Canadian Results
Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party strengthened its position in Parliament yesterday, gaining 16 seats while the Liberals lost 18. Stephane Dion appeared somewhat hapless in a recent CBC interview, and looking hapless isn’t going to translate into a lot of votes.
I find the geography here interesting with respect to party results. The NDP prevailed in rural and frontier areas like NWT, northern Manitoba, and northern BC. The Conservatives won the suburbs, while Toronto was a puddle of Liberal red in a sea of blue:
NDP did quite well in Vancouver:
In Montreal, the Liberals did quite well in the urban core, surrounded mostly by a sea of light-blue Parti Quebecois:
Calgary and Edmonton both went solid Conservative, with the exception of one Edmonton riding that went NDP.
Nova Scotia has a split - Halifax and Dartmouth went NDP, while the gray riding went overwhelmingly to an independent candidate:
The CBC laments the fact that the turnout was the lowest in Canadian history.
The lowest - at 59%.
Brian Bray Says:October 15th, 2008 at 6:31 am
The Liberals benefit every election cycle by people inclined to vote NDP but are afraid of throwing away their vote. It will be interesting to see if the NDP continues making gains under the leadership Jack Layton and what long-term consequences that will have on Canadian politics. Will the Liberals grow more moderate while the NDP and Conservatives taking harder positions on the left and right. Or will the Liberals slowly find themselves a non-factor if the Conservatives over-reach while governing and the electorate seeks a drastic change and turn to the New Democratic Party.
I wonder who the Conservatives will partner with to form the government. I would guess BQ, but the NDP may also be in the running. I expect Jack Layton to want the NDP to be in the minority this cycle, and try to become the pre-eminent voice of opposition. The BQ is always a weird party to try to form a government with, but it might be easiest for Harper to deal with.
Chris from OP Says:October 15th, 2008 at 10:28 am
It looks as if the Niagara Peninsula kept with tradition and voted Conservative. Oh how I miss the days of the Conservative Reform Alliance Party..
Chris from OP Says:October 15th, 2008 at 10:28 am
PS: I can see Canada from my house!
mike Says:October 15th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Now all the ex-hippie’s that are republicans like hank, can move to canada if Obama wins.
Snarky Snarkmore McSnarkamaphone Says:October 15th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
@Chris from OP
you can? Must be a tall effin’ house.
I really can see Canada from my house, yo.
Chris from OP Says:October 15th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
@ Snarky
You have better foreign policy credentials than I do.
Snarky Snarkmore McSnarkamaphone Says:October 15th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
That’s true, that’s true- good think I’m running!
And for your part, you have better energy policy credentials.
Dan Says:October 15th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Those Liberal-leaning districts in Montreal are the Anglophone western suburbs. The PQ looks like it dominated the Francophone areas.
Denizen Says:October 15th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
The US could stand to incorporate some parliamentary features into Congress. Maybe we’d see more political parties than the pathetic two we have now.
Our current congress is a joke, with the US Senate being the most ridiculous thing to ever pass itself off as a legislative body; nothing more than a bunch of fat-headed asshats over-representing thinly populated, irrelevant states.
sbrof Says:October 15th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Much more interesting when there are more than two parties involved in politics. There feels like one might have real options. I feel like the US is constantly in a state of no good options. This year less than most in my voting life but how nice it would be for people to not feel trapped in their political parties.
Chris from OP Says:October 15th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
@ Denizen, a Parliamentary system alone does not usually lead to multiple parties. It is usually the electoral system, and single member districts like we have in the US and Canadia usually lead to two parties. The fact that Canada has three nationally viable parties, and one major regional party is a bit strange. The UK seems to be swinging this way though, due to the pitiful state of the Labour Party in the last few years, though. A multi-party sytem can lead to some very very silly results, though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31FFTx6AKmU
Denizen Says:October 16th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Party-list voting for at-large seats (common in parliamentary systems) greatly increases the chances for alternative parties gaining at least a few seats. Instant-runoff voting for single-seat constituencies may also encourage people to vote for candidates they truly want instead of just the same old, defensive “lesser than two-evils” vote.