Federal Election (Canadian)

[Nick]

I noticed the signs for the local candidates have gone up over the weekend, and I thought in the light of an imminent fall election, there should be a place to discuss election topics. I'm not looking for a big debate over which party to vote for or anything, although healthy discussion never killed anyone. I'm just looking for links to well written articles, political cartoons, and everything else that seems to happen around election time.

I'll start out with this:

[Nick]

Here's another

[D'Elete BC in NJ]

Happy Voting Canada! ;D
There's another 3 weeks of attack ads and character bashing before we get to tell them to shut up here in the US

[Northern Exploration]

I will have to be extra smart to be careful to watch only the Canadian channels the next three weeks in order to keep sane. The problem becomes if you watch Time Shift and watching say a Chicago station to get the HD version. BAM they get you . Senators, Congressmen, Candidates, Local Interest Groups - blah, blah, blah . Either that or put everything on PVR/DVR so I can skip the commercials. ;D

[Quatchi]

Oct 14, 2008 9:14:42 GMT -8 Northern Exploration said:

I will have to be extra smart to be careful to watch only the Canadian channels the next three weeks in order to keep sane. The problem becomes if you watch Time Shift and watching say a Chicago station to get the HD version. BAM they get you . Senators, Congressmen, Candidates, Local Interest Groups - blah, blah, blah . Either that or put everything on PVR/DVR so I can skip the commercials. ;D

Or just stop watching TV altogether.

[Nick]

And on that note:

[Dane]

I voted strategically today - it better pay off!

Anything but a conservative majority government!!!!!

[Neil]

No matter how people feel, I hope everyone of voting age will get out and cast their ballot today. There is no excuse for not voting, and most people who claim there's no one to vote for are just too lazy to examine the issues properly. This election may see us dropping behind the Americans in voter participation- and I don't think that's because politics has gotten worse- it's because people have gotten more lazy and cynical, and more inclined to blast politicians for faults that most people have in themselves as well.

So.... vote. Even if, gawd forbid, it's for the Dark Lord himself.

[Low Light Mike]

Oct 14, 2008 12:40:53 GMT -8 Neil said:

So.... vote. Even if, gawd forbid, it's for the Dark Lord himself.

Did you wear a powder-blue sweater-vest while you voted today, Neil?

I agree with your exhortation for people to vote. It's a duty and I'm happy to say that I've never missed voting in an election at any level of government.

I have learned a few lessons over the years from some mistakes that I made in voting, mostly re focusing on the merits of the overall party and ignoring the potential shortfalls of the local candidate. (see "Paul Reitsma" on Google for more info).

I hope that federally we will have a proportional-representation system in place, some time in my lifetime....

[Neil]

Oct 14, 2008 12:54:41 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

Did you wear a powder-blue sweater-vest while you voted today, Neil?

I do have a powder blue sweater, but since I also have a Jack Layton hairstyle, I figure it's safe for me to wear it...

Oct 14, 2008 12:54:41 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

I hope that federally we will have a proportional-representation system in place, some time in my lifetime....

In the '93 annihilation of Kim Campbell's Tories, that party finished with nearly as many votes as the second place Reform, yet Reform took fifty-something seats to the Tories' two. First past the post has indeed produced some very skewed results, perhaps affecting the NDP the most, over time, as they have rarely finished with a number of seats corresponding to their vote percentage.

Not sure how I feel about full proportional representation. In Canada, it would pretty much guarantee perpetual coalition governments. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I suppose.

The interesting thing tonight is that even after all the ridings are decided, we won't necessarily know who's the PM. The possibility of the Liberals, NDP, and even the Bloc getting together (if, collectively, they have enough seats) won't play out immediately. A Tory minority might send Harper on his way to visit Rideau Hall, but Stephane Dion might be hard on his heels with another proposal. Michaelle Jean may have an prominent role in the next few days.

