecois didnt win.... Now with any luck quebec will stay a province for a little while longer....

[Circ]

[quote name='Swedish Chef']Well thank god Block Quecbecois didnt win.... Now with any luck quebec will stay a province for a little while longer....[/quote]

The Bloc could ahrdly win anyway,you know, considering that thing about pnly presenting candidates in Quebec?

What really surprised me was the Conservative votes in the Quebec city region, where I live. With the exception of the 2004 strong conservative vote in Louis-Saint-Laurent, tehre was never a Conservative stronghold in the region. The conservative elected in Charlesbourg?Haute-Saint-Charles and Beauport?Limoilou were assurprised asthe analysts from the results.

[Albert Flasher]

[FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=Sienna]I'm worried. Not so much about the cons getting a minrotiy government, which is bad, but with the amount of seats the PQ has gotten (60 wasn't it?). They're now officially the most dangerous party in Canada. Now nothing will get done unless it directly and often biasedly benifits Quebec (Or if for some reason the Libs and Cons agree on somthing). This is bad because no province should hold so much power.

In any case, Harper will screw over Canada (America North once he gets through with it) faster than you can say 'Iraq' and we'll have another election soon... yay, more money to waste![/COLOR][/FONT]

[DBZgirl88]

[COLOR=#004a6f][QUOTE=Ziggy Stardust][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=Sienna]I'm worried. Not so much about the cons getting a minrotiy government, which is bad, but with the amount of seats the PQ has gotten (60 wasn't it?). They're now officially the most dangerous party in Canada. Now nothing will get done unless it directly and often biasedly benifits Quebec (Or if for some reason the Libs and Cons agree on somthing). This is bad because no province should hold so much power.

In any case, Harper will screw over Canada (America North once he gets through with it) faster than you can say 'Iraq' and we'll have another election soon... yay, more money to waste![/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE]Actually if you heard any of the speeches made by the conservatives and any of the losing parties, they are willing to cooperate this time. The NDP's are glad they have more seats and a bigger voice and they don't think we need an election any time soon. The same goes for the liberals.

Harper said we voted for a new government, not a new country. Just because Canada becomes more conservative, we're not going to suddenly turn into America.

As for the Bloq Quebequois, they actually [I]lost[/I] seats. I think more and more Quebecers want to remain part of Canada.

I don't want the conservatives in power, because I'm a socialist at heart. But I think a few good things will come out of this situation.[/COLOR]

[Albert Flasher]

[QUOTE=Chabichou][COLOR=#004a6f]Actually if you heard any of the speeches made by the conservatives and any of the losing parties, they are willing to cooperate this time. The NDP's are glad they have more seats and a bigger voice and they don't think we need an election any time soon. The same goes for the liberals.

Harper said we voted for a new government, not a new country. Just because Canada becomes more conservative, we're not going to suddenly turn into America.

As for the Bloq Quebequois, they actually [I]lost[/I] seats. I think more and more Quebecers want to remain part of Canada.

I don't want the conservatives in power, because I'm a socialist at heart. But I think a few good things will come out of this situation.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=Sienna]
I know the PQ has less seats, but so do the 2 major parties, so it's good to know they may cooperate this time... but that may just be another broken promise.

I understand that it's just a new government, but it's also a government that supports things like Deep Integration (Basically, that would turn Canada, Mexico, and the US into one amorphous, culturless fortress of nations... bad.). I wouldn't be surprised if Harper got on the phone to Bush and said "Infiltration completed."

In any case, I hope that there isn't to much damage done by the Conservatives... just enough damamge so that the Librels can come in and win a majority next eleection (Unlikely...)

I also hope you're right and more Quebecers want to stay in Canada... I don't think the Conservatives will help the situation though. They're in love with the West, especially Harper, so I don't think Quebec will get the same slack that they got from the Librels.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Burori]

Although I am pleased with the results I do have something to share with all the canadian OBers whom did vote. I didn't.... I was way to busy to go to my booth and vote... so anyways still I am happy with the results.