Arrr .... election frustration
 

Our polls are closed and results are coming in.... FRUSTRATING!!! My local riding has re-elected Andy Scott (Liberal - Indian Affairs). My frustration stems from a lot of conversation I've had with my peers. In general people are afraid of a Conservative government... what they MIGHT do. Why do people ignore what the Liberals HAVE done, does no one mind being stolen from? Seriously? I feel like going out and doing B&E's on those who voted Andy (Martin)... I'll kick done the door "Hey, don't mind me I'm just here to steal a bit more from you, you don't seem to mind!".
Is anyone else frustrated with thier riding?????

*raises hand*
I had no chance. My riding was over 80% conservative last election.

I'm glad I'm in a riding where it's not overwhelmingly Conservative, so I can vote NDP and have a chance my man will get in... GO BILL SIKSAY!

However, I can imagine my frustration if I were in a Conservative riding... Their policy on crime and post secondary education is archaic and backwards... FRUSTRATION!

Archaic and backwards..... your entitled to your opinion I suppose.... me, I kinda wish things were "like they were in the old days", hard working people looking to lend a hand, not give handouts. As for crime.... I have low tolerence for those who can't be civil.

I'm disappointed in Canada.

The Green Party doesn't get the respect they deserve.

I think they get the respect, just not the coverage. If they were allowed in the debates, I think you would see their numbers increase drastically!

I totally understand why so many youths don't vote. At least in my area, it took me forever to vote. Even when I was in the front of the bloody line it took me forever. All that time just to mark one 'x'.

One would think that being at the head of a line would mean that that person is next. But for some reason, such is not the case.

no they don't..........they can't afford it though so wadda ya' gonna do eh.



so right.......one day baby.......one day.



*buncha fuckin' crooks runnin' the show..........fuck 'em*

jim harris is running in my riding. (or ran in my riding). I even went to university with him. Nevertheless, i voted for the candidate in my riding who has done the best job for us. She's Liberal. She's good, and respectable.

Hey, that's how i vote.

I decided drivers are idiots. All the people clambering for spots in the front held up the entire parking lot (it was at a school and had only one entrance), and the entire back of the parking lot was empty (its like 20 seconds extra walking time, which would actually be faster because then the cars could get in the parking lot and you would be able to leave your spot once the time came to back out). But this is about the election and not the driving! Considering how packed the voting area dealy was I was in and out in about 3 min, I was impressed. And I voted conservative.

Next time you should look into the advance voting. Great way to avoid line-ups. That is of course, if you had been decided before today.

I was damn lucky as my polling station was in the lobby of my building :D

For me this election was a win-win situation. In the "big" picture, I wanted a large NDP slice, but I really wanted to vote Green (which I ended up doing). Of course I knew Layton would win, and my one Green vote probably wouldn't have hurt his chances. In the meantime the Green party get a badly needed vote.

Also happy to see NDP victory in my former riding of Parkdale-High Park. Congrats to Peggy Nash!

TO ALL CANADIANS WHO LOATHE CONSERVATIVES....

welcome to the club.

60% of your American neighbors feel your pain.

What the fuck?

Am I the only conservative supporter here?

Bout friggin time the west took control of the government, so...

Up Yours Eastie!

and bc....and northerns...


now time to get gillies in our coaliation

No, it's you and blahblah454 in this forum. Oh well, it could be worse. I could be a Lesbian pro-choice Nazi....

I'm disappointed in the Green Party. I voted for them, but unless they start trying and stop whining, it'll be the last time. All the Green signs are generic "vote Green" - no candidate names. I had liberal Jim Peterson come to my door to shake hands and the Tory and NDP people came along too, but I was not home. I received no visit or literature from the Greens.

I happen to know their positions on things and largely agree, but most don't - and they are making no effort at the grassroots, hand shaking level to change that, as far as I can see (same thing happened last election when I lived in a different riding).

The Greens need to stop whining about not being in the debates and start making a serious effort at introducing people to their platform.

