Federal Election Canada October 21, 2019
Some think the die was cast when Judy Wilson-Raybould threw in the towel and delivered her take on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's 'rebalancing the cabinet' (but most Canadians felt otherwise). Trudeau had demoted her and she wanted us to know her side and the press and cable news clamoured for more. (It's all on tglf some eighteen posts below this one.)
It's October 21, 2019 and we go to the voting stations across Canada to elect our representatives. The current polls suggest the Red Liberals are tied with the Blue Conservatives, and the Orange NPD are ahead of the Green Green Party, with the other two barely on the board.
I voted Red in 2015 because I wanted a change; I will vote Blue in 2019 because I want a change. We have around 35,000,000 people in all of Canada and there has been a lively discussion between the parties' leaders for many months as well as when the campaign started fourty days ago. The Reds say more of the same to come, the Blues say there will be more money in your pockets, the Orange say we'll govern for all the people of Canada, and the Greens will get Climate Change on the fast track where it belongs, the Bloc Quebecois haven't a chance, nor does Max Bernier of the People's Party. In fifteen hours we'll have the answer.⇩
John Ibbitson published this today in the Globe and Mail:
""Election campaigns sometimes open our eyes to realities we’d rather not see. The current campaign, which wraps up this weekend, has revealed a Canada fractured along lines of geography and generations.
Quebeckers reject English Canada’s multicultural consensus. The West is angry and estranged from the Centre. And younger, more progressive voters resent the baby boomers’ entitlements.
A hung Parliament could deepen these divides. Neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives appear able to win over more than a third of Canadians.
There has never been a time when both of the two major parties were so deeply and equally unpopular on the eve of a federal election.
Putting together a government that can obtain a majority of votes in the House on confidence measures could mean concessions to the resurgent Bloc Québécois or New Democratic Party that would leave some Canadians feeling even more estranged.
“I really believe that this election campaign, results notwithstanding, has deepened the cleavages, broadened the gap, between regions of the country,” warns Brad Wall, the former premier of Saskatchewan.
“[Liberal Leader Justin] Trudeau is playing with dynamite, and he doesn’t even know it,” says Eric Montigny, a political scientist at Laval University.
“Young people care about climate change, they care about issues of social justice and inequality,” says Sara Asalya, who established the Newcomer Students’ Association at Ryerson University. “These are issues that really impact them as young people, while older people care about affordability and incomes and tax cuts and those things.”
It’s a mess.""
If Mr. Ibbitson is right about his pessimistic view of politics and government in Canada then all will be led by a collection of representatives who will not have one voice, they may say that they can work together - which will be very difficult if not impossible - to pass anything of meaningful substance into law. In Canada we call this a minority government where we are neither left or right on the political scale.
The election is over and on October 22, 2019 the (Red) Liberals have the most seats with the (Blue) Conservatives next, followed by the (Grey) Bloc Quebecois, the (Orange) NDP and then the (Green) Green Party with one Independent trailing by the name of Judy Wilson-Raybould mentioned at the top of this post. However, the results constitute a minority government for the Liberals and not the majority they enjoyed for the past four years under Trudeau. As is usually the case with a Minority Government they all promise to go back to work and work hard for their constituents, that is until there is a non-confidence issue and all of the non government reps vote them out, or, the government feels it has regained the confidence of the collective voters and calls another election in less than the mandated four years. Period. This seems fair. Let's see.
John Ibbitson published this today in the Globe and Mail:
""Election campaigns sometimes open our eyes to realities we’d rather not see. The current campaign, which wraps up this weekend, has revealed a Canada fractured along lines of geography and generations.
Quebeckers reject English Canada’s multicultural consensus. The West is angry and estranged from the Centre. And younger, more progressive voters resent the baby boomers’ entitlements.
A hung Parliament could deepen these divides. Neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives appear able to win over more than a third of Canadians.
There has never been a time when both of the two major parties were so deeply and equally unpopular on the eve of a federal election.
Putting together a government that can obtain a majority of votes in the House on confidence measures could mean concessions to the resurgent Bloc Québécois or New Democratic Party that would leave some Canadians feeling even more estranged.
“I really believe that this election campaign, results notwithstanding, has deepened the cleavages, broadened the gap, between regions of the country,” warns Brad Wall, the former premier of Saskatchewan.
“[Liberal Leader Justin] Trudeau is playing with dynamite, and he doesn’t even know it,” says Eric Montigny, a political scientist at Laval University.
“Young people care about climate change, they care about issues of social justice and inequality,” says Sara Asalya, who established the Newcomer Students’ Association at Ryerson University. “These are issues that really impact them as young people, while older people care about affordability and incomes and tax cuts and those things.”
It’s a mess.""
If Mr. Ibbitson is right about his pessimistic view of politics and government in Canada then all will be led by a collection of representatives who will not have one voice, they may say that they can work together - which will be very difficult if not impossible - to pass anything of meaningful substance into law. In Canada we call this a minority government where we are neither left or right on the political scale.
The election is over and on October 22, 2019 the (Red) Liberals have the most seats with the (Blue) Conservatives next, followed by the (Grey) Bloc Quebecois, the (Orange) NDP and then the (Green) Green Party with one Independent trailing by the name of Judy Wilson-Raybould mentioned at the top of this post. However, the results constitute a minority government for the Liberals and not the majority they enjoyed for the past four years under Trudeau. As is usually the case with a Minority Government they all promise to go back to work and work hard for their constituents, that is until there is a non-confidence issue and all of the non government reps vote them out, or, the government feels it has regained the confidence of the collective voters and calls another election in less than the mandated four years. Period. This seems fair. Let's see.
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