No Majority for Harper!!!!!! Thanks for wasting $300 million, fuckface

[HEyHEY]

Now the Liberals are in Prime Striking distance! The Libs will find a NEW leader, meanwhile the Cons will have mounting scandals including the Chuck Cadman thing gaining steam. As well, this should start some infighting among Cons because of Harper's inability to get a majority twice. As well, there will be things like insite picking up steam and an unsettled economy on the global stage. PLUS, looks like Obama is going to be in down south so you will see Harper not getting along with our biggest ally, tons of ammo for the opposition there.
In the meantime the libs need to sit back and set a new direction and with the minority government the Libs can strike when the cons are at their weakest.

[Bicoastal]

1. I've never understood a system where you don't elect leaders...

...you elect other people and THEY elect leaders. How is that representative?

What you Canucks really need is an Electoral College. :silly:

[MUAD_DIB]

10. Thanks for the chuckle...

[Starfall]

14. But this is regional representation.

the elected MP's (member of Parlaiment) represent their constituent's interest.

[applegrove]

15. No thanks on the electoral college. We started the election the first week of september and it

is already over. I wouldn't want a two year election like you guys have down south. It is exhausting.

Plus because our leaders have to sit in the house of commons and debate like any other member of parliament.... we never seem to get empty vessles like Bush or Palin. Our leaders have to prove they can think on their feet.

[CreekDog]

16. because our system works so much better

:eyes: :rofl:

I would trade Bush for Harper any day of the week and we'd probably gain 10 IQ points in the deal.

[SammyWinstonJack]

23. LOL!

[buzzard]

2. It's not over yet one can only hope we maintain a minority government.n/t

[Sarah Ibarruri]

3. I do so hope he loses! Does Canada have direct one-man, one-vote or

do they have that majorly f*****d up electoral college mess we do in the U.S.?

[Starfall]

4. The OP already said Harper won.

But it is a minority government, where they need the support of other parties to pass legislation.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

8. I thought there was an issue with the election, or was that earlier? nt

[HEyHEY]

6. A parliamentary system

[Sarah Ibarruri]

9. Why are Canadians voting for right wingers anyway? What's their problem? nt

[applegrove]

22. There are 4 parties on the left. The conservatives only had 35% of the vote

but all the left parties split the vote 4 ways. That is how we could elect a conservative. Ug!

[applegrove]

5. Thank gosh the conservatives didn't get a majority. Yes the Liberals

will have a leadership convention pretty quick. Then they can take out the neo cons in the years to come.

[Ediacara]

7. So... may I ask... have the Libs and NDP ever thought of merging?

As a way to counter the Cons (which are, IIRC, the result of the merger of a bunch of other parties)? Or is devolving into a two-party state too un-Canadian? Or are there actually major policy issues that are too prominent to bridge? From my vantage point, it seems that it's just center-left vs left.

Or am I missing something important? Or oversimplifying?

[HEyHEY]

12. Shhhh... you'l start a riot.

[Ediacara]

13. Hey hey hey HEyHEY

I'm asking an honest question :-)

[HEyHEY]

25. That's an honest answer!

Sometimes there IS light talk about it... but these are two VERY old parties and likely it won't happen. PLUS the NDP is FAR left.

[Lucy Goosey]

18. I'm all for it. But don't say that too loudly.

[Ediacara]

20. From your reply and HEyHEY's, I sense this is a sore spot?

Is there some history I should know about?

[Lucy Goosey]

31. The Liberals, in particular, are very entrenched. It's an old, successful party...

and for many Liberals, membership is a part of their identity.

Many NDP think that the

Actually, in a lot of ways, a Green-NDP merger would make a lot of sense, but it wouldn't have the same impact in terms of numbers that a Lib-NDP merger would have.

[Oregone]

29. Careful. Sometimes you get what you wish for

With two parties, its much easier to polarize a population and shut down intellectual dialog and discussion of issues. 5 viewpoints become two opposite view points, with no gray area. Its all black and white, wrong or right. There is no alternative and no new ideas. There is just people floundering and voting for hot button issues and no substance.

I just left a two party system. Its the last thing Canada needs, trust me. Perhaps instant voter runoff, but not two party.

[Starfall]

19. No Way.

Liberal party of Canada IS the most successful party in western society. There's no way they would lower themselves.

[Sebastian Doyle]

24. But haven't they become Canada's version of the DLC?

Where the actual Liberals are now in the Greens or NDP, and the Liberal party are the centrists. Granted, your centrists are probably left of the DLC. Hell, even the Canadian conservatives were considerably left of the US repukes until Harper's neocon wing moved in.

[Selatius]

27. The New Democratic Party was established precisely because they felt Liberals moved rightward.

It would be like asking the Progressive Caucus and the DLC to work together. It's likely not going to happen. They could form a coalition if they wanted to, but they are not going to merge the two parties into one.

[Oregone]

26. Yes, what Canada need is just two useless partys...just like...LOL

Here, people can vote for what they believe in without being chided or having one person bearing ridiculous amounts of blame for a decade.

What they need is preferential voting or instant runoff voting or some sort of system like that. Strategic voting or merged parties is going to do nothing but ruin Canada's democratic system.

[Lucy Goosey]

11. Fucking Harper.

I like your spin though. Rebuild the Liberal Party!

Or how about Kill the Liberal party and make way for the NDP! Or merge the Liberals and the NDP!

Anything but fucking Harper.

[Ichingcarpenter]

17. Did the conservatives lose seats? Can you give a break down?

on gained and lost seats?

[Starfall]

21. +13 Conservatives.

[buzzard]

28. I think it is a message that many would like a change of leadership in the Liberal Party. It also

highlights Harpers inability to get a majority.

[Oregone]

30. I think it is a message that 62% of people don't like Conservatives...

But they have such great options their votes are split from the liberal norm.

[u4ic]

32. Exactly

AND that we desperately need proportional representation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportional_representation

edited to add link

[RainDog]

33. congrats, Canada, for having votes that count!

I hope your elections are a sign of good things to come for american elections. no more conservative hegemony.

[roamer65]

34. The Liberals need Brian Tobin or Frank McKenna as a leader.

Those two guys would bring them back to the majority.