The Great Canadian Election 2006 (Page 2)

psssst.  Crazypop:  It's the Great Canadian Conspiracy!

The incumbent in my riding lost by 110 votes (0.2%).  There's gonna be a recount...

A Conservative minority government!!!  Merde!  There goes the economy.  I wonder how many of his campaign promises Harper will reneg on?  Unless he does keep to his promises, I can see another election happening within the next two years.  A vote of non-confidence is only one mistake away ....

 Yeah, they might not let all the farmers grow marijuana to sell to all the people living in Denver. 

[sarcasm] Oh yeah, cuz lord knows the last 12 years have been awesome.[/sarcasm]. I actually think a minority conservative government is a good idea. I have not been impressed with the social agenda of the Liberal party, to be honest, and I think that the Con's having a minority will force some progress. I'm not impressed by Harper in general, but he's been given the opportunity, and I'm interested to see what he makes of it.

Some electoral reform would be nice. Personally, I think that a party that runs only in one province should not be allowed to run in the national election (of course, I'm not a separatist either.). Note, I said run, not win! I like the idea of proportional representation based on %age of popular vote, but I have no idea how that would ever work logistically. It's one of those "sounds good" ideas.

From yesterday's paper:

Jan. 23 is the unhappiest day of 2006

CALGARY -- Political sniping has got you sad?

Rainy days (perhaps not in January) and Mondays always get you down?

On this day, those aren't the only possible explanations for a case of the blues.

Today's federal election falls on a day that's been designated as most depressing on this year's calendar, but a University of Calgary graduate student thinks she has a cure.

Recent findings by a health psychologist in Wales found that Jan. 23 is the unhappiest day of 2006.

Cliff Arnall, a health psychologist at Cardiff University, used a mathematical formula to calculate the most depressing day, factoring in weather, debt, resolutions, personal motivation and the January doldrums.

His formula is as follows: 1/8W+(D-d) 3/8xTQ divided by MxNA, where W is the weather, D is personal debt, and d is the amount of money a person will receive next payday. T is elapsed time since Christmas, and Q is the length of time since a person abandoned a New Year's resolution. M is a measure of motivation levels, while NA is the necessary action required to make one's life better.

<<...then the article goes onto talk about "mind over matter" to stave off depression>>

I don't know about the Canadian system, but that was exactly what George W. Bush said he would do in his first election here in the states, along the lines of his "uniter not divider" campaign rhetoric. 

Basic Canadian Government lesson.....

In order to hold a majority in our house, a party needs 155 seats out of 308.  The CON got 124; Liberals 103; BQ (The separatist party in Quebec) 51; the NDP 29 and Other 1.  So, in order for the CON party to last, they need the assistance of 31 other lost souls.  With paty lines being pretty hard and fast, it is likely that MAJOR dealing will occur.

Although not laid out in any formal manner, the acceptance of another politcal party member into the cabinet would be a no-no.  Due to regional voting for a candidae and not the actual leader, the ramifications would be huge for the individual, not to mention that standing that one holds in their own party would go down the tubes.  For example, during the same sex marriage debate, the ruling Liberals ousted a cabinet member for voicing HER OWN opinion and not the parties stance....  To cross the floor to sit as a minister responsible, you would have to drop your party first.

Anyway, my bet is another election within 1 year.  The budget will probably bring them down.

Thanks Jen. I didn't realize that one of the provinces had actually already tried to implement something like this. Thanks for the links.

I was reading that voter turnout was higher this election than last, and that more 18-24 year-olds showed up to vote! Voter turnout still sucks (I don't understand why people don't vote), but at least it improved.