The Canadian election results are here, with commentary here
The Conservatives have won, but even worse, despite a small increase in their vote, the Greens failed to win any seats. The only saving grace is the Conservatives fell well short of an overall majority. A good night for the NDP, gaining an increase of 10 seats.
Congrats to Mr. Harper.
MJ Coughlan,
Waterford City.
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I don't know much about your politics, aside from your Green-love that is, but Canada's Greens are a joke of a party. Aside from their centre-right politics-- their leader, Jim Harris, a wealthy consultant who has worked for ExxonMobile, describes himself as "an ecological conservative" -- organizations like Greenpeace describe the NDP as a party with a far better environmental platform than the Greens.
Overall, not the most surprising result. If the Conservatives are smart, they'll spend a year-and-a-half or two years pushing forward an unobjectionable agenda, mostly government accountability, anti-corruption measures, tax credits, etc., and then cruise back to the polls to secure their majority.
The Liberals have to pick a new leader, and it's a pretty weak field of candidates. I suppose the frontrunners are Canada's ambassador to the United States, a couple of Quebecois ex-cabinet ministers, "egghead" Michael Ignatieff, and a loudmouth right-winger from Toronto. I'd go with Ignatieff.
The NDP should be pleased with themselves, and Jack Layton will stick around, especially now that his wife is also a member of parliament. Their popular vote went up 1 or 2 per cent, and they got 10 more seats. If anything, this election really demonstrates how stupid the first-past-the-post system is.
"Somewhere out on that horizon, out beyond the neon lights/ I know there must be something better/ But there's nowhere else in sight/" - Joe Walsh, "In the City"
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And oh yes, my favourite Liberal MP, Ruby Dhalla got re-elected. I'd pick her to be leader, if she were in the running that is.
"Somewhere out on that horizon, out beyond the neon lights/ I know there must be something better/ But there's nowhere else in sight/" - Joe Walsh, "In the City"
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Poor result for the Bloc. Down three seat and only got 42% in Qeubec, down about 7% on the 2004 election. Will probably put soverenty off the cards for a while.
"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative."
Oscar Wilde
Indeed, and they were looking so strong too. Mr. Duceppe was bragging about getting an outright majority of the popular vote in Quebec, which for some reason was considered a major gaffe here. I don't really get it, because it seemed entirely reasonable-- the Liberal Party are very, very unpopular in Quebec because of federal scandals and provincial right-wing reforms.
The real question is whether Duceppe will stay on as leader. A good result, but nowhere near what they expected-- some people were predicting a Bloc Quebecois official opposition. They really have no one else, and Duceppe declined his chance to lead the provincial Parti Quebecois last year.
"Somewhere out on that horizon, out beyond the neon lights/ I know there must be something better/ But there's nowhere else in sight/" - Joe Walsh, "In the City"
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I seem to have been close enough, though slightly harsh on the liberals and expected the conservatives to do better.
http://www.politics.ie/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9851
I'd say the bloc will fall short of 50. The NDP to get 30, the Green might surprise in some urban seats and get 1 or 2, and the conservatives just 130, leaving the Liberals 90 odd.
Dan Sullivan. I was back but we still couldn't all have a vote.
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I don't know much about the Canadian Greens, but can you provide any references for the above? I did see that "ecological conservative" quote used in the Canadian press, but without any context (as in your post).Originally Posted by mbari hogun
Well, presumably because an outright majority of the vote for the Bloc would imply a majority in favour of independence; predicting a majority scares the federalists and floating voters in the province, increasing the turnout of the former (who don't vote Bloc anyway) and decreasing the likelihood that the latter will back the Bloc.
Incidentally, this appears to be a hopelessly divided parliment. The Conservatives don't have a majority and their potential partners (BQ and NDP) are both ideologically closer to the Liberals than to the Conservatives. The only stable majority is a Conservative-Liberal coalition.
A majority in Quebec for the Bloc does not necessarily indicate a majority in favour of independence. The Bloc brings together a lot of parties who have various different feelings, ranging from more autonomy to absolute independence. Just because the Bloc get 50% doesn't mean an independence referendum would too.
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