2015 Canadian Federal Election Thread

[Bill Cipher]

That sounds like the incumbent MP in my riding. He's NDP, in a traditionally NDP riding and he's pretty much done nothing whatsoever in this campaign that I know of. It's pretty clear that he knows he's going to win in his riding because nobody wants to vote anything other than NDP here. He's still in the lead. I actually find it to be honestly annoying to live in a riding where I have so little choice on who will represent my riding. I'd rather live in a neighborhood where I at least have a realistic choice between Liberal, Conservative, Green, NDP, etc.

So... the polls are open for the final day. Tonight, we find out whether we keep Stephen Harper as PM, or change to Justin Trudeau. I've given up on Mulcair as I'm sure any realistic person has lol. Any thoughts on who is the lesser of three evils?

 

[Thibideau]

Nothing positive to say about any of the parties really. We need Election reform in Canada, but it will never happen while there's money to be made. I think Elizabeth May and the Greens would probably work towards some election reform but the greens will never hold enough seats to accomplish anything other than being a stooge for the less extreme socialist parties. Mulcair is a disaster and if Layton was still running the show we might've been heading into an NDP Majority government instead of what's looking like a Minority government(AKA we'll be back at the polls next year). Trudeau is a putz who will be steering us out of the frying pan and into the fire. I do not have confidence that he's capable of being an effective leader, he's nothing like his father which would be the type of person this Country needs right now. Harper is a fear mongering, money hungry, and power hungry creep who has already driven Canada so far into the depths that it'll take 20+ years to fix. He took Canada which used to rank in the top 10 on Environmental issues and dragged us through the mud to the point where we are now sitting in the mid twenties. If I have to hear one more ad about him trying to scare baby boomers into voting for him by fueling anti-Islam issues I'm going to leap through the TV and smack that creepy grin off his face. And there's the Bloc, but no one cares about the Bloc except the Bloc.

So the tldr of that was, we need the Greens to win so that there can be some Election reform in Canada because our Democracy isn't working the way it was supposed to, but the Greens will never win so we may as well post a sign at the border reading "Abandon hope all ye who enter here."

 

[Bill Cipher]

Well, the polls are closed and it looks like we're looking at a Liberal victory and a Conservative opposition. Hooray? I don't know if this warrants a sigh of relief, let alone any sort of cheer. Time will tell. Hopefully Trudeau keeps him promise to change our first-past-the-post system. Unlike what some say, I actually don't think proportional representation would be the Tories' kryptonite. They can feasibly win if they stop the extreme ideas and fear-mongering.

This was a huge collapse for the NDP. This is looking especially terrible for Mulcair. He didn't lose as many seats as the conservatives, but he lost enough to be Opposition Leader No Longer. Man, poor guy. I mean it was partly his bad campaign but it was mostly the massive desire to get rid of Harper that caused the Liberals to eat most of the NDP's seats. I don't think this huge loss was entirely his doing. It's looking like he hasn't resigned yet, so he probably doesn't plan to. It's up to the NDP party to decide whether to keep him. Personally I think they could still bounce back with Mulcair as leader, plus he's a great parliamentarian and was the best opposition leader we've had in a long time. I hope they keep him.

The conservatives lost 60 seats, including those of Bernard Valcourt, Joe Oliver and Julian Fantino. Three people I've never been fond of, especially Valcourt. It feels like the job description for Minister Of Aboriginal Affairs is "do nothing". Harper resigned as leader of the Conservative Party Of Canada following the loss. While some, such as I, were fed up with Harper, I thought he could feasibly win another mandate in 2019 as long as the Tories change their campaign tactics to be more positive. Other Tories were just as responsible for this defeat as Harper. But alas I suppose he just wasn't up for the idea of being Trudeau's opposition for four years. Can't say I blame him.

 

[The Admiral]

Well, the polls are closed and it looks like we're looking at a Liberal victory and a Conservative opposition. Hooray? I don't know if this warrants a sigh of relief, let alone any sort of cheer. Time will tell. Hopefully Trudeau keeps him promise to change our first-past-the-post system.

I say go with quiet vaguely-happy neutrality. Much as Trudeau is mediocre, I know I'd rather have a weenie than a supervillain.

 

[Navin]

So Harper is out and the pretty-boy is in?

 

[Remix2]

Looks like the liberal party might get the majority of the seats.

 

[Sonic Boom]

Conservative Party could get all 42 of the Liberal Party's leading ridings to add to their 24, and still be three votes short of tying with the Libs. The majority party seems to be clear at this point.

 

[Silver Soul]

Liberal Majority coming in! Harper is toast!

 

[Thibideau]

Yeah it's official and I'm surprised TBH. A Liberal Majority isn't the scariest of possibilities that could've happened but it's still a jagged little pill for me at least. I think since I'm so used to Harper just doing what he wanted and ignoring everyone else that I over looked the chance that Trudeau might listen to his cabinet rather than just blowing the country to pieces with his bizarre ideas. My main issue with Trudeau is that despite running a centrist party he has the occasional extreme socialist idea. Liberal Majorities have run very effectively in times past albeit not always, but hey we can hope.

A tonne of interesting voting this election. Elizabeth May held her seat which is a feat to itself, although her 1 seat is well below the dozen or so she thought she would get. Then again the Greens get shafted in the debates anyways. Also the Bloc managed to pick up some seats which is a bit dis-heartening but on the plus side Gilles Duceppe, the leader of the Bloc Québécois didn't win his seat. I'm not sure how the Bloc will choose to proceed in terms of leadership.