I voted conservative. I also see the value in other parties platforms. I guess what is also bothering me is the fact we'll be voting again in 18 months..... frustrating.

I doubt that there's going to be another election for a while. ANy party that tries to overthrow the Conservatives will feel the wrath of the voting public. I think we're tired of voting for minority governments and while I don't like a lot of Harper's ideas, he is still our PM and I'll support him as much as I can stand. I think that the Liberals should give him a chance to see what he will do for the country, they need to regroup themselves, find a new leader and try and win back the country who is pissed off at their mistakes. Lets not forget how corrupt the last Tory government was... corruption is just part of the way things are in any government... this one just got blown up and put in the public eye. I feel bad for Martin.

Either way, I hope that Harper doesn't try anything stupid. He knows that he has a slight majority, I was surprised to see the Liberals hold onto as many seats as they did.

Congrats to my neighbors to the north! Its a new dawn in Canada and the future looks bright. Let's hope that the conservatives can bring Canada back into the mainstream

I never thought I could be offended by an avatar before...

I voted independent.

The guy who was running in my riding (18 year old university student) reminded me of me, and he had a good head on his shoulders. I felt that in a minority gov't that the independent could actually be heard.

Alas, he was not elected, not even close. I feel good that I cast my ballot and that I didn't vote for the evil ones.

I voted conservative and I welcome some change. Trust me, I'm as scared of Harper turning into Mulroney as you are, but I just don't think he's that kind of a nut.

I think he's going to do some things that piss the lefty liberals off, but I'm glad, because I'm tired of them and their ideals.

Time for a change.... but the real question is, how much is really going to change?

hmmm define mainstream. Are you referring to the international community?

On another note, all you Canuckle-heads out there, in the interest of furthering national unity and good will, help us out with the game in this thread:

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=99007

JTK has posted a really difficult picture.

The mainstream of what?

Please educate your dumbass neighbor - what does conservative, liberal, and green mean in Canada? I thought I heard someone say it wasn't the same as in the US.

Conservative is Republican, Liberal is Democrat, NDP is like more Democratic Democrats, Green is like the party Ralph Nader runs

By mainstream you mean back to kissing the yanks asses right? Do you even have a clue that Conservatives in the US and conservatives in Canada are two totally different animals? I suggest you read a bit more on it before you start the cheering. Besides it's a minority they'll hardly be able to do anything, so don't drum up the parade yet.

If only NCB knew that our conservatives were more left-leaning than the most militant Democrats in his country, I think that the congratulations would be withdrawn.

I am trying to find a different word for ignorant, but MS Word only has the following suggestions:

uninformed
unaware
badly informed
rude
bad-mannered
ill-mannered
impolite
ill-bred

Somehow, I am left searching for an accurate descriptor. :mad:

*edit* Oh nevermind. Didn't see the part I should have seen. Going back to the reading....

I think I am in this category. Whoever brings down this government on a non-confidence vote will feel my voting wrath, so to speak. If the Liberals cause this to happen, I may even vote Green in protest.

I think I agree with all of your statements, as I see the wheel of popularity creek around. Lot's of people forget why the Liberals had such a strangle-hold on the mandate for so long. Corruption seems to creep in hand-in-hand with an ennui of the governers. As the mandate stretches on, the voting public seems to latch onto any scandal possible to drive a 'need' for change.

It happened to Trudeau, Mulroney and Martin. It also happened to Harris and Davis in Ontario.

I voted for them. I knew they didn't have a chance but I figured that since for every vote they recieve the party recieves $1.75 from the gov't I'd help them out a little. The Greens took 11% of the vote in my riding.

Mainstream like who? The USA? Good fucking god I hope not!

I was just thinking that...I also think most Americans have little to no understanding about how a parliamentary system works.

As an American (and a liberal one) I think it will be interesting to see how the new Conservative government will play out in the coming months. After all, since they don't hold the majority, there is going to have to be a lot of compromise.

Should a lack of diversity of thought be something you should brag about?

no i dont think so. Are you bragging about it?

