Canada Elects

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Mycah Morrison May 14, 2011 9:18 am (Pacific time)

My wife and I live near the Canadian border, we frequently cross over to Canada several times a year. Where we go in Canada, it is quite Americanized in terms of common cultural values and interests that I've observed, especially in terms of conservative values, as recent elections document, clearly. The Canadian economy is absolutely dependent on the U.S. dollar (even though the dollar has been fluxuating recently, there is a history of that, so it is not unusual) on a macro level. Considering all the Canadians who have migrated to the states on a permanent basis, and those who spend their winters here, and all the other exchanges going on, maybe the editor (Daniel?) should come here and visit. Have you ever spent much time here? We are very diverse, but also very intertwined culturally, except for a growing illegal population that is balkanizing...tragic and sad. Considering that we have ten times your population and are not as violent as you guys in terms of assaults, so besides being safer here (if you stay out of major urban areas run by democrats, see FBI stats), you would also get informed how you are essentially Americanized, and it is a big myth that Canada has their own distinct culture, for you do not, you simply have a variety of hybrids of our dominant culture, which most of the world also has. That's a sociological fact, for as we go, so goes Canada, and the entire planet. I really don't care about any expense involved in providing an umbrella of defensive coverage for you guys, because we would be doing it for ourselves regardless. In terms of America's adventures around the globe (which is mostly about providing assistance), I have traveled to many parts of the world, and people want to come here to live. There are literally millions of applications at our State Department from those who want to legally come here, and most are from countries where the people claim they hate us. In fact over 15 million are in a random lottery drawing praying to be one of the 50,000 winners. I believe many confuse jealousy with hate, and it appears that many of our detractors are engulfed within that confusing haze, but have zilch impact, other than probably raising their blood pressure to dangerous levels. I pray for them constantly.

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Anonymous May 13, 2011 6:14 pm (Pacific time)

Daniel your gang analogy is nonsensical. Have you paid any kind of fee? I note that Canada has always been an ally in most of our world security pursuits, why is that?

The gang analogy is only nonsensical to you. Cross the border into Canada or go to other parts of the world and it makes perfect sense. I'm not surprised that your myopia prevents you from seeing the larger world. 

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Anonymous May 13, 2011 8:16 am (Pacific time)

Paul wrote: "As one of the world's oldest democracies, that has been a bastion of relative stability, I would be reluctant to take lessons from other countries. regards." The basic reality you overlook Paul is that you are essentially a "dependent" of the United States when it comes to being able to take care of yourself from foreign belligerents. And you do not even compensate us taxpayers for our sacrifice funding your protective umbrella for so many decades, but maybe someday you will? Regarding the current election results, all the analysis that is being done from different perspectives is great fun, but the results are in. The future is unknown for future elections, but my money is on for an increase of the present status quo. Bets anyone?

The U.S. is such a belligerent, widely hated/ feared (and yet, self-righteous) nation, that anyone near them (like Canada) is threatened with collateral damage. We only need "protection" because of this proximity. It's like living in a LA and the Crips come to your door and say that for a weekly "fee" they will protect you from the Bloods.

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paul May 12, 2011 1:06 pm (Pacific time)

A simple fact. Without Quebec, Harper won 49% of the popular vote...just short of a majority but after excluding the vote of the fringe parties such as communist, libertarian etc (not including green)...he would probably be there. Quebec is a complicated affair that have people effectively launching protest votes. Interpolating behavior when a system has changed would be impossible so I wouldn't make your conclusions. People vote for various reasons and there is a constant gaming going on. Change the rules and you change the results. Our first past the post system may be imperfect but I see little evidence of better systems. As one of the world's oldest democracies, that has been a bastion of relative stability, I would be reluctant to take lessons from other countries. regards

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Bill May 10, 2011 11:01 am (Pacific time)

Regardless of all the points and counter-points, the election is over, and the conservatives are in charged. This should insure a positive economic future, because of your particular social needs are much different than ours, and that your business people have a model in place that will not be dinged and torn up like what the radicals do in America. My guess is that Mr. Harper will seem like a liberal in comparison to your future leaders down the line. You are most fortunate because capitalism coupled with the free market will continue to develop pretty much unfettered by your far left, non-experienced in business, and impotent and rudderless leaders as they continue to diminish in power. Amen

Your logic escapes me. Harper is as "non-experienced" in business as those you would castigate. 

