Carpentering for the Carpenter

Having started a new job that is quite different from what I have been doing feels like I've entered a new life. I'm doing basically the same thing as Brian has been doing. I am a "Life Skills Worker" in a group home for people with developmental disabilities. My home has three clients. Two of them require 24 hour supervision. Most days they go to a special training program or a workshop. Thus most of my daytime hours are off. But I work evenings, some overnights, and mornings. I'm just starting and have almost finished my training.

This morning I went to the doctor, Tim Horton's for coffee and muffins, the gas station (surprise, gasoline is under a dollar per liter), the bank and the park. Below are some pictures I took there.

These swans are here year-around The ducks will fly south.

Yes, its over and done with! Well, here in Canada anyway. While you, my American friends, have gone through months of primary elections, choosing running mates and public debates, we also had an election. And it didn't start until early September.

Our Canadian system is much different. The Prime Minister can call an election whenever he wants. But at least once every five years. Then the candidates have only about a month of campaigning before the vote.We had one about three years ago. Now one was called in September. Election day was Tuesday.

Our elections are different too. We only vote for our local representative, or Member of Parliament (MP). The party with the most MPs forms the government. Also, we have four parties so it is possible for no one party to get a majority. This has been the case for some time now. The four parties are: Conservative, Liberal, New Democratic Party (NDP -a more right wing party) and Block Quebecois which is only in Quebec.

So Prime Minister Stephen Harper called an election with the hope of getting a larger number of seats, maybe even the majority of them.

Canadian politics is also very regional. Quebec has a large population and a unique party called the Block Quebecois Their main platform is separation form Canada. Most of western Canada is strongly Conservative. But then there's the New Democratic Party which has strong roots in Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

Atlantic Canada and Ontario have stuck pretty much with the two main parties. Whether we get a Conservative or Liberal government almost always depends on what Ontario does because it is such a big province.

So what happened on Tuesday? Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservatives gained 19 seats to have 144, about 11 less than he needed for a clear majority. So he will have to work with the other parties a little bit to pass bills.

The Liberals are still the official opposition but have lost 27 seats, dropping to about 75.

The NDP gained 8 seats and now have 36.

The Block Quebecois lost one but still have 50, all in Quebec of course.

This political diversity makes for some interesting and unexpected alliances.

Now its time to get back to work.