Cranjis McBasketball
Crow T. Robot
Knew what the hell that thing was supposed to be
Peace Love and Nothing But
Posts: 41,920
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on May 2, 2011 21:53:52 GMT -5
D'oh. Not liking this. Especially since CBC just announced the next election will not be until October 192, 015.
That's a long ass time away.
Also, CTV, your headshots of the candidates that blink and move their mouths are f***in' freakin' me out.
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Post by Shy Guy on May 2, 2011 21:57:22 GMT -5
well, looks like voting green didn't help. again.
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Post by Bang Bang Bart on May 2, 2011 21:58:23 GMT -5
/Cena sadface
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Cranjis McBasketball
Crow T. Robot
Knew what the hell that thing was supposed to be
Peace Love and Nothing But
Posts: 41,920
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on May 2, 2011 22:57:21 GMT -5
Just want to use this post to thank the mods, because I know you're looking, for allowing this thread for us Canadians.
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Post by Bang Bang Bart on May 2, 2011 23:06:27 GMT -5
I'd like to thank my fellow Canadians for keeping the thread civil and free of slandering each other and such. Good to see that we an have political discourse without the mudslinging.
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Post by Free Hat on May 2, 2011 23:50:58 GMT -5
Regardless of what you may think of the Liberals, I gotta say that as a student of history, there is something kind of sad about witnessing the death of one of the oldest and most successful political parties in the world. This was afterall the party of Laurier, King, St. Laurent, Pearson and Trudeau. For them to be reduced to this is just mind boggling. Even at the end I thought they'd hang on to at least 50 seats.
As for the BQ, I'm just speechless.
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Post by Bang Bang Bart on May 2, 2011 23:55:20 GMT -5
As separation from Canada has become irrelevant in Quebec, so does the significance of the Bloc.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
Celestial Princess in Exile.
Posts: 46,106
Member is Online
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Post by Allie Kitsune on May 2, 2011 23:56:52 GMT -5
While we've got this thread up, and since there's a remote chance I may end up up there some day, could someone explain the concept of Ridings to me?
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Post by twiggy101 on May 2, 2011 23:59:46 GMT -5
D'oh. Not liking this. Especially since CBC just announced the next election will not be until October 192, 015. That's a long ass time away. Also, CTV, your headshots of the candidates that blink and move their mouths are f***in' freakin' me out. Damn! I suppose it's a good thing I voted instead of sitting on ass.
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Post by Free Hat on May 3, 2011 0:00:32 GMT -5
While we've got this thread up, and since there's a remote chance I may end up up there some day, could someone explain the concept of Ridings to me? Our House of Commons is similar to your House of Representatives. "Ridings" are what we call the electoral districts our members of parliament represent.
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Post by Free Hat on May 3, 2011 0:06:27 GMT -5
As separation from Canada has become irrelevant in Quebec, so does the significance of the Bloc. Trudeau once famously declared that separatism was dead. This was BEFORE the first referendum.
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h
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 5,734
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Post by h on May 3, 2011 0:20:43 GMT -5
I followed the campaign pretty closely, but I'm still shocked by the result.
A majority government for the first time in 7 years, the NDP more than doubling their previous best showing, the leaders of two major parties not only watching their own parties collapse but losing their own seats in the process, Elizabeth May finally winning a seat...definitely an election that won't be forgotten any time soon.
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Post by Free Hat on May 3, 2011 1:18:58 GMT -5
I think the ultimate irony of Ignatieff losing his seat is that Stephane Dion still has his.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 3, 2011 1:38:49 GMT -5
Watching from here in Jersey, the big story I'm reading is the movement of BQ toward the New Democrats. I read it that a big moment for that came in the debates.
As somebody of Quebecois descent, I'll be glad to see the entire separatist agenda put aside. Never much liked the sound of it.
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Post by normcoleman on May 3, 2011 2:18:29 GMT -5
Somewhere Stephane Dion is sighing relief
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,723
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on May 3, 2011 3:05:43 GMT -5
Conservative Party has new majority.
NDP is now the official opposition, which I believe is a good place for them. They've always been the Jiminy Cricket of Canadian politics, acting as the government's conscience.