[Northern Exploration]

Too warm today for sweaters of any type out here past the no man's land of the lakehead. But I won't belabour that point and gloat any more. I found the election process tedious. A bit overkill if you ask me. The only thing the woman at the polling station didn't ask me was what colour of underwear I had on. Seems to go very slow. I can imagine what it will be like this evening when the polls are really busy. She also wasn't "prepping" the next voter until the first one had totally finished dropping their ballot in the box. I think somehow this process should be sped up and still be kept secure.

[Neil]

Oct 14, 2008 14:48:38 GMT -8 Northern Exploration said:

Too warm today for sweaters of any type out here past the no man's land of the lakehead. But I won't belabour that point and gloat any more. I found the election process tedious. A bit overkill if you ask me. The only thing the woman at the polling station didn't ask me was what colour of underwear I had on. Seems to go very slow. I can imagine what it will be like this evening when the polls are really busy. She also wasn't "prepping" the next voter until the first one had totally finished dropping their ballot in the box. I think somehow this process should be sped up and still be kept secure.

I've heard about the problems easterners have with the voting process; figuring out which end of the pencil to use, making the 'X'....

Out here in the no man's land west of the lakehead, voting goes very quickly. Minimal prepping, very few questions, in and out, really. Be patient, NE- the polling place officials are just there to help, and to make sure you guys do it properly. You'll all get the hang of it eventually.

[Northern Exploration]

Well if you believe everything you hear....

BTW the "Rick Mercer Report" and "This Hour Has Twenty Minutes" may be funny but don't really count as the news. ;D

Speaking of Rick Mercer and This Hour - they both have a real good go at everyone tonight. Highly recommended therapy especially when they make fun of all the ads.

[Ferryman]

Well, I just got back from voting....

As soon as I got off from work at 6:30pm, I headed for the polls. The lineup of cars waiting to get to where we had to go and vote was rediculous. Then it was even worse inside the building. The lineup I had to stand in once I was registered, went around, and around, the auditorium. I stood in this line for an hour and 20 mins before I voted, and ended up being the second to last person to put in my ballot, in all of Squamish, an hour and fifteen minutes after the polls were supposed to close. So everyone from Elections Canada was anxious to count the ballots by the time I walked out of there.

[Quatchi]

Wow I was in and out within 2 minutes and that includes parking the truck in the lot.

Cheers,

[Nick]

I'm curious, why you only had a half hour between when you got off work and when the polls close? According to Elections Canada, everybody is supposed to get 3 consecutive hours in which to vote. So if the polling station is open from 7 to 7, and you work 8 to 5, you should technically get off work an hour early, or be able to come in 2 hours late.

see here for information.

[Quatchi]

Nick you are assuming the boss isn't scamming you outta your rights.

cheers,

[DENelson83]

Oct 14, 2008 16:50:17 GMT -8 Northern Exploration said:

BTW the "Rick Mercer Report" and "This Hour Has Twenty Minutes" may be funny but don't really count as the news. ;D

That's "This Hour Has Twenty-Two Minutes".

[Dane]

I have a conservative. Shoot me. He's not even a good conservative.

[Northern Exploration]

At my polling station the following was the procedure.

Line up to show you had your card that was received in the mail and were registered and had ID. There were some individual voting booths sitting empty with the volunteers reading. Once you proved you were registered you were sent to the booth that corresponded with your number. The lady behind me in line said, "my booth is sitting empty with the people reading and I am standing in line, I can read afterall."

There were three of us plus a neighbour as we had car pooled to the station. The woman first took our card, asked our name verbally, looked us up on her register, asked us our address verbally, checked our picture ID that had name and address on it, and then we got our ballot to vote. She then sat and waited until the person voted and had put their ballot in the box before starting with the next person. For the four of us we were in the polling station about 15 minutes. That is not a huge deal as individuals, however when it was actually busy I wonder how long the waits were.

