Election followers
For any of you who are following the Canadian Election (yes, we're having one too) there's a couple of good sites I've found that aboot recent polls, predictions and news:
Federal Election Tracker: This one is similar to the U.S. site Electoral-Vote.com in that it summarizes the current trends on a map, region by region, and gives a prediction of the final outcome.
and
Mapleleaf Web, which is more of a general blog and news site.
One of the problems in the system here is that there are too many mainstream parties (5 in Quebec, and 4 everywhere else), and too much vote splitting among the left (1 right-wing party and 3 or 4 left-wing ones). It's a very real possibility that Stephen Harper could walk to a majority with only 40% national support simply because of a left vote split.
What we need here is a some system of run-off vote, which is already used in many countries, to better represent the opinions of the public.
As for the Conservative Harper, I'm really not sure what to think of him. As of the past few years, and in this election, he's seemed so damn reasonable, focusing on national issues like the economy and taxation and not touching on social issues (i.e. abortion, marriage) at all. Whether he truly is so balanced and pragmatic will be determined if he manages to win an outright majority this time around.
Federal Election Tracker: This one is similar to the U.S. site Electoral-Vote.com in that it summarizes the current trends on a map, region by region, and gives a prediction of the final outcome.
and
Mapleleaf Web, which is more of a general blog and news site.
One of the problems in the system here is that there are too many mainstream parties (5 in Quebec, and 4 everywhere else), and too much vote splitting among the left (1 right-wing party and 3 or 4 left-wing ones). It's a very real possibility that Stephen Harper could walk to a majority with only 40% national support simply because of a left vote split.
What we need here is a some system of run-off vote, which is already used in many countries, to better represent the opinions of the public.
As for the Conservative Harper, I'm really not sure what to think of him. As of the past few years, and in this election, he's seemed so damn reasonable, focusing on national issues like the economy and taxation and not touching on social issues (i.e. abortion, marriage) at all. Whether he truly is so balanced and pragmatic will be determined if he manages to win an outright majority this time around.