Things are Progressing

The room Michael Ignatieff is sitting in (his living room, maybe?) is SO BEIGE. Like, the couches are brown on beige and the walls are beige on beige and the curtains are beige and the lampshades are beige. Jack Layton and Olivia Chow's place is classy, lots of plants.

He's currently "trailing in his riding," that is 21 votes to 13. I'm sure he's frightened. Oh wow, NDP just passed Liberals in leading/elected seat count! Oh, never mind, Libs are back ahead. Bloc is doing terribly.

So amused by the super-long riding names. Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale, anyone?

LOCAL RESULTS TIME! I CAN'T LOOK!

I love the CBC

Oh, Don Cherry and Rex Murphy. Peter Mansbridge: "If you were wondering, they're actually the same person, which is why they keep saying such complimentary things about each other."

On the one hand, people are posting election results on Twitter illegally. On the other hand, these results are far from unexpected.

Peter McKay just said "forged a beachhead, if you will." I don't know what that means but it sounds very Peter McKay.

The colour keeps on going in and out on my TV. At some point I need to give up the rabbit ears and spring for cable, I can't see the colours of the parties...

It's Election Night!

I'm watching the CBC and will be blogging sporadically and on Twitter. Right now: the Dragons from CBC's The Dragon Den with their election predictions. I love the Dragons! Kevin O'Leary: "I would never run for prime minister, the job simply doesn't pay enough. I should be prime minister, though, I would clean this whole mess up."

George Strombouloupoulous on the best social media moments of the election! Jack Layton's hashtag fail, Michael Ignatieff's Rise Up speech and the YouTube mashups, VOTE MOBS, Stephen Harper the Facebook creeper, VIntage Voter. Who wins the Internet?

Electoral Politics: Going Places

Citizen Engagement: Going Up (say this in an elevator voice)

Thanks to social media campaigns and the uprisings in the Middle East, Canadian voters are super engaged this election. But we already knew that, didn’t we?

Everyone is particularly impressed that young people seem to be so engaged.

Montreal-based Apathy Is Boring, one of several non-partisan organizations that have sprung up to promote increased voting in this federal election, hailed the busy advance polls as a harbinger of hope for Canadians’ interest in the political process.

“WE. ARE. DOING IT,” the group boasted after the Easter weekend numbers came in.
“Let’s keep turning up in record numbers to prove that young Canadians care about democracy, and that apathy is boring.”

Coalitions: Going Down

While Stephen Harper is ratcheting up his coalitions-are-scary-things rhetoric, and more and more Canadians seem to believe him, coalitions are both normal and stable in other parts of the world.

“We’ve have been forming coalition governments at the national and state level for a long time,” says Norman Abjorensen, a leading political commentator and professor at the Australia National University in Canberra. “And the sun has always risen the following day.”

The typical pattern in Australian federal politics, says Abjorensen, is either a leftish Labour government or a coalition of right-of-centre Liberals and rural Nationals.

“We change governments rarely here,” he says. “Only six changes in more than 60 years. No coalition has fallen except at the ballot box or on the floor of the house when in a minority in 1941.”

Western democracies such as Canada and the United Kingdom are behind the times, argues London School of Economics political scientist Jonathan Hopkin.

Not that Canadians haven’t thought about it:

A few days after Trudeau’s comeback victory in the 1980 federal election, he invited NDP leader Ed Broadbent to his office.

“I had a surprise for him,” Trudeau, who had just led his Liberals to a majority government, recalled in his 1993 book Memoirs.

“In an attempt to negotiate some sort of alliance with his party, I offered him and his colleagues some senior positions in our cabinet,” wrote Trudeau, explaining that his scanty take in Western Canada — just two seats, both in Manitoba, out of 143 Liberal MPs — had left him craving some of the widespread western representation of the NDP.

National unity, Trudeau believed, “would be strengthened if we could consolidate our forces.” He noted that there had been similar Liberal-NDP collaboration talks “on and off since (Lester B.) Pearson’s day,” but that Broadbent, who feared that his party would lose its power and credibility, quickly declined the offer.

Women in Politics: Going Nowhere

I mean that two ways: women who are in politics aren’t leaving anytime soon, but women are making very few gains in politics right now.

