The 2011 Canadian Election!

   Well, my predictions were right about the NDP becoming the opposition party, the Liberals coming in 3rd, and the decimation of the Bloc Québécois! However, I was expecting a minority government for the Conservatives. It was a pleasant surprise to hear that the Conservatives finally have a strong majority government!

   It was also good to hear about Ignatieff's resignation, following the worst election for the Liberal party in Canadian history. I'm sure the Liberals will be able to recover in time for the next election - they've been around since Confederation and aren't about to be snuffed out now. But the big question now is: Who will be the new leader of the Liberal party?

   The New Democratic Party started a new era in Canadian politics with Jack Layton's outstanding victory! I'm sure they will at least make Canadian elections more interesting. Unfortunately, in the meantime they will have to bow down to Quebec's demands, since they won most of their seats in that province.

   What does the decline of the Bloc Québécois mean for Canada? Well, hopefully it will severely and permanently weaken the Quebec sovereignty movement. The Bloc has lost almost all of its power in Parliament, which can only mean that Canada as a nation will be stronger and more unified.
   Elizabeth May made history and became the first Green Party candidate to be elected into Canada's Parliament. Despite making history, she is only a caucus of one, and I don't expect her to have much influence in our government. The Bloc Québécois, which lost most of its power, still has four times more seats than the Green Party!
   Last but definitely not least, I think the Conservative Party will be able to make Canada a better nation now that they are freed from the quibbling, appeasement, and instability of a minority government.

Seats:

Conservatives - 167   (up 21)
NDP - 102                 (up 66!)
Liberals - 34              (down 43)
Bloc Québécois - 4    (down 44)
Green - 1                   (up 1)
Other - 0                    (down 1)

For further information see the Elections Canada results.

Ignatieff and Guergis

Michael Ignatieff seems to have a short memory. A year ago, he had this to say about then-Conservative Helena Guergis:

"I don't think a person like that is worthy of the confidence of Canadians. I don't think that person is worthy of remaining in the cabinet of Canada. It's that simple."

Iggnatief said that after he accused her of lying and demanded that she step down. He definitely didn't sound like her best friend. However, now that she isn't part of the Conservative Party anymore, Ignatief seems to think that Guergis is alright. Just today he said that Harper fired Guergis unfairly:

"He tried to smear her, he discovered the allegations were baseless, and then he refuses to take responsibility."

Wait a minute... I thought you were the one calling for her to resign, Iggy?

The Pros and Cons of our Canadian Political Parties

This blog post was written before the 2011 Canadian federal election. To see my post-election Pros and Cons, please click HERE.

Canadian Political Parties

This blog post was written before the 2011 election. To see the post-election Pros and Cons of the parties, click HERE.


Today I'm going to briefly talk about the political parties of Canada, for all you non-pundits out there ;)

Conservatives - The Conservative Party of Canada was formed in 2003 when the Progressive Conservatives (PCs) and the Canadian Alliance united to form one party. The Conservatives currently form a minority government, which means they have the most seats in Parliament out of all the parties but still don't have the majority of the seats. Their leader, Stephen Harper, is Prime Minister.

Liberals - The Conservatives and Liberals are long-time rivals. If one party says one thing, the other party will say the opposite. The Liberals are currently the official opposition, which means they have the second most seats in Parliament. They are led by Michael Ignatieff.

Bloc Québécois - No one outside of Quebec likes the Bloc Québécois, because they are separatists. Their main policy is to split Quebec from the rest of Canada. Apparently no one has told them that since they only run in Quebec, they'll never be able to get enough seats to form a government and split Canada in two. In my opinion, they shouldn't even be called a national political party since they only run in one province and their main purpose is to weaken the nation. Their leader is Gilles Duceppe.

New Democratic Party (NDP) - Their first leader was Tommy Douglas, the premier of Saskatchewan from 1944-61. The NDP is Canada's social democratic party, leading some people to label them communists or even terrorists. But they're not extremists, don't worry ;) They are led by Jack Layton. He has a cool mustache.

Green Party - The Green Party does not have any seats in Parliament, thank goodness. However, last election they did get about 10% of the popular vote, leading many to believe Canada's elections need to be reformed to reflect the percentage of votes a party has gotten nationwide. The Green Party's platform revolves around "green" policy. Their head tree-hugger is Elizabeth May.

Other Registered Canadian Parties

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