Canadian election chat

[bananapancakes]

Is anyone else starting to get nervous? I have a feeling we're going to end up with another Conservative minority. I've been reading a lot about strategic voting but I don't know that it'll work. I feel like the NDP may lose a bunch of Quebec seats thanks to the niqab issue which I think is ridiculous. I'm glad Mulcair stuck to his guns about that in the French debate but I'd not be surprised if he lost votes over it which I think is just stupid. 

Thoughts?

[rugbywife]

I feel like it has been a really long election season. I am done. I can't handle any more. We have a sign on our lawn (Lib), because our neighbourhood seems to be a sea of blue. I almost don't care who wins at this point.

[Deleted]

rugbywife don't lose hope.
I think the deciding factor will be the number of young people that get out to vote.
Toronto and Southern Ontario will be the decided whether Harper wins at all. Québéc will decide Libs vs NDP

[patbutcher]

I really don't know who to vote for. So undecided.

rugbywife- it's mainly red signs in my hood but my riding is new this year and might be different to yours? Not sure if you are above or below UM?

[bananapancakes]

That's too bad rugbywife. Perhaps that was Harper's plan all along. We aren't used to the long election periods here. Have you decided on your vote?

I agree @hannymaren. I hope there is a good voter turn out this year.

[katiecj6]

I have no idea how to vote. I've taken a few online quizzes and they have been no help at all. I'm even between conservatives, NDP and Liberals.

I'm so frustrated because I also think we will end up with a conservative minority, which means we will be back at the polls within a couple years, and it will all be a shit show until then. Trudeau and Mulcair have no intention of working with Harper.

I'm in a new riding too, and all the candidates are new. I have no idea who to vote for.

I'm just starting to really follow the election, I was annoyed at the official campaigning starting so early, so I boycotted until now.

[rugbywife]

Sept 30, 2015 19:30:52 GMT -5 patbutcher said:

I really don't know who to vote for. So undecided.

rugbywife- it's mainly red signs in my hood but my riding is new this year and might be different to yours? Not sure if you are above or below UM?

Below UM. Probably different.

bananapancakes, Liberal, strategic voting. Probably would have been NDP otherwise. 

[patbutcher]

Sept 30, 2015 19:48:49 GMT -5 rugbywife said:

Sept 30, 2015 19:30:52 GMT -5 patbutcher said:

I really don't know who to vote for. So undecided.

rugbywife- it's mainly red signs in my hood but my riding is new this year and might be different to yours? Not sure if you are above or below UM?

Below UM. Probably different.

bananapancakes, Liberal, strategic voting. Probably would have been NDP otherwise. 

Yes below is different. All my candidates are newbies.

[qcinoct]

I'm undecided, but probably NDP and definitely not PC. I'm actually going to a debate at lunch tomorrow for my riding's candidates. I really want to question all the candidates on their support of science. Our current MP is a Liberal and he's been great, but he's not running for re-election.

[bananapancakes]

The last few elections my riding has been 50-55% Conservative with NDP in a distant second with 20-30%. I'm pretty sure I'm going with NDP but I'm not sure that it will make a difference in my riding.

[lg28]

Sept 30, 2015 20:03:36 GMT -5 bananapancakes said:

The last few elections my riding has been 50-55% Conservative with NDP in a distant second with 20-30%. I'm pretty sure I'm going with NDP but I'm not sure that it will make a difference in my riding.

This is my riding also. However, our local ndp candidate was amazing at a debate tonight so I am hopeful. Sadly, I think the lib/ndp vote will be split.

[katiecj6]

Sept 30, 2015 20:58:54 GMT -5 @vicmo said:

Sept 30, 2015 19:39:20 GMT -5 katiecj6 said:

I have no idea how to vote. I've taken a few online quizzes and they have been no help at all. I'm even between conservatives, NDP and Liberals.

I'm so frustrated because I also think we will end up with a conservative minority, which means we will be back at the polls within a couple years, and it will all be a shit show until then. Trudeau and Mulcair have no intention of working with Harper.

I'm in a new riding too, and all the candidates are new. I have no idea who to vote for.

I'm just starting to really follow the election, I was annoyed at the official campaigning starting so early, so I boycotted until now.

anyonebutharper.net is a good source for looking at where your riding is likely to end up. Mine is tracking liberal but it's a new riding, so who knows. H and I are going to vote Liberal because it seems like the most strategic option.