Anita Neville, a Liberal Member of Parliament and former minister for the status of women, agrees that more needs to be done to recruit women, and that the tone of Canadian politics is a barrier to that goal.

“I don’t think any of the parties have done a great job recruiting candidates,” she said at a campaign rally in Winnipeg, Manitoba last week.

“The rancor and nastiness of the political discourse turns off” many women, Neville said, adding that the atmosphere before the last election was “a really ugly Parliament.”

The New Democratic Party said April 11 it had set an “historic first” by having women as 40 percent of its nominated candidates. Still, Equal Voice said on its website that only 31 percent of NDP candidates in what it gauges are winnable ridings are women. That figure compares with 27 percent for the Liberals and 22 percent for the Conservatives. The Conservative Party did not respond to requests for comment yesterday about this issue.

Post-Vote Brain Break

The polls are just about to open in ET, CT, and MT, another half hour for PT, and they're already open in the Maritimes and Newfoundland. So you should go out and vote, and then come back and read this brain break.

Are any of the leaders going to have a good day today? Watch the outreach of my investigative journalism as I check with the experts—also known as, reading their horoscopes.

In the process of doing this I discovered that all of the leaders were born sometime between April 30th and July 22nd. Is that weird or is that weird? Why are they dominating one quarter of the year? Both the Amazing Housemate and I also have birthdays between April 30 and July 22, does this mean we are destined to be in politics?

Anyway, this means that several of the leaders share signs, which sounds like it would make things more boring, but actually is really interesting when you look at WHO shares signs.

Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff—Taurus

Your workload will increase dramatically over the next few days, so make sure you get your chores out of the way as quickly as possible. If you fall behind now it may be a long time before you catch up again, so get it done.

That it will… that it will…

No matter how modest your goals are today, there will be some foggy energy or friendship dramas that could interrupt things and make major forward movement difficult right now. But do not worry! You will have a realistic awareness of what you can and cannot accomplish, so this will help keep things in perspective -- and you in a positive frame of mind. So save what you can't get done today, and deal with it another day -- it isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Ha. Hahaha. “You will have a realistic awareness of what you can and cannot accomplish.” “Deal with it another day—it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.” Hahaha.

Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe—Cancer

If you force yourself to do something when your heart isn’t in it it’s unlikely you will make a very good job of it. Maybe it would be better to put it off until you are in a more receptive frame of mind.

Ohh. Hidden meaning?

Regarding your current struggle or debate, you should know that there are more people on your side than aren't ... and the people who aren't don't have much pull with the powers that be. Keep pushing for what you want, and keep talking to the people who can help make it happen. You're gaining real momentum, and you could reach an exciting tipping point today. Whatever has been holding you back is long gone -- and it's not coming back! Stay with this positive frame of mind.

You can tell this is Jack Layton’s horoscope because it has the words “gaining momentum” in it. I don’t see how it applies to Gilles Duceppe, though… but then he’s a borderline case, maybe he’s really a Leo. Let’s see what the Leo horoscopes are…

You seem to be holding back from taking risks, even quite small ones, and that's a shame because if you push yourself hard today chances are it will pay off in a big way. Don’t just think about it – do it!

Yep, that’s more like Duceppe…

Try not to confuse a growing sense of responsibility with a growing sense of guilt. The associations you are making with other people right now are a sign of your growth. You are more connected with a few people and it is effecting your sense of duty -- these people rely on you, and this may be a new feeling. Give yourself a chance to get used to it. But if you keep following your own goals and making decisions based on your own priorities, there is nothing wrong with that.

Is this about his association with the PQ?

Elizabeth May—Gemini

If you allow a feud to linger on much longer the results could be disastrous, so get to the root of it today and either agree to be friends or agree to stay out of each others way. Is a compromise solution really so hard?

I feel like this would have been more appropriate (or more hilarious) as Harper and Ignatieff’s horoscope.

After a spontaneous conversation with a casual acquaintance today, you could gain greater insight into the things that have been troubling you lately. The key is to listen intently and be ready to hear some things that may make you a little uncomfortable -- new ideas are not always palatable. If you ignore the realities of the external world, you won't get very far. You will have to face up to reality and pay more attention to the things that really matter.

Well, this isn’t too applicable. Except maybe the “face up to reality” part?

