Interesting election
I never thought the day when I'd see the NDP as official opposition federally. They've not just done better than they've ever done in history, but by more than a (base 2, the only base that counts) order of magnitude. I'd always thought them a rather regional party: Atlantic Canada, car-building union Canada, and the odd old Tommy Douglas friend. That they've got some national support is a big achievement for them.
I've voted NDP a couple times in the past (certainly not every time). This is the first federal election where I've ever voted for a Liberal, the one election when everyone else was ditching the Liberals for the NDP. I still feel very pleased about my choice, though. I'm certainly not one to vote strategically. My vote was not anti-Conservative: it was for Glen Pearson, one of the best MPs I've ever had the luck of being a constituent of. I didn't vote for him the first time around, obviously, but he won me over pretty quickly. He's the sort of politician I want, someone who works hard and honestly. He's most famous for playing well with others, for getting a lot of work done in his role in opposition because he knows how to work with people regardless of what colour they wear. He's done a great amount of good for Canada's international aid and I'm very sorry to see him go.
I'm pleased to see the Liberal Party as a whole go, though. The ideal outcome for me would have been to see Glen Pearson win and every other Liberal lose. Maybe that's too mean: I'm sure there are one or two other Liberals out there that I would have liked. It didn't work out that way, in any case. I'll be optimistic and usual and hope that the Liberal's hilariously severe defeat will improve them in the long run. I love that so many of them got replaced by NDPers, though :P
The Bloc got destroyed. They no longer have party status in the House of Commons. Once upon a time I would have tried to figure this out. Then I went to Quebec and saw how foreign a nation it really is. I know enough about Quebec to know that most Bloc voters weren't really separatists anyway, so I can't be too surprised that they might move away from the Bloc. But why now and why all of a sudden? Quebec: you crazy.
The last big story was Elizabeth May. It's currently looking like she'll win a seat, the first member of the Green Party of Canada to ever win a seat. I like her in a lot of ways: she's well-reasoned and well-informed during debates and things. But she really is a politician's politician in a lot of ways, darting around the country over the last 10 years trying to cherry pick her way in. She finally picked the right riding (unsurprisingly in BC). I suppose this will be a good thing overall.
All in all, a pretty crazy election. Everyone's going apoplectic over Harper winning a majority. They're at about 40% popular vote now (down from when I looked at them before). Their numbers are distorted a bit, but nothing worth me getting my panties in a knot over. People did honestly vote for them. It bothers me a bit because he's so ideological and, specific ideologies aside (I'm not extraordinarily conservative), the attribute of being ideological bothers me. In this case it seems to run counter to his actual methods, too. Ideologically he's about accountable and open government: in practice he's the most secretive and power-centralizing PM since Trudeau at least. Ideologically he's about good economic policy: in practice he created the largest budget deficit in the history of the country and somehow managed to be literally the only major party leader who didn't see the recession coming in 2008. Maybe if you say "low taxes" enough, people will stop paying attention to what you do and pay more attention to what you say instead, who knows.
I took a look at /r/canada (I made sure to unsubscribe leading up to the election) and people seem to be screaming for electoral reform, which is one topic I tend to get pretty ranty about if I don't control myself. The problem with electoral reform is that everyone tries to promote this IRV/AV/STV garbage, really irritating. They should teach election theory in high school math or something so we can finally get rid of these nonsense electoral methods people try to preach.
I've voted NDP a couple times in the past (certainly not every time). This is the first federal election where I've ever voted for a Liberal, the one election when everyone else was ditching the Liberals for the NDP. I still feel very pleased about my choice, though. I'm certainly not one to vote strategically. My vote was not anti-Conservative: it was for Glen Pearson, one of the best MPs I've ever had the luck of being a constituent of. I didn't vote for him the first time around, obviously, but he won me over pretty quickly. He's the sort of politician I want, someone who works hard and honestly. He's most famous for playing well with others, for getting a lot of work done in his role in opposition because he knows how to work with people regardless of what colour they wear. He's done a great amount of good for Canada's international aid and I'm very sorry to see him go.
I'm pleased to see the Liberal Party as a whole go, though. The ideal outcome for me would have been to see Glen Pearson win and every other Liberal lose. Maybe that's too mean: I'm sure there are one or two other Liberals out there that I would have liked. It didn't work out that way, in any case. I'll be optimistic and usual and hope that the Liberal's hilariously severe defeat will improve them in the long run. I love that so many of them got replaced by NDPers, though :P
The Bloc got destroyed. They no longer have party status in the House of Commons. Once upon a time I would have tried to figure this out. Then I went to Quebec and saw how foreign a nation it really is. I know enough about Quebec to know that most Bloc voters weren't really separatists anyway, so I can't be too surprised that they might move away from the Bloc. But why now and why all of a sudden? Quebec: you crazy.
The last big story was Elizabeth May. It's currently looking like she'll win a seat, the first member of the Green Party of Canada to ever win a seat. I like her in a lot of ways: she's well-reasoned and well-informed during debates and things. But she really is a politician's politician in a lot of ways, darting around the country over the last 10 years trying to cherry pick her way in. She finally picked the right riding (unsurprisingly in BC). I suppose this will be a good thing overall.
All in all, a pretty crazy election. Everyone's going apoplectic over Harper winning a majority. They're at about 40% popular vote now (down from when I looked at them before). Their numbers are distorted a bit, but nothing worth me getting my panties in a knot over. People did honestly vote for them. It bothers me a bit because he's so ideological and, specific ideologies aside (I'm not extraordinarily conservative), the attribute of being ideological bothers me. In this case it seems to run counter to his actual methods, too. Ideologically he's about accountable and open government: in practice he's the most secretive and power-centralizing PM since Trudeau at least. Ideologically he's about good economic policy: in practice he created the largest budget deficit in the history of the country and somehow managed to be literally the only major party leader who didn't see the recession coming in 2008. Maybe if you say "low taxes" enough, people will stop paying attention to what you do and pay more attention to what you say instead, who knows.
I took a look at /r/canada (I made sure to unsubscribe leading up to the election) and people seem to be screaming for electoral reform, which is one topic I tend to get pretty ranty about if I don't control myself. The problem with electoral reform is that everyone tries to promote this IRV/AV/STV garbage, really irritating. They should teach election theory in high school math or something so we can finally get rid of these nonsense electoral methods people try to preach.