Liberals and Bloc got SPANKED. Libs lost more than half their seats from the previous election (from 77 seats to 34). Bloc went from 49 seats to 4.
Green Party got their first elected seat in North America.
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To the guy who said they wasted their vote for the Green Party, no vote is a waste. Every vote nationally is counted and add something like $6000 to the party coffers for conducting gov't business in Ottawa. They may not have won in your riding but you helped.
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Post by TripleMerc on May 3, 2011 3:18:40 GMT -5
While we've got this thread up, and since there's a remote chance I may end up up there some day, could someone explain the concept of Ridings to me? In Canada, we never vote for the leader of the party - we vote for local representatives in 308 simultaneous elections country-wide. The winner of the election gets a seat in the House of Commons - which means that they represent their party (and have a critical vote for all issues brought before the House). The party with the most ridings runs the government. A minority government is formed when the party with the most seats than any single party does not have more seats than all parties combined. EG: Party 1 has 100 seats, Party 2 has 49, Party 3 has 60. Party 1 has a minority, because although they technically lead, they need the support of either Party 2 or 3 to pass something through the house (via a majority vote). A majority is formed when the party with the most seats than any single party ALSO has more seats than all other parties combined. EG: Party 1 has 100 seats, Party 2 has 3, Party 3 has 4. Party 1 has practically all the control over the house and can pass virtually anything. ------- As for this election itself, all I can say is but one word. watThe collapse of the Liberals and the Bloc is a huge shock to me, and I'm disappointed in my Communist Party of Canada (not the Marxist-Leninist) for failing to run in more than 0.05% of ridings. We get votes, we just need to actually run somewhere for once. Congratulations of course to the NDP, the Greens, and the Conservatives, although I disagree with the Tories, their majority isn't the end of the world. As for the NDP, HOLY CRAP. A sudden last-minute WAVE of support the likes of which I've never seen, and the CRUSHING of the Bloc, I just.... this is FASCINATING. Well, it's as fascinating as Canadian politics ever gets anyway.
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Post by Free Hat on May 3, 2011 3:20:19 GMT -5
Conservative Party has new majority. NDP is now the official opposition, which I believe is a good place for them. They've always been the Jiminy Cricket of Canadian politics, acting as the government's conscience. Liberals and Bloc got SPANKED. Libs lost more than half their seats from the previous election (from 77 seats to 34). Bloc went from 49 seats to 4. Green Party got their first elected seat in North America. ---------------------------- To the guy who said they wasted their vote for the Green Party, no vote is a waste. Every vote nationally is counted and add something like $6000 to the party coffers for conducting gov't business in Ottawa. They may not have won in your riding but you helped. It's $2 per vote actually, and Harper plans on doing away with it. In fact, that was what originally sparked the coalition crisis in 2008.
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Post by Free Hat on May 3, 2011 3:26:18 GMT -5
While we've got this thread up, and since there's a remote chance I may end up up there some day, could someone explain the concept of Ridings to me? In Canada, we never vote for the leader of the party - we vote for local representatives in 308 simultaneous elections country-wide. The winner of the election gets a seat in the House of Commons - which means that they represent their party (and have a critical vote for all issues brought before the House). The party with the most ridings runs the government. A minority government is formed when the party with the most seats than any single party does not have more seats than all parties combined. EG: Party 1 has 100 seats, Party 2 has 49, Party 3 has 60. Party 1 has a minority, because although they technically lead, they need the support of either Party 2 or 3 to pass something through the house (via a majority vote). A majority is formed when the party with the most seats than any single party ALSO has more seats than all other parties combined. EG: Party 1 has 100 seats, Party 2 has 3, Party 3 has 4. Party 1 has practically all the control over the house and can pass virtually anything. That really is the fundamental flaw of our electoral system. A Prime Minister with a majority government has virtually unchecked power.
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Vizier
Dennis Stamp
Snugglin' you back to health
Posts: 3,531
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Post by Vizier on May 3, 2011 3:44:04 GMT -5
As an observer from the States, I can only say that the Canadian election (as well as pretty much any Westerminsterial election) fascinates me, and ideologically, I am quite happy with the results.
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