Anyway. If you've read this before voting, you can now vote already knowing the future!

TIME TO VOTE! THAT MEANS YOU! YES, YOU, READING THIS RIGHT NOW!

VOTING TIME!!!!!!!!!



Here is a useful election FAQ if you're unsure about how long voting will take, how to vote if you wear a face covering, or what kind of ID you can bring.

Still undecided? Here's one more platform-comparing tool.

And now go vote! And to awesome people like my Awesome Housemate who are working the polls this election: you guys are awesome. You are like millions of hand across the country holding the democracy tent over our heads.

Okay, awkward simile time is over. Time to vote!

Coast-to-Coast with Editorials

So this is pretty neat. It’s a collection of abridged editorials from across the country. I, of course, cannot refrain from adding my commentary.

From the Vancouver Sun:

…the Conservatives should be returned to Parliament with a majority. A minority government will be unstable at a time when we need stability. Without a majority, Canadians will have no idea who their leader will be. The fact is that the opposition could defeat the government on the budget within a matter of weeks of the next sitting of Parliament. Then, either Ignatieff (or possibly his successor, whoever that might be) or Layton could ask the Governor-General to invite one or the other or both of them to form a government.

. . . Canada can't afford an election that delivers a result with so much uncertainty.

. . . Despite the Tories' flaws, however, a Conservative majority is the only path that at this time leads us to a Canada that will remain the prosperous, peaceful and predictable country in which we are fortunate enough to live.

False. We are not a republic. Not knowing who the leader of our government will be doesn’t really change much. The prime minister is the leader of the party that forms the government. Let’s not inflate the position with too much importance.

Honestly, majorities are scarier because they’re the closest this country can legally get to a dictatorship. Minorities have to compromise, not be reckless—be predictable. Majority governments have historically been the most unpredictable, and passed the most bills that weren’t in their platforms.

And you know what? No matter what happens in the House of Commons, the core of the civil service remains stable, with just a few changes at the upper bureaucratic levels. Civil servants will be peeved if the upper administration keeps changing on them like that, but the people who actually do the stuff to run our country are going to be here doing the stuff that runs the country regardless of the situation in the House.

From the Winnipeg Free Press:

That the country even talks about coalitions composed of weak parties focused on buying votes, instead of focusing on the fragile economic recovery, is all the evidence Canadians should need to conclude that seven years of minority government, of the posturing and name-calling and brinksmanship that results when no one ultimately is in charge, must end. Canada must get more serious about its present predicaments and future prosperity. That leaves only the Conservatives.

To be sure, Conservatives over the past five years, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper in particular, have contributed much to the rancour that today sours our polity. But just as surely, over the past five years no political party or leader has shown more disciplined commitment to the engine that makes all else possible — the economy. For all the talk of a hidden, right-wing agenda, none has emerged over five years and there is no evidence it will over the next four.

Oh, please. Our economic recovery is hardly fragile, little thanks to the Conservatives. It was Paul Martin’s banking regulations that left us in such a good place to being with. And as I mentioned earlier, no one ever is “ultimately in charge.” The prime minister’s powers are supposed to be fairly limited, to a leadership role over his own party, and the ability to appoint people and recommend things to the governor general. In fact, the Speaker of the House is far more “ultimately in charge” of the House of Commons.

Of course a “hidden, right-wing agenda” hasn’t emerged over the last five years—that kind of thing is really difficult to have with a minority government. The fact that we haven’t seen a hidden right-wing agenda doesn’t mean there isn’t one (not that I’m saying there is).

From the Halifax Chronicle Herald:

Voting intentions have moved to the poles as we have got closer to the polls, turning this into an effective contest of the NDP left and the Tory right.

You can peg this partly on Prime Minister Stephen Harper being a polarizing leader. And also on his strategy of eking out a majority by winning over targeted demographic groups in a few marginal ridings instead of aiming to make the Tories a bigger-tent party.

That left a lot voters essentially disengaged. But they have decided they want to be heard in this election. And they've been jumping to Jack Layton to do that . . .

It's an astonishing result when most people, at heart, are probably still somewhere in the middle, not looking either for a big expansion of government, or a drastic shrinkage of the social safety net, but simple competence in managing the economy and public finances and in ensuring crucial public services like health care are there when needed.

True that. Truuue that.