"WOW!" Canadian Election Results

[democracy1st]

Run time: 09:18 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECOPstypq6w   Posted on YouTube: May 03, 2011 By YouTube Member: MoxNewsDotCom Views on YouTube: 301   Posted on DU: May 03, 2011 By DU Member: democracy1st Views on DU: 1727

 
Canadian Political results.

[sasha031]

1. depressing, reminds me of 2004 and 2010

[murphyj87]

3. In 2004 and 2010....

In 2004 and 2010 did you elect 33% of those elected being Bernie Sanders-like democratic socialists, like we elected 102 out of 308 NDP last night?

[sasha031]

4. in 2004 John Kerry lost the presidency, which meant 4 more yrs of Bush

in 2010 we lost the house to a bunch of crazy tea baggers. we started making gains in the senate and house in 2006-2008 only to see it fall apart again.

Bernie Sanders is a treasure, wish we had more of him.

[murphyj87]

5. We have 102 Bernie Sanders'

We have 102 Bernie Sanders' (NDP MPs) out of 308 MPs and we have a Parliamentary, not a Presidential system, which makes Canadian government totally different from American government.

Imagine it as if there were only the House of Representatives in American politics, and the House Progressive caucus was it's own party, won 33% of the seats and left the rest of the Democratic Party with only 11% of the seats.

[sasha031]

7. I am so sorry, we were all hoping that Harper and the right wing would go

what they can do to a country in a relatively short time is mind boggling.

[sulphurdunn]

11. You're right of course,

but we have a two party winner take all system down here, and it hasn't been working very well for about 50 years.

[canuckledragger]

2. We're going to have to borrow from Wisconsin politics

to keep an eye on this asshole

[Iliyah]

6. I feel for ya'll

Canadians will figure it out when its too late. We went on the right path in 2008, but damn it forgot in 2010. I can only speak for America, but it's money honey. Who has the most and who can control the message and who can cheat, yes cheat and steal elections. WI learned the hard way, same for Ohio and MI, Fl and other states who have right wing nut jobs.

Canadian will re-group and become sane again but until then you guys are gonna go through some hellish times.

[canuckledragger]

8. The thing is...

We've pushed out a greedy vindictive asshole before, at least at the provincial level. Ontario residents should remember Premier Mike Harris:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Harris#Common_Sense_Revolution

lo & behold..he was in the same party, pushing for the most of the same crap as Harper!

I couldn't find it in the article but I vaguely remember that he resigned one of those terms..amid low public opinion & lots of controversy

[TrollBuster9090]

10. Mike Harris

Mike Harris was hilarious. Every time I saw him on TV I thought "who the hell elected JOHN KING to be Premier of Ontario!?"

[TrollBuster9090]

9. Actually, 60% voted left or center-left

It's not as bad as you think. (Well, it IS in a way.) It's just a reflection of the fact that Canada has more than two political parties, and the two center-left parties split the center-left vote.

Conservative Party: Center-Right (still to the left of Democrats in the U.S.)
Liberals: Center-Left
NDP: Progressive-Left

The conservative party got 40% of the vote and won the election. The Liberals and NDP split the left/center-left vote and lost, but 60% of the country still voted left or center-left. The sad fact is that one of two things will happen now. 1.) The liberals and NDP will continue to split the center-left vote for a decade, letting the Conservatives win. or 2.) The NDP and Liberals will merge into one party, meaning they'll win, but the country will be just as f-ed up as the faux two-party circus in the U.S.

Conrad Black, notorious white-collar criminal and Canadian expatriate commented that he thought it was great that Canada was slowly moving towards a two party system like the U.S. Yeah right, fatso...it's GREAT to have fewer political choices in a democracy. The less choice the better.

This is basically the reverse of what happened in the 90s, when there were two center-left parties (the Liberals and the NDP) AND two center-right parties (the Conservatives and the Reform Party). Both the left AND the right votes are split, but since more people vote left anyway, Canada ended up with a decade of sane, fiscally sound, Liberal governments. Ten years of budget surpluses under Jean Chretien and Paul Martin. Ten years of using the surplus to improve health care and pay down the national debt while the U.S. was distracting people with false debates about flag burning and gay marriage to draw attention away from deficit-exploding tax cuts for billionaires. Feh...

So, this is a sad day for Canada because of the way the 3+ party system worked out, but it doesn't mean Canada has drank the movement-conservative coolaide. They're just as sane as ever.

[murphyj87]

12. However...

In 1993, Conservatives won only 2 seats, and, despite the change from Progressive Conservative to Conservative, nonetheless, a component of the 1993 2 seat rout, was part of the Conservatives of yesterday. I guess what I'm saying is don't bury the Liberals yet. They may be different, but there will be at least 3 major parties or more next election, which might be sooner than people think, if the 60% of non-Conservative voting people of Canada end up rising up against the Conservative agenda, majority government notwithstanding.

[vroomvroom]

13. Harper is repealing the'Not Lying in News' Law

Harper has openly been trying to remove the Canada Radio Act law that prevents lying in the news. By stripping this law Fox News will finally be allowed to enter Canada and spread its lying propoganda. Prior to this election he was denied but now with a majority he can pass it with relative ease

He also said he will be removing public campaign financing. Recall that in the states the one major reason for corruption and influence is because of a lack of public financing for campaigns. Harper said he WILL remove public financing and allow unlimited financing to campaigns. So Corporations and the wealthy will be able to easily fill the Conservative coffers.

He is also for privatized healthcare. We have Universal Healthcare and he despises it. Because universal healthcare is loved by 94% of canadians he is planning on doing the shift to privatized very slowly...at first introducing the option while slowing cutting off funding to the universal side.