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Post by charlie on May 3, 2011 4:08:43 GMT
LOL!!
OK, so Harper finally got his majority, only took him 2 or was that 3 tries. That was a bit of a surprise.
A larger surprise was getting the NDP as official opposition. I kind of like that.
Ignatieff got shown the door. I LIKE that a lot. (nasty piece of shit)
He thought he could talk to the public as though they were 8th graders.
Elizabeth May was disappointed again and acted the martyr.
The Bloc also ran.
All in all a very good night. Damn I love Canadian politics!!
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Post by charlie on May 3, 2011 4:48:08 GMT
These were the choices this time around. Not all were available in every riding. I was happy to see the Rhinoceros party was still around, their platform is usually pine. The Marijuana party is usually good for a laugh. If there is no Christian Heritage party in your riding you can always vote Communist. (laughing) I'm not at all sure about the Pirate bunch, they sound a little dodgy. I do wonder about the First Peoples National Party, do you have to be first nation (indian) to vote for them...hmm. The Animal Alliance people sound like Green Party to me. Wonder if they have a better looking Leader of the Pack.
Choices choices
Conservative Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
New Democratic Party
Green Party of Canada
Bloc Quecbecois
Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada
Canadian Action Party
Christian Heritage Party of Canada
Communist Party of Canada
First Peoples National Party of Canada
Libertarian Party of Canada
Marijuana Party
Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada
Pirate Party of Canada
Progressive Canadian Party
Rhinoceros Party
United Party of Canada
Western Block Party
Independant
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Post by hwinpp on May 3, 2011 10:02:40 GMT
Is there a minimum amount of votes you need to get into parliament? In Germany it's 5%, anything under that gets lost (and there are actually two exceptions for minorities, the Danes in the north and the Sorbs in the East, each have two seats guaranteed in state elections but not in national elections).
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2011 10:39:24 GMT
I don't think Canada has proportional representation. I am perhaps mistaken.
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Post by hwinpp on May 3, 2011 10:41:12 GMT
Yes, that was the question I forgot.
So most of those parties OP listed will never make it into parliament?
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2011 11:13:14 GMT
That's what I think. Same in France -- our list of parties is about that long, but there are only 5 parties in parliament -- UMP (Sarkozy), Socialist, Communists & affiliates, MoDem (centrist) and Green. We only tried a proportional election once and ended up with 35 députés from the National Front. Most people never want to see that again.
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Post by mich64 on May 3, 2011 17:06:41 GMT
I am not an expert in the logistics of Canadian Government hwinpp but I will try to answer your questions.
Each Province or Territory has ridings. Riding areas can be very large in size or small, depending on population. This is a way they attempt to deal with the rural and urban population of Canada. The winner of the riding gains a Seat in Parliment to represent their district/riding. For the Government to be a Majority they must win a minimum of 155 Seats, when the winner wins less than this it is called a Minority Government and not much ever gets accomplished as proved over the past 5 years. This is because the others can band together when Budgets need to be voted on and passed etc., their numbers out number the Leading Party who proposes the Budget. This happened with many others Bills that were tried to be passed.
There are 308 Seats across the country, in those ridings there is a total of 71,500 polling stations where we go to place our vote.
In the 2011 Election the results were as follows:
Conservatives - 166 Seats
NDP - 102 Seats
Liberals - 35 Seats
Bloc - 4 Seats
Green - 1 Seat
These people will each have a seat in Parliment to voice opinions, propose Bills, vote on Bills for the next 4 years. The parties where there candidates did not have a winner will not sit in Parliment. The Bloc and The Green also do not have official Party Status because they did not win enough seats to be obtain official status, but they do have a seat, a voice and a vote. I believe not having official status means they do not get the funding for their Party operations, they receive their salary as an individual but not the funding for their organization. In the case of the Bloc is was traumatic as they were an official Party but lost most of their seats in the votes to the NDP. The Green Party made history by gaining the one seat they have. As by their name implies, they are an Enviornmental based Party.
I hope this has answered your questions.
Cheers,
Mich
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Post by mich64 on May 3, 2011 17:16:04 GMT
Another very important part is that each Party elects a leader prior to any election, or retains the Leader they have. The Leader also has to run in a riding to win his seat. When the Party wins the Majority or Minority, that Party Leader becomes Prime Minister. In this election, the Leader of the Liberal Party and the Leader of the Bloc lost the vote in their respective ridings and have both resigned today as Party Leaders. Therefore, in a few months from now, each Party will hold Conventions of their members to vote a new Leader. The Green Party Leader won her seat.
Cheers!
Mich
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2011 4:59:20 GMT
Thanks for explanations, Mich. As you probably know, Canadian politics rarely make waves around the world.
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Post by bjd on May 4, 2011 9:53:49 GMT
It's basically the British system.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2011 10:54:56 GMT
I was reading the Wikipedia article on electoral systems, and some countries are nuts.
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Post by mich64 on May 4, 2011 14:31:50 GMT
Yes Kerouac, there is rarely a need for life in Canada to make the International News. We have a wonderful diverse Country that is growing in so many ways but lives and thrives relatively quietly.  I would assume our Government would be similiar to England as we are a member of the Commonwealth and would follow their systems in many ways. Cheers, Mich |
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2011 14:46:07 GMT
I think a lot of the British are ready to modify their system somewhat -- it is not really fair in a three-party system, where somebody can win with only 34% of the votes.
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Post by mich64 on May 4, 2011 15:54:10 GMT
We too have found it difficult in our history and when an election results in a Minority Government it is usually 4 years of no productivity, no progress. It would be difficult to institute change that everyone can agree on but change seems to be popular right now and we would benefit to listen and learn from others.
Cheers,
Mich
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Post by bjd on May 4, 2011 15:55:42 GMT
Well, the French system is not particularly fair either. Our municipal elections are often about 48:52%. The winners get 52% plus half of the remainder, so they end up with 75% of the seats with half the vote.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2011 18:41:03 GMT
Yes, the "give them a solid majority" rule is not totally fair, but at least the winner is the real winner in the runoff and not a minority nobody.
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Post by joanne28 on May 6, 2011 20:46:19 GMT
I must say, I rather like minority governments, simply because they cannot run rampant and do whatever they like. They must compromise to stay in power.
I've never been a Harper fan and shudder to think what that little egomaniac will do now - silly me, he'll cut taxes to corporations and funds to social services.
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Post by hwinpp on May 7, 2011 5:04:28 GMT
Thanks, Mitch. Hadn't checked this thread for a couple of days.
I meant does Canada have proportional (e.g. Germany) or majority (e.g. US) representation?
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