IT'S OUR TURN!!!! We go to the polls October 14...RESULTS #25

[smokey the elder]

I wonder how politics in the US would be if there were five viable political parties. From what I understand, if no one party has a majority in Parliament, a coalition needs to be formed to pick an acceptable PM. This forces dialog and compromise, something sadly lacking in US politics in recent memory.

Good luck with your election!

[Catty1]

We usually have what is called a "minority government", like the one that was just dissolved. That means the party has more seats than any other individual party, but not enough to outnumber all of them.

A coalition could have happened, but no one approached the Governor General about it. She's is the Queen's rep in Canada - and it is she that dissolves Parliament on request of the current Prime Minister. Then, it's election time!

[phesina]

Okay, from all I have heard about Harper, he is another Bush clone in the making and is VERY bad news. More later on him and his efforts to run (ruin?) Canada.

But first let's get on to the REALLY important issue:

How will animals (and in particular, cats) fare under his leadership?

First, I read this:

Some of you seem to disapprove of Stephen Harper. I have no idea what he is as a leader - but he wins me over with one facet of his life. He loves cats. In fact, he and his wife have fostered cats - since he became PM. They even adopted one - an orange tabby named "Cheddar."

Good on him!

Then this:

Speaking just for myself, Harper and the Mrs would be a powerful force in changing lives for pets in Canada.

In what respect would the Harpers be a powerful force in changing lives for pets in Canada.. for the better or the worse? Overall, I mean.

And..

Speaking of politicians and their feelings on cats, back to the ongoing fun-fest in the good ol' U S of A:

From NY Times columnist Paul Krugman's blog "The Conscience of a Liberal":
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/200...=5070&emc=eta1

Cats against Palin

'We already had Dogs Against Romney. Now we need Cats Against Palin:

'When asked to reveal something about Palin that no one knows, one woman offered, “She doesn’t care for cats very much,” and another chimed in, “Oh, yes, she’s afraid of my cat.”'

And yes, the attached Cheezburger picture IS part of the blog piece!

[Catty1]

LOLOL!

What I meant was that the Harpers could devote themselves to animal welfare on a national scale IF the Mr. retired as Prime Minister, or a politician at all.

On his web page there is link to fostering, and names and phone numbers of just about every Humane Society in every province and territory!

Some people are better with critters than people. Maybe Stevie is.

[phesina]

All the more reason he must be retired as Prime Minister or as a politician at all!

[Catty1]

It's Monday night, 10:12 pm here. By this time tomorrow night, our election will be over and the decisions made.

It's your turn soon, US friends...hang in there....{{{{hugs}}}}

[shepgirl]

All this being said, the best thing that could happen to Canada if the Liberals don't get in, is another minority government (as most are predicitng will happen). This would be the only way to stop Harper from totally destroying Canada.
Harper breaking the law he himself made does not impress Canadians. Neither does rubbing elbows with Bush.

[Emeraldgreen]

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper. His eyes have creeped me out since the beginning. They look dead...or worse.

LOL! I heard a comedian once say something like "Sinatra was 'Ole Blue Eyes' but Harper is 'Cold dead shark eyes' "

[phesina]

The notorious Heather Mallick (eek!) wrote an informative column about Mr. Harper that filled me in quite a bit on him!

Here's hoping he's to become an ex-PM after the votes are counted.

[Catty1]

Harper got a minority again, a bit larger than before. There are a total of 306 seats to be won in the House of Commons.
(Sorry, the columns don't keep their spacing when I save the message/

Party, Elected Seats, Popular Vote
2006
Conservatives 124 36.3 %
Liberals 103 30.27%
Bloc Quebecois 51 10.5%
NDP 29 17.5%

Greens did not get a seat, but got 4.5% of the popular vote. The Independants got 0.6% of the popular vote, and got a seat in the House.

2008
Conservatives 143 37.63%
Liberals 76 26.24%
Bloc Qubecois 50 9.97%
NDP 37 18.2%
Green 0 6.8%


Here is where one long-standing problem comes up - Proportional Representation (PR). It would mean redesigning the voting system so that the popular vote has an actual influence on the results.

For example, the Conservatives' popular vote went up by only 1% - but they got 17 more seats.

We have about 30 million people in Canada; some 960,000 voted Green, that's almost a million - and they don't even get one seat.

This sort of thing has created a lot of voter apathy...apparently voter turnout was at an all-time low. If your vote is less effective than it could be, it's harder to care, I guess.

Look at the math above and see if that makes sense to you. Our Prime Minister's popular vote barely went up, and he's got more seats.

This could make my head hurt.


BTW, to see a list of other political parties in Canada, click here and scroll down:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/elect...alResults.html