Thursday, October 16, 2008
Over and Done With!
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.
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.
# posted by Mister Ed T @ 3:37 AM 
Comments:
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I only wish our campaigning time went for only one month.By the time we get down to the last few weeks it gets down right stinky back and forth between the candidates.It won't be long before ours is all over also.Lord willing it will go the way I would like but our prayer is the Lord's will be done even though it might go the opposite way I would like it to.Love ya.Did you have a good day at work?By now you have been to work and back home probably a few times.
I startrd my new job today. Had orintation 10:00 to 1:00. I go to the home where I will be working for hands on training (4 to 10). Like your new picture of yourself.
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