I don't know why they would ask for two verbal repeats of what was on the picture ID and the voter registration card. That is no test except if a person can read and memorize. The picture ID with address should be sufficient. In addition the polling volunteer could have "prepped" the next person in line while the other was marking their ballot to speed things up.

With voter turnout overall at an abismal low, and with empty voting booths, there should be no reason for line-ups midday. I can imagine what it was like during prime time evening voting. I have heard from some friends that what Chris has described wasn't unusual.

Voting should of course be secure but easier and quicker. I commend Chris for standing in line to vote. I also know from surveys and human behaviour studies, people that are already not happy about going to the polls or even a bit ambivalent, will be much more prone to walk away rather than stand in line and vote.

[Nick]

I went to vote yesterday afternoon around 4:30. I was sent to my polling station right away, but the bit that irked me was that my polling station had a line up of 6 or 7 people, wheras every one of the other stations had no line at all. The attendant didn't verify my name or address verbally, just checked my driver's license. It still took me 15 minutes to vote just because the line was so long.

Listen to me, I'm complaining about it taking 15 minutes to vote, when there are people in other countries who travel for hours upon hours just to be able to exercise their right to vote.

Something else I was thinking about, I am wondering what everybody's opinion is on the abysmal voter turnout this year. 59.1%.

On a lighter note:

[Mike C]

I think we're one of the very few with a Liberal... again

[Neil]

What a dismal exercise this election turned out to be. How can anyone be satisfied with the result?

If you're a Conservative, you saw your leader take his third kick at the can, and be rejected by almost 63% of voters. Harper blathered on about getting a 'strengthened mandate', but in fact didn't get any sort of mandate; he's virtually PM by default, having faced the weakest Liberal leader in living memory.

If you're Liberal, your party crashed and burned under Stephane Dion, and finished behind the Greens in a number of ridings. He grafted the Green Shift onto the body of the Liberal party like some colossal, defective conjoined twin, and now the party will have to perform the operation to separate it as delicately as possible, as well as find a new leader.

Despite telling everyone the universe as we know it would implode if the Conservatives were elected again, and that only he could stop it, Jack Layton found his party at precisely the same level of support as before- apparently he convinced no one who wasn't already convinced. Thanks to a more advantageous distribution of his support, the NDP gained seats, although due to the winner take all system, they're still cheated; based on their proportion of the vote, they should have 55, instead of 37.

If you're Green, you saw your party stall at 7%, not coming close to electing anyone, including the leader, despite far more media attention than they deserved. The Greens continue to perform one roll- siphoning off enough progressive votes to ensure the election of more Conservatives.

Then there was the paltry turnout, at less than 60%. I hope everyone who stayed home, smugly telling themselves that no politicians were worthy of their vote, are proud of themselves for making Canada's democracy look less inclusive. Hopefully those people won't dare to criticize anything to do with government in the next while.

Finally, I've never seen less enthusiasm from party supporters than I saw when Dion, Harper, and Layton made their speeches to the faithful last night.

Was anyone happy with this election?

[WettCoast]

Oct 15, 2008 12:41:06 GMT -8 Neil said:

Was anyone happy with this election?

The Home Depot and other retailers of plywood?

$300 million dollars down the drain thanks to Harper's gamble on getting a majority. Thank you Quebec for denying him his wish.

[Low Light Mike]

Oct 15, 2008 12:41:06 GMT -8 Neil said:

Was anyone happy with this election?

I wonder if Gilles Duceppe was happy.

Here's a party that is explicitly non-national in intent, and which always seems to have an impact on 1 or more national party's outcomes.

If the Bloc-Q party didn't exist, and it's 50 seats were won instead by a combination of Liberal and Conservative candidates, then perhaps we could be in a situation where a Liberal-NDP coalition could form a government (after the Governor-General gives first chance to the Conservative party).

I don't like how the Bloc-Q gets 16% of the seats, with only 10% of the Nation-wide popular vote.