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Hank Ruark May 10, 2011 8:14 am (Pacific time)

Friend Dan:
Somehow your strong report seems all too reminiscent of past times here in the good old USofA !
But then you've not had forty years of conservative billionaire effort via very large expenditures and determined but canny takeover of media and massive-other keys to power.
OR is allathat only yet undiscovered and surfacing ?
Your special position should be very great asset for us unsurprised down here...awaiting anything futther re points above, since some emerging versions of the big story point up that hidden conspiracy headed to Canada, too...

Hank. You're right on every point except... Hmm... You're right! 

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Anonymous May 9, 2011 9:53 am (Pacific time)

The next election will continue the trend. Maybe, if real lucky, you Canadians will adopt our Constitution and Bill of Rights, then the potential of being "Exceptional" may happen for you. We can always hope.

For all of Canada's imperfections (and there are two or three), one thing Canadians can agree on; We have no desire to become Fantasyland.

We have a Constitution and a Bill of Rights that work well, thank you very much. We are exceptional in our own way: we do not have a 10% unemployment rate, every Canadian has access to medical care, we do not have a federal government on the verge of defaulting on an unsupportable debt, in fact, we do not have an unsupportable debt, we are not trying to manage wars that we started. I could go on, but you get the picture. 

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Morrison May 7, 2011 6:18 pm (Pacific time)

Daniel there are several of my American friends who have been predicting this conservative sea change happening in Canada for quite some time now. Obviously looking at your country from the outside we are secure in the fact that we understand Canadian politics far better than 99%+ of you Canadians, especially people like Naomi Klein, the child-woman who seems to enjoy her highly inaccurate analyses of my country, but considering her parentage and upbringing, it's predictable what people like her project. What you do not see happening is that your urban area's, with their growing crime rates and other sociological changes being promulgated by a highly diverse immigration policy is creating considerable conflict within your various social programs, educational institutions, and employment opprotunities. Here, have some fun with numbers:

Number of votes for the Liberal Party in all ridings west of Ontario = 472,012
Number of votes for the Conservatives in only Greater Vancouver and Vancouver Island = 594,541

Number of Western ridings where the Liberal Party received more than 10,000 votes = 12. Ridings with more than 20,000 Liberal votes = 1.
Number of ridings in Greater Vancouver/Van Island where Conservatives received more 10,000 votes = 25 of 26 ridings. Over 20,000 = 17. Over 30,000 = 4.

I though of counting just Calgary and Edmonton (where the Liberals do reasonably well), but that just seemed mean.
The worst place for the Liberals = Saskatchewan. For the entire province, they got 38,981 votes. 41% of those came in Ralph Goodale's Wascana riding.

Number of Western Canadian ridings where the Liberals received less than 2,000 votes = 22. In two of these, both in Sask, they got less than 1,000.
Certainly in the west, if Liberals are turning up, they're turning their party down. You will continue to see this trend, and it is being driven by sociological phenomena that will be causing extreme change, but for the better. I am very happy for you, the future of Canada looks very bright.

I wouldn't call a 1.96% increase in the popular vote from 2008 to 2011, a "sea change".

I'll bet your friends didn't predict such growth for the socialist NDP. 

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Morrison May 7, 2011 12:01 pm (Pacific time)

I just came across the below article, do you have an opinion on this analysis Daniel? "OTTAWA — A recent shift among Catholic voters has helped realign the Canadian political scene and bring the Conservative party its first majority in the House of Commons in nearly 20 years.

A trend that began only five years ago, when weekly Mass-attending Catholics switched from supporting the center-left Liberals to the moderately rightist Conservatives, has grown in strength. Even non-Mass-attending Catholics have now joined it for the first time, with 50% of them supporting the Conservatives, along with 59% of weekly Massgoers.

Catholics make up half the Canadian population.

“I think Catholics have just given up on the Liberals,” commented Tom Hamel, president of Redeemer Pacific College in Langley, British Columbia. “Now the Liberals seem prepared to support any group that wants to tear down what this country used to stand for.”

