Another Indecision 2008

[TrentFellow]

It's official: Canada is having another election, the third in five years, on Oct. 14. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, of the Conservative Party, is aiming to retain power in the face of his arch-rival, Libearal Party leader Stéphane Dion. Also competing for seats will be the socialist New Democratic Party, the pro-separatism Bloc Quebecois (which only runs candidates in Quebec), and the Green Party.

The seat distribution of the House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada was as follows:
Conservatives 127
Liberals 95
Bloc 48
NDP 30
Green 1
Independent 3
Vacant 4
TOTAL 308

[Ibun]

pants Canada.

[Liz]

pants Canada.

):

[osprey]

They all suck except the Greens. And possibly the NDP.

[Mista_B]

Eh, Harper dared the other parties to bring down the government a dozen times, but none of them had the balls.

[Comrade K]

They all suck except the Greens. And possibly the NDP.

Heh. Taliban Jack. No, they're all useless.
I could see myself voting NDP, or Conservative, but I'll never vote Liberal.

[osprey]

If I vote at all, it'll be Green. Chr0n1c ftw, am1rit3?

[GeorgiaCoyote]

Boy it would be interesting if at least an eighth of the seats in the U.S. House or Senate were filled with parties other than the Democrat and Republican parties. Not much gets down already as it is. Still the constant threat of a massive free-for-all would make C-SPAN a lot more entertaining.

[TrentFellow]

I dunno... I wouldn't object to going back to Liberal/Conservative rule, like it was before 1921.

A look at the parties:

Conservative: Led by Stephen Harper, MP for Calgary West, Alberta. Has been the government for the last 2 1/2 years. Main campaign points include beefing up security in the Northwest Passage, increasing the defence budget, and law & order. Most polls agree that Harper is the best person to be Prime Minister.

Liberal: Led by Dr. Stéphane Dion, MP for Saint-Laurent--Cartierville, Quebec. Claims that it is best suited to handle a possible recession, due to the deficit-busting legacy of the Chrétien years. Gambling heavily on its new carbon tax plan for support. The Liberals have more brand loyalty than any other party.

New Democrat: Led by Jack Layton, MP for Toronto--Danforth, Ontario. Espouses socialist ideas. Main platform points include an immediate end to the war in Afghanistan and a "Cap and trade" system. Posing in this election as the "real" alternative to the Conservatives, even though the NDP has never held more than 43 seats.

Bloc Quebecois: Led by Gilles Duceppe, MP for Laurier--Sainte-Marie, Quebec. Dedicated to the separation of Quebec from Canada, which isn't very poular right now. Also supports social programs.

Green: Led by Elizabeth May, campaigning for a seat in Central Nova, Nova Scotia, where the Conservative incumbent is the Minister of National Defence. Favours the carbon tax, yet is fiscally conservative. Has never won a seat in an election; their only MP was a Liberal defector.

[Extreme-Speed]

Anita Neville came to my house today. It was strange.

[Baconsticks]

Well, as least it's not America.

[osprey]

So Stephen Harper retained his seat but with still a minority government. Eh.

[Bocaj Claw]

Explain this outcome to me.

[likeafox]

There was a lot of ruckus and in the end nothing changed v0v

[Comrade K]

Damnit. I was hoping NDP would crush the liberals and become opposition.