a lot more coherent than my post about the last election.
I cannot bring my usual political punditry to the table as I only have online coverage to work with and I am so confused.
Canadian Parliament has 308 seats and to pass a bill you need 50% + 1 vote. The Speaker, however, does not vote unless there is a tie, so to pass a bill you need 154 votes (out of a possible 307).
Stephen Harper and the Conservatives won the election because they got the most seats in Parliament: 124. However, because they need to appoint the Speaker, they have 123 voting members. This is not 50% +1 of the seats they need to pass a bill. They are the most conservative of all Canadian parties.
The Liberals, who have ruled the country since 1993, received
103 seats in Parliament. They are left-wing socially but kind of middle-of-the-road financially.
The NDP won 29 seats and are more left-wing than the Liberals, socially and financially. They used to have a coalition with the Liberals in the mid-1990s, if memory serves me correctly, but I don't know why I would have been watching CPAC at the time so I could be wrong.
The Bloc Quebecois only runs candidates in the province of Quebec. Nevertheless, they won 51 seats in the federal Parliament. They are the separatist party; their main platform is that Quebec is a distinct culture and should become a sovereign country, because, hey, they're already a sovereign nation. Other than this, their social policies are pretty left-leaning.
There is one independent, who is also from Quebec. I have no further information.
The problem with this is that I can't see anybody teaming up with the Conservatives. Sure, the Conservatives received the most seats, but when the Liberals and NDP join forces then they have 132 seats-- more than the Conservatives.
Then we've got the Bloc Quebecois, a party which I don't believe the Conservatives can actually officially join forces with; I don't think that most Canadians will stand for a government filled with people who don't want to be Canadians anymore. They used to be the Official Opposition (man, those were the days) but I can't see Cabinet filled with a bunch of separatists. Some might stray during each House vote to go with the Conservatives, but there are some issues that I don't think the Bloc will support.
And now, to sum up: I need me some Mansbridge.
Canadian Parliament has 308 seats and to pass a bill you need 50% + 1 vote. The Speaker, however, does not vote unless there is a tie, so to pass a bill you need 154 votes (out of a possible 307).
Stephen Harper and the Conservatives won the election because they got the most seats in Parliament: 124. However, because they need to appoint the Speaker, they have 123 voting members. This is not 50% +1 of the seats they need to pass a bill. They are the most conservative of all Canadian parties.
The Liberals, who have ruled the country since 1993, received
103 seats in Parliament. They are left-wing socially but kind of middle-of-the-road financially.
The NDP won 29 seats and are more left-wing than the Liberals, socially and financially. They used to have a coalition with the Liberals in the mid-1990s, if memory serves me correctly, but I don't know why I would have been watching CPAC at the time so I could be wrong.
The Bloc Quebecois only runs candidates in the province of Quebec. Nevertheless, they won 51 seats in the federal Parliament. They are the separatist party; their main platform is that Quebec is a distinct culture and should become a sovereign country, because, hey, they're already a sovereign nation. Other than this, their social policies are pretty left-leaning.
There is one independent, who is also from Quebec. I have no further information.
The problem with this is that I can't see anybody teaming up with the Conservatives. Sure, the Conservatives received the most seats, but when the Liberals and NDP join forces then they have 132 seats-- more than the Conservatives.
Then we've got the Bloc Quebecois, a party which I don't believe the Conservatives can actually officially join forces with; I don't think that most Canadians will stand for a government filled with people who don't want to be Canadians anymore. They used to be the Official Opposition (man, those were the days) but I can't see Cabinet filled with a bunch of separatists. Some might stray during each House vote to go with the Conservatives, but there are some issues that I don't think the Bloc will support.
And now, to sum up: I need me some Mansbridge.