Huge NDP collapse tonight. Mulcair barely managed to win his seat. They lost almost all of their support in Ontario and Quebec. They dropped to about 40 seats which is crazy. Mulcair's campaign just had way too many stumbling blocks and he wasted all of his momentum. Unlike Harper though I think Mulcair is probably going to stick around as the leader of the NDP. Funny enough the young NDP MP who was elected in Quebec in 2011 that was in Las Vegas during the last election(Because no one thought she would win), and suffered a terrible backlash, was re-elected.

The Conservatives obviously suffered a lot of losses, but also a lot of major players of the Conservatives were ousted. Chris Alexander, Joe Oliver, Julian Fantino, Ed Holder, and Peter MacKay. Harper stepping down as PM was needed. The party is going to have to rebuild but they kind of got what was coming to them. Harper isolated way too many portions of the voter base and then amped up his fear mongering and attack ads.

Sadly my riding remained Conservative Blue so my vote essentially meant nothing but at least that didn't hold true for the rest of Canada. I live in Rural Ontario so I wasn't expecting a colour switch but I always hope.

The Red Tsunami(God I hate the names political commentators come up with for political shifts >>) completely claimed The Maritimes and the North territories which was a huge surprise. It also managed to claim a few seats in Alberta which has't happened since the 60's so that's pretty crazy. Also to note is that this is the largest swing in the history of Canada.

EDIT: Oh and rough number for voter turn out is about 67% which is the highest since the early 1990's

Is it weird that Election night is kind of my Super bowl? I spent all night watching Election results while the rest of the country was watching the Blue jays.

 

[Shneak]

First time in, well, almost a decade that I'm happy with election results. I voted Liberal, though I did originally want NDP before they dropped harshly in support. Ultimately, it's halted Harper, which is what we needed.

I wonder how quickly it's going to age Justin. Teens need to get their "daddy" tweets in fast.

 

[Bill Cipher]

I'm not sure how the Bloc will choose to proceed in terms of leadership.

Hopefully with Duceppe again since he manages to fail them every time.

 

[Thibideau]

Hopefully with Duceppe again since he manages to fail them every time.

I'm not sure what the rules are in regard to a party leader needing to own a seat or not. I mean I guess he can still be the Leader but how effective can he be if he doesn't even have a seat? It would also be kind of a dickish move to take a seat from a Bloc member who actually did win their riding let alone the legality of that.

 

[Sonic Boom]

I wonder how this will affect passage of the Keystone Pipeline bills and climate change progress in the U.S. Tredeau doesn't oppose the Pipeline, so who knows.

 

[Psychic]

I'm so glad that Harper is finally out. We really need to institute a term limit for the Prime Minister.

I don't have any strong feelings about Trudeau - I'm honestly mostly just glad it's not a Conservative win. I really hope he'll repeal a lot of Harper's decisions and follow through with his promises, but I'll admit I don't have a ton of confidence.

Ideologically, I agree most with the Green Party, but the one year I voted for them it felt like a wasted ballot, and that frustrates me. I really don't like our voting system in that way. I'm glad the Green Party has at least one seat, though considering the Bloc has 10, it doesn't feel like much of a victory.

I guess this post is a little sour, but I'm just trying to be realistic. Still, at the end of the day, I'm just really glad Harper is out!

~Psychic

 

[Bill Cipher]

I'm not sure what the rules are in regard to a party leader needing to own a seat or not. I mean I guess he can still be the Leader but how effective can he be if he doesn't even have a seat? It would also be kind of a dickish move to take a seat from a Bloc member who actually did win their riding let alone the legality of that.

Well the Ontario Conservatives did that so Patrick Brown could sit in the Legislative Assembly. I don't think Duceppe had a seat before this election. He lost his seat in 2011. I think them going with Duceppe again is possible, plus what alternatives do they really have? Some random and relatively unknown separatist?

 

[Navin]

Well Trudeau came out and said Canada will pull back its fighter jets from American-led bombing missions against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Not sure if that was a move reflecting public sentiment, but it is similar to a common feeling in the U.S. (GTFO out of the M.E. and let them sort it out).

 

[Mordent99]

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I wonder how this will affect passage of the Keystone Pipeline bills and climate change progress in the U.S. Tredeau doesn't oppose the Pipeline, so who knows.

I don't think it's a benefit.

 

[Bill Cipher]

I'm so glad that Harper is finally out. We really need to institute a term limit for the Prime Minister.

I don't have any strong feelings about Trudeau - I'm honestly mostly just glad it's not a Conservative win. I really hope he'll repeal a lot of Harper's decisions and follow through with his promises, but I'll admit I don't have a ton of confidence.

I don't see why we need term limits. Most of them don't stay longer than 10 years; they either resign or get voted out by then.

Well there are the few terrible promises I'd prefer him not to keep, like the tax hikes. Nobody's taxes should be increased here at all. I like that he's cutting taxes for the middle class, but he needs to cut them for the working class as well and not raise them on the "wealthy".

Ideologically, I agree most with the Green Party, but the one year I voted for them it felt like a wasted ballot, and that frustrates me. I really don't like our voting system in that way. I'm glad the Green Party has at least one seat, though considering the Bloc has 10, it doesn't feel like much of a victory.

I guess this post is a little sour, but I'm just trying to be realistic. Still, at the end of the day, I'm just really glad Harper is out!

~Psychic

Now we just need Trudeau to fix our electoral system so we can vote him out too. Trudeau has potential to be a good PM, but if that does not happen I hope he only stays for one term.

I know I'd rather have a weenie than a supervillain.

I'm not counting my chickens before they've hatched. Trudeau could turn out to be a supervillan. Harper did, after all, pay off all of the debt Canada had after the 2008 global recession so it's not like he accomplished nothing. It's mostly all of the disturbing legislation that he passed that made him unpopular, but he helped Canada financially.