Redeemer Pacific College, which is Catholic, is affiliated with Trinity Western University, an evangelical school. Evangelical Christians in Canada have made the same journey from the Liberals to Conservatives, says pollster Andrew Grenville of Vancouver-based Angus Reid Public Opinion, and they made it in the same election year, 2006.

“I think it was same-sex ‘marriage,’” said Grenville. The legalization of same-sex “marriage” that year aroused the first-ever Catholic-evangelical alliance — in unsuccessful opposition. “The question,” said Grenville, “was whether the trend would last after that issue died down.”

It has, he says. Indeed, it has strengthened in favor of the Conservatives across all religions except Muslims, with weekly church-attending Protestants of all stripes climbing from 51% support for the Conservatives in 2001 to 64% in 2006 and 65% this year. Jews too have been lured away from the Liberals for the first time by the Harper government’s much stronger pro-Israel policies.

Catholics attending Mass weekly threw more support to the Conservatives than the Liberals for the first..


(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ..."

Unlike the US, Canada is a secular society. We do not revere guns, put our hands over our hearts when the flag goes by, and say "God Bless Canada" after a speech. (Harper, in mimicking GWB did for awhile, but he's stopped doing it.) I read the article you quote and here is a comment to it by Julie D.

I also want to point out that the Conservatives do not have the monopoly on the pro-life tag. While the Liberal party generally stands for pro-choice, their members are allowed to vote according to their conscience, leading to the establishment of the Liberal pro-life caucus (which has been decimated in this election).

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 Conservatives can be counted on to put profits before people and business, money and materialism ahead of human values. That's why conservatism isn't like it was a century ago and will never return to those bad old days. People are slowly learning--unfortunately, too slowly.

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Douglas Benson May 7, 2011 7:37 am (Pacific time)

Looks to me like they took it all,or is there some type of super majority rule? Have to lean center? Our Republicans haven't gotten the news on that one so why is Canada going to be any different ? Get ready for less gun controls ,drug war ramp up,social program cuts , etc.

I got news for Anon. low taxes do not mean growth unless of course you have trillions to sink into the stock market until the system crashes[again] .Fact ,the great depression started in earnest when Britain defaulted on their debt crashing the system . If we do not raise revenue and cut spending we will be the ones causing the entire worlds economy to go south after spending trillions to bail it out. Its beginning to look more and more like 1931. The speculators got bailed out this time and the problem is going to be even worse if we do not act. Sitting on huge sums the wealthy are not investing in industry but in the stock market mostly on futures . Low or no taxes on capitol gains ,low interest rates they can use to borrow to invest ,6% buy in,flood the market driving the prices up,[thats 100% profit for every 6% gain,more if you roll back in at say every 2% ] let the orgy begin all over again . Peace

Canada is not a "conservative" country like the U.S. All the laws are passed by Parliament and, while there is a Senate, it's primarily a rubber stamp with it's only real power to obstruct which happens rarely. Currently there is a Conservative Party majority in the Senate (all members are appointed by the Prime Minister).

The Conservative Party of Canada was, until 2003, the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. It was then merged with the Canadian Alliance (an extreme right wing party from Alberta--politically about the same as the Republicans) then headed by Stephen Harper. The CA was an offshoot of an earlier right wing party, The Reform Party (also from Alberta). So, as you can see, Doug, there is no monolithic conservative party in Canada. The CP is a mixture of right to far right, fundamentalist religion, etc. When passing laws, Harper will be walking a tight rope, trying to please the most conservative members of his party (similar to the Tea Party in outlook and expectation) and at the same time not alienating the public who tend to be more centrist in their outlook. Thrown into the mix is the New Democratic Party (socialist) who have 102 members and voted in by 30% of the electorate. Conservatism is far from a slam dunk in Canada.

Just to give you a bit of a laugh. A former leader of the Canadian Alliance was the Albertan, Stockwell Day, who was a cabinet minister in the Harper govs. He did not run in this election. He is a fundamentalist Pentecostal who believes that human and dinosaurs lived at the same time on earth. When he was running in the elections, when his opponents were nearby, some used to mock him by whistling the theme to the Flintstones. LOL

 One other factor. Harper is also an Albertan so, nationally, the hard-edged conservatism from Alberta has to compromise and get along with the more moderate conservatism of the rest of the country. Again, not a slam-dunk.

