Now Canada has an election too
As if the election campaign in the United States was not enough excitement for North Americans, we now have the news – expected for several weeks – that we are going to be into an election campaign in Canada as well. It’s “official” as of today and the date is 14 October.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party has been in a minority government situation for the past two years He’s had to rely on support from one of the other parties to get legislation through or else rely on the Liberal Party refusing to vote.
Current standings (total 308) are:
Conservative Party 127
Liberal Party 95
Bloc Quebecois 48
New Democratic Party 30
Green Party 1
Independent 3
Vacant 4
Canadians still use the British first past the post electoral system.
My man in Canada advises me as follows:
“What I expect will happen (not by any means what I want to happen!) is that the Conservative Party will win a slim majority at the expense of the Liberals and the Bloc Quebcois. Quebec nationalism is on the decline right now. The NDP (the main party of the left) will likely gain 2-3 seats.
The single Green seat is the result of a Liberal being tossed from the party after an election expense scandal and then “defecting” to the Greens. “Party-switchers” generally don’t get re-elected in the general election. At best, the Green Party leader has a shot at getting elected to her seat in Nova Scotia…where she’s running against the Foreign Affairs Minister.”
Let’s see if this assessment proves correct.
September 21st, 2008 at 6:31 pm
The Conservatives seem a Bu$h tool profiting from their ‘Noise Machine’ which puts out truly Orwellian propaganda.
The Liberals have the dubious distinction of being the party which almost destroyed them by being ‘against’ Free Trade and the Government Sales Tax ( GST is rather like the VAT ) before being run out because of corruption : years after the former debacle where they promptly implemented the PC’s platform despite the overwhelmingly negative vote of the electorate ( though they managed to be elected again and again due to fiscally responsible management ).
I doubt many remember how poor a reflection of the public will the election will be. Amazingly – the government put in a law to set fixed election dates – and promptly ignored it !
Oh yes. The Liberals started Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan and the PC’s expanded it. I always do find it interesting how the Department of Defence ( War ) can be part of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization of common defence ( now ignoring treaty agreements which got the USSR out of Europe ) involved in offensive operations in Asia.
Pipeline route. Says it all.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB207/index.htm
Bear with me. There is a lot of conflict going on. It is all of a piece.