Hey there?

[the_future_modernes]

Does any one want to talk about the results of the Canadian elections?

Comments

[trouble]

Please can we have electoral reform? Please please please?

I'm pretty sure the trans* rights bill is never going to get back onto the table. :(

[the_future_modernes]

And the guy thinks he has a mandate now. I am scared for you all. But someone needs to explain just how the hell did the Liberal party crash like that. Is it me or is that totally astonishing in modern politics?

[trouble]

Well, yes and no. It's not the first time a major party in Canada has crashed and burned like that. Heck, when I was younger the Progressive Conservative Party got down to two seats in response to the general population being sick of their bullshit. And again, had we had a different style of voting, there's no way they would have been so completely destroyed like that.

The Liberal party crashed & burned (in my opinion) in part because the attack ads against Ignattief were incredibly effective, in part because Ignattief is actually really lousy at connecting with people, and in part because of all the shenanigans that have gone on with the Liberal party since Chretien retired. They spent a bit too long basically saying "We're the natural ruling party of Canada!" without really saying what that meant.

I must admit, trying to unpack this is a bit hard because I don't know what you know and what you don't know.

[the_future_modernes]

I know absolutely nothing about Canadian politics, frankly. Haven't had the time to research.

[trouble]

The Conservative attack ads were quite shocking to me when I finally got around to watching them. I don't have a t.v. but we were staying in a place that did and I saw the same ad about a dozen times about how Iggy - and they were attacks on Ignattief, not on the Liberal Party, which I think is important - was going to ruin the country. Apparently a common phrase was "He didn't come back for you."

Here's some of the ads, which might give you an idea of what sort of arguments were being used to attack him.

[the_future_modernes]

I think I have been spoiled by the viciousness in US elections because...those look tame to me!

[trouble]

Well, one of the reasons often given by political historians about why the Progressive Conservatives lost so terribly in 1993 was because of the attack ads against Chretien. This is a discussion about it. It's probably important to know that Chretien has Bell's Palsy.

[trouble]

I mean, also, Harper does have a mandate now. That's the way it works here. It irritates me because I keep wanting to correct his math, but the way our electoral system works isn't by the overall percentage of votes but where those votes were. 52% of the people in my riding voted for the NDP candidate. I think that's because Megan Leslie is a good MP, as was Alexa McDonough before her. But the four NDP candidates that were elected in Quebec that didn't actually run? That's a vote for the party itself. Or maybe a vote against the Bloq. (The four candidates: three are undergraduate students at Mcgill, two of whom were actually campaigning for another NDP person in a different riding, the other was on a family trip out of the country during part of the campaign and reported doesn't speak French very well.)

I will, but ...

[ed_rex]

... I'm still processing the good, the bad and the bloody awful. Meanwhile, I'm trying to keep things in perspective.