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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Warning: Cookies can be hazardous to your job

If you don't know the story, click here for the Globe and Mail article

   The CEO of the Alberta healthcare system, Stephen Duckett, has gotten fired for eating a cookie?! Are you serious? This is officially the first time in history someone has gotten fired for eating a cookie. But I want to know where he got that cookie - it must've been really good!! Apparently it was an oatmeal and raisin. Well, I'm still not sure why he got fired... Premier Stelmach said his behaviour was quite offensive. This is probably also the first time someone has called the words "I'm eating my cookie" offensive. No one has to talk to the media every time they are approached - I think that Mr. Duckett just found a creative way of saying "no comment". The media should have just backed off when it was clear he didn't want to talk, instead of following him around for two blocks, harassing him.
   He even issued an apology for the "incident", saying, "We had made a decision earlier that Dr. Eagle would provide comments to the media after the session... regrettably, I did not convey what I deeply feel, which is the greatest respect for the difficult challenges our health care providers face every day". But it was to no avail, he still got sacked.

   Boy, am I glad I don't work for the Alberta government! On the bright side, Mr. Duckett's now in a warmer, more forgiving climate - Australia.

   Well, happy Thanksgiving to all you Americans, and Merry November 25th, everybody! Click "follow" or "subscribe" on da left, and feed the fish!

   Some links on "Cookiegate" below:

   Mr. Duckett's Blog

   The infamous cookie video
   Bob Layton's funny song about cookiegate