Let's review... since November in both the US and Canada,,,,

[HEyHEY]

Liberals have been cleaning up.

Obama won, the Dems handily destroyed the repubs.
Stevens found guilty...and loses!
Vancouver (Next Olympic city) elects an ultra left wing mayor.
Canadian conservatives are going to lose power any minute now.
Cheney is indicted.

And now, Franken is in the lead.

Seriously, this is like the coolest November ever.

[Mister Ed]

1. Franken is in the lead? Hot dog! Are you sure, though? I thought he was a little behind. n/t

[lapfog_1]

2. I know you Canadians have a different appreciation of time and so forth...

but down here in the US of A, it's been December for over 24 hours now.

:-)

(just a joke)

[Fenris]

3. Plus, you, me, my wife and two furriners got drunk at a medieval themed bar.

:thumbsup:

It will never get better than that!

(For the record: I did not get drunk, as I was able to drive; my wife, on the other hand, suffered for all those vodka and redbulls.)

[regnaD kciN]

7. Vodka and Red Bulls at a medieval bar? For shame!

Obviously, mead would have been the only proper beverage. ;-)

[ColbertWatcher]

4. I heard. So, how does this work?

Can the liberal party call an election? Or is the PM the only one who can?

[depakid]

6. It's a bit more complicated- due to the fact there's a Governor General

Interesting times in Canada.

It's a PR war now': Tories to take to the streets and voters' front doors.

The Liberals, NDP and Bloc have signed a historic accord that supports a Liberal-led coalition government. But the Conservatives are determined to do all they can to stay in power.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081202.PARLIAMENT02/TPStory/National

HARPER'S OPTIONS

Prorogue

If Prime Minister Stephen Harper asks Governor-General Michaëlle Jean to prorogue, or adjourn, the House of Commons, she has two options:

Decide the request is a ruse by Mr. Harper to avoid meeting the House, and refuse to prorogue because the House has been sitting only two weeks and has conducted virtually no business. In that case, Mr. Harper would have to resign, because the Governor-General rejected his advice, and she would ask the coalition to form a government.

Decide that Mr. Harper's request is legitimate because he is asking for an adjournment of only a few weeks - which includes the Christmas holidays - and he plans to introduce a budget as soon as the House resumes sitting.

Dissolution

If Mr. Harper asks for a dissolution of Parliament, the Governor-General almost certainly would refuse, given there was an election only two months ago. This scenario also would force Mr. Harper to resign - again because the Governor-General refused to accept his advice - and she would ask the coalition to form a government.

No-confidence

If the government is defeated on a confidence vote, Mr. Harper could attempt to persuade Ms. Jean to dissolve Parliament and call an election. She almost certainly would refuse, triggering his resignation and an invitation to the coalition to take over.

[ColbertWatcher]

8. So, if I'm reading this correctly (it looks like it's in American, but it reads like it's in French)

Two out of the three ways for Harper to move end in his resignation?

[depakid]

9. Having a Governer-General means there's a wild card in the deck

(in Americanese). It's a high stakes game of poker.

Reading through the Canadian papers, I'm not sure anyone has a good bet on how it's going to play out.

My limited understanding of Governor-Generals is that they have extra-soveriegn powers over nations like Canada and infamously, Australia (where a visionary PM- Gough Whitlam who according to my SO and our friends, was like an "Aussie John Kennedy") got ousted during an incident in 1975 called http://www.ozpolitics.info/guide/topics/dismissal/">The Dismissal.

Of course, there are differences between how the procedures work in the two countries, but the central concept is the same:

The Governor-General is a representative of the British Crown, which retains vestigal (or in this case, not so vestigal) authority to resolve various disputes or deadlocks in parliament in (American legal speak) arbitrary and capricious ways.

So (Canucks, correct this political junkie if he's wrong) -how the matter proceeds from here can or will be determined by the decisions that Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean makes in response to the petitions and arguments from the PM Harper- and the newly formed coalition.

Strange to think about in the 21st Century, isn't it?

Here's the GG's official site:

http://www.gg.ca/menu_e.asp

(Mostly it's a ceremonial position).

[TahitiNut]

11. I'd be happy do do whatever Michaëlle Jean tells me to do.

:wow:

[ColbertWatcher]

12. Get in line. n/t

[HEyHEY]

10. Well, basically the in power government can't pass anything

Because all the other parties combined can out-vote them everytime. That makes the goverment void. So, now they ask the Governor General, Canada's expert on constitutional affairs (Though I'd love to see her do a test) if they can form government. If she says no, we go to the polls.

[Hekate]

5. Rejoicing and jollity at the return to sanity on most of the North American continent

My overall mood is considerably higher than it has been for 8 years... I keep hearing this little FDR ditty in my head...
http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/happydays.htm

Hekate

:party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: