Though I’ll be posting updates, I’m not going to liveblog what you can readily access online or on air, but the comments are open for your links, reaction and local reports. Just don’t go breaking any laws, though by the looks of things…
… Elections Canada has better things to do than track down surly beavers.
However, as traffic will be heavy tonight, PLEASE avoid tying up server resources with one-liners, chat, expletives, and whatnot.
Game on!
And in these waning hours, one final pitch from Gaia to the voters of southern Saskatchewan –
Only your vote can save the planet from global warming!
Update: Looks like Dizzy Lizzy picked a bad day to go carbon free.
My goodness, a couple of blog sites are getting slammed tonight. (Try not to hit refresh too often, ok?)
And in other breaking news – SDA still up, Elections Canada still down.
Lusers.
Methinks it looks like Karlheinz Schreiber picked a bad day to go midday cocktail free.
One we’ve all been waiting for – GARTH TURNER DEFEATED
Oh! – and to all my deluded Liberal blogging friends living east of Manitoba – I told you so.
Liberal Whip Karen Redman defeated!
ET – thoughtful analysis. The idea that Harper would have won a majority had it not been for the “destroy the country” party of QC is something for everyone to think about. I hope Harper stops pandering to this spoiled, screaming child and treats them no differently than any other canuck locale, and also think the ROC should get to vote on the next Quebec referendum to end the issue once and for all.
Although a Tory majority would have been nice, from a 905-Halton’er, some great news tonight:
1. Adieu, Garth-O
2. No more do I have to gaze upon Bonnie Brown’s bitter puss in the Oakville Santa Claus parade. Ahhh… heaven.
mhb23re
at gmail d0t calm
“HARPER DENIED HIS MAJORITY”
A practical Majority though when you add the Liberal, NDP and Ind. seats together, they’ll still need allot of help from the Bloc.
Dion is gone, the Liberals got wamped good, real good.
The results are good news, all around! The Green Shift is deader than a doornail!
Omar Alghabrah Liberal Mississauga/Erindale., Gone.
Sue Barnes gone, wish I could the same for that little Quebecois twit Bernier.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one thinking that Craig Oliver had some beef with the CPC.
Since everyone else has pretty much blanketed what happened yesterday, I’ll just add one comment:
WhyTF does CTV (or any other network) post a riding result with ONE freaking poll reporting? One of say 247 polls where one candidate has say 15 votes, one has 7 and one has 3. What kind of in depth analysis/news is that? Gimme a break.
Actually the Bloc has every right to run as a party, elect members and sit in parliament ET. Its called democracy. That the Bloc elects large numbers of MPs with a small percentage of national votes is completely irrelevant. Who here would want to live in a country where ‘unpopular’ view points are banned from holding elected office? The Conservatives lost in Quebec because they did not offer a viable alternative pure and simple. As I said of the Conservatives much earlier in these comments, “When you run for opposition don’t be surprised at the outcome”.
I tuned into 895 fm to CBC Radio North on my vehicle radio. I was on my way to Hortons.
I heard the words “proportional represention” more than once. Perhaps they did have on a Conservative, almost certain they would. I seemed to get the drift though. Perhaps I am biased. The crisp clear female voices, seemed to be disapointed and did not seem detached.
I thought about proportional representation. Of course, if the Greens got 8%, they would then get about 24 seats- or in a sharing situation with the riding system, at least 12 seats. Problem is then that no voter would have elected them.
Again the CBC and persons they sympathise with seem to cry “no fair”. It does not occur to them that THEY are not fair. That THEY do everything within certain vague bounds, to denigrate the individuals and party- not of their choice.
“I don’t mean any offense, I just feel that Kelly did a good job.”
Gotta agree with you on that Trent when you consider the obstacles faced by Ms. Block:
– she was a rookie to the political scene (unless you count a stint as mayor of a small town)
– the Liberal vote totally imploded
– she was eviscerated by the local newspaper for wisely deciding to spend time campaigning door-to-door rather than attending mindless, shouting matches set up by the NDP
– she was running in the strongest NDP riding in the province. Now I have nothing but admiration and respect for Carol Skelton (the best MP that this riding has ever had) but, the first time around, she won by less than 100 votes)
Joe: “Its called democracy”
Say it aint so, Joe! Your last name isn’t Clark by some chance?
A party running on a singular platform to destroy the country isn’t contributing anything to democracy. Nothing the Bloc initiates increases the health, security or wealth of their individual constituents. Their concerns are borne exclusively from a special interest group ideology that poisons effective representative government. They are really anti-democracy.
By your beliefs groups like Al Qaeda, Hezbollah and the Tamil Tigers should be allowed to run candidates free to push their hate filled agendas too.
Real democracy doesn’t forget about representing the individual first. That’s why you’re wrong and why the Bloc is a disgrace and a blight to Canadian politics.
When the needs of the individual are emphasized in politics, nobody gets forgotten. The fulfillment of those needs by extension carry on to family, community, province and our nation. However, when the needs of special interest groups, like the Bloc, are emphasized and fulfulled there’s nothing left for the individual…hardly a government “Of the People”.
Martin B
But who will mind the minders?
Joe, if we had a constitution worth it’s ink – that would be my answer. Political parties should only be bestowed with the privilege of electing people to Parliament if they are serious about governing our nation on behalf of all citizens. Election platforms should be pan-Canadian – shouldn’t that be a necessary part of any federal political party’s “raison d’etre”?
The Bloc has no such desire – it’s special interests only extend to a mostly ethnic francophone community in one province. It will never govern…only intentionally befuddle legitimate national business to achieve special interest goals at the expense of individuals. As I said before, that’s not participating in a government “Of the People, For the People, By the People”. The Bloc’s allowed participation in our government is harmful to Canadian democracy.
What Canada needs is the moral, ethical and political will of our representatives to unselfishly enact such a legal instrument to end special interest group subversion of Canada’s federal government. Until then the majority will remain checked by the minority in a disfunctional government.
Not too many years ago I watched a group coalesce around the idea that ” The West Wants In”. It reflected the thoughts of many Westerners at a time when, thanks in large part to Liberal divide and conquer policies, the West felt especially disenfranchised. The party formed almost as a rearguard movement to counteract the interference of the Federal government in western provincial matters. The western party served to destroy the PC party and allowed the Liberals to maintain power for far too long and to the very real detriment of Canada. However I would never say that the Reform movement/party should have been banned simply because it upset the Liberal establishment in Ottawa. The same sentiment runs through the Bloc. They are nominally separatist but realistically they represent the interests of Quebec in a nation in which they have no other voice. I don’t think that the Bloc won the number of seats they did on the idea that of separation or the destruction of the arts or the imprisonment of teenagers. The Bloc won because they best voice the concerns of Quebec. No party does it perfectly and the Bloc is no exception but if you had a party that represented your part of Canada and knew that it could tie up the House of Commons if the House failed to recognize your concerns wouldn’t you be tempted to vote for such a party?
In the selfish world of “me me” politics such a party represents its constituents very well.
The Reform Party was born in part out of frustration in the West but it was always envisioned to have national reach. The Reform Party also is a party for the individual…that was an integral part of its’ platform. Your attempt to equate the Reform Party with the Bloc is like trying to mix oil and water.
I make no mistake about the Bloc – it is a special interest group party and not a party about the individual Canadian. I can not vote for or against it but my life is very affected by the malaise the Bloc is causing in our government. According to how a real democratic government should work, that is on behalf of individuals througout the entire nation, the Bloc serves as an impediment that harms us all in ever corner of the country.
Effectively serving a narrow ethnically defined constituency is no justification for a Federal political party. The Reform party had a pan Canadian platform…the Bloc never has. It’s very unimpeded existence is a joke right out of Monty Python’s Search for the Holy Grail.
Effectively serving a narrow ethnically defined constituency is no justification for a Federal political party.
Then talk to the Liberals because that is exactly what their divide and conquer policy is all about.
I can at least vote to defeat a Liberal to deny them a seat that could give them a majority to govern. The Bloc only wants to obstruct and is incapable of aspiring to government.
Let’s suppose every province has a populist “Bloc” party. How the heck would anything of value get done? Who would lead?
If Canadians enacted a Constitution that puts individuals first then self serving special interest parties would be stripped of the power to prevent good governance. That’s when the scourge of entitlement dies and the voters win.
Fully agree but there is no way to ‘democratically’ impose the will to get along. Persuasion maybe but decree never.