**Please note: I spent the entire night dreaming, not of sugar plums, but of Stephan Dion. In my dream, I kept telling Mr. Dion that it was all his fault... "All Your Fault!" I yelled.
Some might say that due to the fact I am not Canadian, I shouldn't have anything to say about Canadian politics--but considering that I know a hell of a lot more about Canadian politics than say, the average Canadian--I'll continue (and I mean nothing offensive by that last comment; it's true.)
In any case, why should I care? I'm just an immigrant right (ha)? Here's the thing, I left the states because I couldn't deal with a government comprised of opportunists who were living in their own alternative reality--you know a government that starts wars for no reason and then covers it up with breaking news stories about Paris Hilton on CNN. I came to Canada because I thought I'd have a better chance living amongst the self-proclaimed, "nicest people on the planet". It was great for a while until I learned about the political system here--same old shit, different GPS reading.
For those of you who are a bit clueless about the Canadian political system, I have provided quick and easy break down of each political party below (American style):
The Conservative Party:
- Lead by the callous and robotic Stephen Harper--he has eyes like the scary old guy from 'Poltergeist'
- They call themselves the Tories--a name termed from Great Britain in the 17th Century.
- They have NO environmental policy...well really, they have no real platform. They simply think they are better than everyone else.
- They won 144 seats in Parliament--picked up about 6 from the urban sprawlers who live on the outskirts of Toronto, in their McMansions while they drive their SUVs everywhere... basically people who think they're wealthy but aren't.
- Stateside, they would be COMPARABLE to the neo-cons, also known as the Republican Party--in fact, Harper seemingly worships the ground George Bush walks on.
- In my opinion, the ONE AND ONLY excuse one might have to vote for this morally corrupt party is if they are extremely wealthy. Otherwise all other votes are due to ignorance, brainwashing, and influence over the ignorant, which equals brainwashing... you get my drift.
- Lead by Stephan Dion--a very smart and kind man who has a bad accent--which is the main reason why most people (ignorant people) likely voted against him.
"He's wimpy" they said. - They had a great environmental policy called "The Green Shift"--which was strangely very similar to the Green Party's environmental plan.
- They won 76 seats in Parliment--won the city of Toronto almost entirely with exception to Olivia Chow (NDP) & Jack Layton (NDP) who kept their seats.
- They are COMPARABLE to the Democrats in the states--they are (lately) viewed as a party who cannot make up their minds, seldom stands up for any issues and are even known to walk out of votes on good'ol P-Hill. (Ironically, i know ALL about this place, have been there a couple of times, even hung out in some MP's offices... so I can call it P-Hill if I'd like)
- In my opinion, the Liberal Party was the best strategic vote for this particular election as in my mind, the one and only goal should have been to eject the conservatives from their seats. In any case, I suspect there will likely be a change in leadership with Michael Ignatieff & Bob Rae heading the march.
- Lead by Gilles Duceppe
- Originally a separatist party interested in mainly Quebec becoming its own country.
- Won 50 seats last night--HOW??? great fucking question.
- Was instrumental in blocking the Tories out of gaining enough seats in Quebec--which according to pundits was an EPIC FAIL on the part of the conservatives
- This party only has ridings in Quebec--it's not exactly comparable to any party in the states... unless Arnold Schwartznegger starts his own politcal party called The Bloc Californians, which isn't too unlikely I suppose.
- Lead by Jack Layton--who is the type of guy that could kick someone's ass--he's kind of like The Chuck Norris of Politics--a no-bullshit type of guy. And I like him!
- They won a meager 37 seats
- They would be COMPARABLE to a Blue Collar, Union supporting, Middle Class, liberal-minded party in the states--well, that's if there was a middle class in the states that wasn't composed of fanatical Christians.
- They have policies and beliefs that tend to make sense to me, other activists that I am involved with (political & environmental), younger voters who are not influenced by their parents, minorities, and some very educated individuals that I happen to know. They seemingly support the everyday man and woman with no differentiation between the two. So I like that.
- They deserved more seats in my opinion and also according the the popular vote!
- Hopefully a "renewable" and "self-sustaining" party
- Became the center of attention during this election due to the NDP & Conservates attempting to keep the Greens out of the debates. May got in, and kicked everyone's ass!
- These up-and-comers are lead by the very capable Elizabeth May--who is the antithesis of another high profile politician--"she who must not be named"
- They were the only party to include campaign/voting reform as one of their platforms
- They genuinely want to make Mother Earth a better place for us all to live and that's extremely important
- 940,000 voters supported the Green Party who SENT NO ONE to Parliament, setting a new record for the most votes cast for any party that gained no parliamentary representation. By comparison, 813,000 Conservative voters in Alberta alone were able to elect 27 MPs. (www.fairvote.ca)
