Canadians: what are you gonna/did you vote?

[senjuro]

I'm not asking for a justification of your vote...but if you'd like to, I think it'd be fascinating to hear what you think about the policital dynamic of our country.

I'm voting strategically for my district. Basically, I know that NDP is the right choice, but they have no chance in my province, so I'm voting Liberal. It'd be a cold day in Hell before I backed the Conservatives. Sorry, America. You can do your own thing down there, but I'd much prefer to remain separate from it.

[KS_Naslund]

OooOooO politics: another peeve of mine, but it's something you gotta live with!

I don't really know who i'd vote for.

-The NDP and Conservatives main action if they're elected is to concentrate our taxes and funds into welfare, which i'm despising. Yes, there are people out there who really need this money to get back on their feet, but they're completely outnumbered by the incompetent, slack-jawed canadians out there who just want an extra penny. I feel that if we ever get rid of poverty, it'd be mainly because we took our welfare funds and invested it into World Health.

-We've seen what the Liberal's can do :D. Their plans mainly are based around climate-change, which would be a damn good investment (worth billions). But holy crap! they did so terrible as our representatives that they were actually thrown off for a re-election before the 4 years were over! but nevertheless, they'll probably win again. :roll:. And i'd also probably vote for them, just to give them ANOTHER chance to redeem themselves.

-The green party- I dunno why, i just don't like them. Perhaps because of how they don't use any effort to show us their plans, the thought of them just doesn't come to mind when the election comes.

-The Bloq Quebecois don't see how self-centered they are (i'm gonna get hunted for this), and i think there are WAY more important things in the world right now (global warmin's a big plus) than the French Canadian's culture, let alone any culture.

Whew! all done!

[Herr Mullen]

I'm not Canadian, but I do like to know how Canada's political system is run. A Parliment, I believe, but that's all I know. Could someone please tell me how it works?

I do love Canada. Good comedy (The Vinal Cafe!), and a member of the Commonwealth. I can't think of a cooler western country, aside from the UK.

[senjuro]

Here's a little mini-lecture for you, Mullen. Everyone else can ignore this, unless you're actually interested in a crash course in Canadian politics...

Who runs our country is determined by which party gets the most seats in parliament. Each district (of which there are three hundred and eight) votes for a representative for their district who is one of the five parties (Liberal, Conservative, NDP, Green, and Bloc). The only party not represented in all districts is the Bloc. There are very rarely (never, maybe?) independent candidates.

Basically, we don't vote for a leader, we vote for a party (which is stupid). This leads to a lot of strategic voting. For example, while I think the Conservatives or NDP would do a better job of running the country at the moment, I DO NOT want Stephen Harper (the leader of the Conservatives, also practically a Neo-Nazi) to lead my country, nor am I going to throw away my vote to the NDP (because they NEVER come even close to winning seats in my province). So I'm stuck voting Liberal again.

Here's a brief summation of the parties:

Conservative: they're our right-wingers. They're all about priviledged classes and big business. Unless you live in Ontario or Alberta, they don't pay much attention to you. Human rights are not a concern of theirs, and they seek to abolish gay marriage, abortion, and basically anything else where people should really have a choice. Their candidates are also characterised by a severe disdain for people of other cultures and religions, and treat them callously. They are definitely the most financially savvy, and if they weren't such right-wingers, they'd do a great job leading the country.

Stephen Harper is the leader of the Conservatives. Personally, he scares me. He's so anti-EVERYTHING that's right and good in this world. His priorities are not in things that'd make Canada better (better healthcare, childcare, reduce emissions, etc). He'd also put us right in the middle of the Iraq war, which on the whole, Canadians do NOT want to be a part of.

Liberal: middle-ground. The like the concept of social reform, health-care, all those things politicians promise. Except the Liberals deliver, but only on the rare occasion. They have the longest track record of running the country, and more often than not deliver balanced budgets to their predecessors. Their recent unpopularity is due to the "Sponsorship Scandal," a event newsworthy only because the government was caught misappropriating tax-payers' money. Really, I don't think it was that huge a deal, but the other parties thought it was a big enough deal to try a non-confidence vote, which passed and put us in this election.