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Anonymous May 6, 2011 6:05 pm (Pacific time)

Conservatives ended five years of minority rule as they achieved the majority victory they have long been asking for. No more pandering to the far left, no more kissing the collective asses of Quebec separatists. Harper repeatedly asked Canadians for a majority, citing the necessity of stability and the economic recovery. Canadians answered with an impressive 'yes'. Harper is a master politician wants the Conservative party to become the new “natural party of Government”. The means he’ll continue to lean towards the center. But he’s gonna do some good things. The left tried to scare people that he’d ban abortion and gay marriage but that is not gonna happen. Their health care system is going nowhere, even most Conservative MPs would probably not be in favor of scraping it and doing so would alone cost them the next election. They will likely open the door for private competition though. Canada is to the left of the US. But Harper is their most genuinely right-leaning PM maybe ever. Note: The Catholic vote shifted considerably, and this segment of voters in Canada will be impossible for the far left parties to get back because of their stated objectives. It may very well be that Canada for far into the future will continue to shift more and more to the right that a new type of immigrant will be coming in and will insure that conservative governance will continue the trend to the right. Maybe not, but I'd say that for forty years or so, Canada will prosper with a business form of ruling, and the masses will just love it. Maybe the libs in Canada will move to San Francisco? Detroit? Chicago?

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Anonymous May 6, 2011 12:23 pm (Pacific time)

PM Harper:
What he has done in the last five years is transforming the country and building a popular conservative majority. There is still a lot of work to be done but the Conservatives have a lot of growth potential once they deliver on their agenda. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, now backed by a powerful parliamentary majority, said on Tuesday the energy sector can rest easy that his government will not impede plans to vastly expand the country's oil sands output and ship some of the crude to Asia... corporate tax cuts and deficit reduction... "There were a lot of policies being quoted by the other parties, whether it's on West Coast transportation or the energy sector, that simply did not reflect the needs and concerns of this part of the country... I actually argued during the campaign that the policies of our opponents were actually quite dangerous to the country as a whole, but obviously some specific policies seemed to be almost targeted to do damage to Western Canada." Bravo, Canada! Investors always look for “leading indicators.” Tax cuts are a primary leading indicator. Growth and prosperity will always follow tax cuts. Depending on how bad the economic situation, it may be delayed, but like an alcoholic going through cold turkey, the economy sometimes gets worse first. But the tax cut will always yield robust economic results.

 Harper's " powerful parliamentary majority" is an illusion. And delivering on their agenda? 60% of Canadians do not support that agenda. He will have no other political choice but to govern from the centre. A lot of his caucus members are the equivalent of the Tea Party and will become restive, even rebellious when Harper doesn't go as far as they think he should.

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Joe May 6, 2011 11:28 am (Pacific time)

Who Cares??

Your attitude is one of the main reasons that America is going down the drain. You think and act as if the United States is the only country on the planet and Americans are the only people who are important. It happened to Rome, it will happen to America. 

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Anonymous May 5, 2011 7:31 pm (Pacific time)

Forgive my gormlessness, but I can't figure out how 167 less 24 makes 168 seats for conservatives. BTW, I loved your "It wasn’t so much that the Conservatives won" part. Yeap, It's not that I eat too much, I just can't say "enough" to myself... LOL

Thanks, Natalie. It was my error. Original number was 143 which I just corrected. Now to go and wipe the egg off my face. 

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Anna Lovelace May 5, 2011 6:42 pm (Pacific time)

"It wasn’t so much that the Conservatives won, but that the Liberals lost." I guess the best way to deal with the latter quote is to figure out who is in charged of the Canadian government? You know those who set policies and run foreign affairs, the national defense, and most everything else the government is responsible for. Is it the Liberals? NDP? BQ? Green Party? No, not any of those, so I guess the conservatives are holding the reins of power, and in the final analysis,"there you go."

Yes, they hold the reins of power, but they are going to have to govern from the centre, or else there will not be a second majority government for Harper and his crew. In the twentieth century Conservatives (they used to be called Progressive Conservatives until Harper took over.) were only in power six times for 33 of the last 110 years. Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadian_federal_parliaments 

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