So the political spectrum ranges all the way from radical left to American militant left? Sounds like the old USSR to me

Personally, I voted Green and I think they had 98 votes to the conservative 41000+. I think the reason why Canada elected a conservative minority is to "give them a chance." By that I mean, Stephan Harper can make or break the next election. *if* he does well while as prime minister, the economy prospers, child care becomes better, doesn't challenge abortion/gay marriage and works with the other parties in the house of common, he just might have a very close majority government next election. Right now, I think that the NDP will get more seats next election if they do the same, and personally, I think that Jack Layton is a genius. I'm glad Paul Martin is stepping down as leader, and this government will be a rebuilding one for the liberals. I feel as though the Bloc Quebecois have the most to lose with this government. If the Conservatives fix the fiscal imbalance then the conservatives quite possibly could take a few seats in Quebec. Right now, listening to all the parties, I would prefer the green party. I think that they are just starting out and if they continue on their path the could be a contender in the future. And I agree with that if they were included in the leaders debate then they would have a heck of a lot more votes.

I hope this is just extreme hyperbole to express your frustration 'cause you sound psychotic...

In answer to your question, I'm not frustrated with my riding in particular but I am frustrated with democratic politics in general. I don't feel that this parliamentary system is representing my interests yet I can't think of a better alternative.

To address your other question, of course Canadians are upset about the Liberal scandals. The Conservatives did win the election, you know... Just not in your riding, apparently, and for whatever reason. Interestingly enough, the Conservatives won absolutely no seats in the cities of Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver. Harpers has failed to gain the trust of urban voters...
Furthermore, there is plenty to fear of a Conservative government. If the worst thing your government has done was steal some money, you're doing pretty well! It's easily possible for a new government to do worse and that's a legitimate fear, whether you believe it will happen or not. Your fellow constituents probably think that Stephen Harper would deport them if he could. That's the kind of extreme "national" image he has created for himself. Remember, no seats in Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver. What does this tell you?

Yes, that's right. We're practically the old USSR. Our dollar will fall and our economy will collapse. Then we'll be forced to erect a democratic government and a capitalist economy.
That's right, someday, democracy will come to Canada, we'll hold elections and suffer through political campaigns and everything...

continuity error.... does not compute

Give it time. While there weren't in the official debates, I did see them represented on various election specials on the CBC.

I have to say that I agree with Hightheif. While the greens are running people in all of the ridings, they need better organization. I didn't recieve any literature from the Greens until after the Advance polls were closed and I'd already voted. If Jack Layton wasn't my candidate, I would have considered voting Green (I liked Jack when he was in municipal government and I like what he has been doing so far in federal government).


I find it interesting how many here at the TFP voted Green (they would have won with a majority if they were elected by us). Like I said, give it time.

Jess, I gave some descriptions of the main parties in the Election Prediction thread here: http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showpos...3&postcount=11

The thing is there were a number of other parties who also fielded candidates in the election. Below are the breakdowns by seats won, %of popular vote and the actual number of votes each party recieved.

It certainly shows where the mainstream is in Canada but it also shows that there are some fringe parties that can garner a handful of votes.

Party Name / Seats won / %of pop vote / #of votes
Conservatives 124 / 36.3% / 5,369,827
Liberals 103 / 30.2% / 4,476,098
Bloc 51 / 10.5% / 1,552,043
NDP 29 / 17.5% / 2,590,663
Independent 1 / 0.6% / 82,635
Green Party 0 / 4.5% / 665,876
Christian Heritage 0 / 0.2% / 28,273
Progressive Canadian Party 0 / 0.1% / 14,446
Marxist-Leninist Party 0 / 0.1% / 9,289
Marijuana Party 0 / 0.1% / 9,266
Canadian Action Party 0 / 0.0% / 6,201
Communist Party 0 / 0.0% / 3,127
Libertarian Party 0 / 0.0% / 3,003
First People’s National Party 0 / 0.0% / 1,340
Western Block Party 0 / 0.0% / 1,094
Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party 0 / 0.0% / 72