Paul Martin is the current leader, and was Finance Minister while the scandal was happening. While it's possible he knew what was going on, the President of Treasuries was actually in charge of the flow of money, so Martin's deniability in this case is plausible. He wasn't a too bad PM. A bit wishy-washy on the issues, though. He's been made a scapegoat of.

NDP: the left-most party of our system, they're the conscience of our house of parliament. Their commitment to their ideals is commendable, especially in light of the fact that everyone makes fun of them for it. They have lofty ideals about saving the environment, lowering taxes, amazing healthcare, and other such silly things that'd never happen. Incidentally, part of the NDP platform is voting reform, because our system is so retarded, and they feel it should be fixed. Their biggest pitfall is the financial side of their platform: the propose at 72 BILLION dollar budget. I'll say no more on that, but you can imagine how retarded that is.

Jack Layton is the head of the NDP. Don't have much to say about him. He pretends to be a saint, the best pick of the three major options. He isn't really. He's an ineloquent speaker with ideals that go far beyond what even gullible voters would believe. Also, to the best of my knowledge, we've NEVER had an NDP prime minister, so they have the least experience running the country.

Bloc: The Quebec party. They get a lot of seats in Quebec and the French ridings of New Brunswick and Ontario. There aren't representatives in a lot of places. Their priority is firmly establishing the racial and cultural superiority of Quebec. They also want to separate from Canada, in a big bad way, even though that would be absolutely idiotic. This party doesn't have a shot at getting a PM in because they don't participate in enough ridings to take a PM all the way. Good thing, too. It'd be bad for Canada to have a leader who only focuses on one province.

Gilles Duceppe is the Bloc leader. He exemplifies every ideal of the Bloc: Qubec > j00. That's about it.

Green: go out and hug a tree, ride a bike, stop driving cars, and smoke some dope! They're a ridiculous party that's our national joke. They've never taken a seat yet, and I doubt they will for quite some time. Their main priority is saving the environment, and while that's commendable, other parties can do the same and *gasp* they can do OTHER things too! Like maybe keep us out of the hole.

Don't know who their leader is. S/He's never part of any debates. I'm sure they're a hippy, though, whoever they are.



Our parliament works much the same as yours I'd imagine, Mullen, since it's based off yours. (speaker, opposition, etc)

[circeus]

Bloc: The Quebec party. They get a lot of seats in Quebec and the French ridings of New Brunswick and Ontario.

Actually, the bloc do not present candidates outside Quebec.

[KS_Naslund]

So the Conservatives won, and by a landslide! I did some research in between schooling and found their main actions. Supposedly they plan on the following (at least while they were still promising)


-They will cut GST down a few pegs (they say from 7 to 5%)
-2$ billion will go into infrastructure, roads, etc.
-10.9$ Billion bucks will go into child care (in oppose to the 6.2$ billion the Liberals used).
-Canada will not intervene with the US coalition in Iraq
-There will soon be a free vote on same-sex marriage, (whoopidee-doo! :P )
-Quebec will be given a bigger role on the "international stage", which they say is a major issue there.


Sadly, I couldn't find any unbiased dirt to even this out.
What do you think of these guys and their decisions? (they're looking really good right now).

[senjuro]

They're only looking good because Stephen Harper told his right-wingers to shut the fuck up in their election campaigns, because some of them have EXTREMELY socially regressive ideals, especially when it comes to things like gender equality, ethnic and religious diversity, and sexual preference.

Yeah...

I don't like Conservatives. Speaking with them always leaves a bad taste in my moiuth.

[KS_Naslund]

, if Harper's coming up with all these idea's by himself, then why the hell would he still have these biased bystanders?

And I feel the same way, Conservatives just don't seem to settle in my stomach. It's something about Stephen Harper's eyes: so evil that not even light can escape them.

[senjuro]

I noticed they same. They glitter like evil onyxes. And did you hear that Bush was "looking forward to meeting with him"? That sent shivers down my spine when I heard it.

[KS_Naslund]

That's by far the worst omen I've had so far this year!
I'm gonna wake up screaming tonight :)

I haven't heard from Bush in a while (it's been great!): What's he been up to, and what's his opinion on the election? I gotta go do some more research...