My riding is leaning significantly conservative which surprises me. The liberal candidate is a former mayor, I thought he'd be more popular.

[katiecj6]

Sept 30, 2015 21:00:24 GMT -5 @vicmo said:

I'm so ready for the campaign to be over. And I'm nervous that a lot of people will vote con because they think Trudeau isn't ready and Mulcair is, I dunno, too idealistic and dumb.

I think both of those concerns are fair regarding Trudeau and Mulcair. But I also think the Harper concerns are valid too.

I think Canadians are going to keep Harper in until they feel that Trudeau is ready.

[awick14]

I'm also undecided.

Online quizzes say NDP and liberals are a tie for me. I don't know.

This election has been very long and drawn out. I just want it to be over. I think this weekend I will sit down and look over some more campaign stuff and see if it can help me decide one way or the other.

[loira]

I know who I'm voting for, but only because Elizabeth May is running in my riding. I feel like it's my reward for all those years growing up in Calgary and having ridiculous Rob Anders as my MP.

[dellabear]

I follow the projections at threehundredeight.com and found them to be really accurate during the recent provincial election. There are riding specific as well as national projections.

My ideal would be a Liberal win. Second choice is NDP, looks like the NDP is crapping out a bit on this niqab issue although that might turn around yet. I was reading somewhere that a lot of fence sitters are waiting for either the Libs or the NDP to get a reasonable lead over the other and then the ABC vote will flow in that direction. Here's hoping.

In a conservative minority situation, since Mulcair and Trudeau have both vowed not to support the Cons under any circumstances, it would make for interesting politics. Basically they would lose confidence immediately once the throne speech was tabled. And then... a coalition? Not sure they'd immediately call another election. Although I wouldn't put it past Harper to pull some kind of dirty politics, prorogation, bullshit to try to cling to power.

I do think Harper is pretty much done if he fails to bring home a majority. And with him gone, i think the party will implode on itself. So, there's that at least.

[niq]

Can someone Cliff's Notes "the niqab issue" for American readers?

[gibbinator]

I feel like the only hope is young people voting liberal because of the legalizing marijuana.
My hope is that one of the NDP or liberals manage to get a minority and the two parties somehow manage to work together to keep power for awhile.

[gibbinator]

Sept 30, 2015 23:55:31 GMT -5 niq said:

Can someone Cliff's Notes "the niqab issue" for American readers?

Should immigrant women be made to show their faces during thr citizenship ceremony? It's a total and ridiculous red herring voting issue. The lefties say no, just have a woman privately confirm her identity, the right says yes, terrorism! You're in Canada now and face coverings are not our values.

[papie]

There was a year long commission and public debate about "reasonable accommodations" regarding example what happens if a woman refuses to see a male doctor because of her religious convictions. It stirred a lot of hatred against Muslims IMO. And the niqab and even the hijab became symbols of how immigrants refuse to assimilate to our culture and values, including women rights (the symbolism of women being inferior to men is viewed as going against women equality which in most quebecers view, trumps the right to religion).
It's hard for me to explain in a neutral way because I am strongly against that stance and believe that personal freedom should be more important as long as you aren't harming others. And I think that although I understand the feminist perspective and agree with it to an extent (niqabs make me extremely uncomfortable when I see them on a woman) I think it sparks a fear of immigrants and hatred that is scary and dangerous.
So Tldr: it's a hot button here.

[papie]

Oh and I'm voting liberal. I don't feel that the ndp is anymore left than the liberals on social or economical issues and the liberal party in general speaks to me more at the moment.

Although I am rolling my eyes at trudeau's cheesy walking ads.

[momin2013]

Unless something drastic happens to change my mind in the next couple of weeks, I'll be voting Liberal.

[Deleted]

I'll vote ndp. New riding that's urban instead of urban and rural. Very good chance it will go ndp. I don't mind the liberal candidate but that's never happening here.

The long election was meant to bankrupt the competition and it's working.

[Deleted]

I don't get the Trudeau isn't ready comments. Our government is all about each person having one vote to represent your area. They all work together. The PM is just the leader of the party. Until Harper became a dictator in his own party, the Pm had to work with his team. The captain can't call a play if nobody follows him.

I also think a fresh face is good. The whole senate crap is all about career politicians and doing favours for old cronies.

And school me. If Harper wins a minority, couldn't the Libs and NDP form a coalition and run the country? Please say yes.

[gibbinator]

Oct 1, 2015 8:10:33 GMT -5 @hannymaren said:

And school me. If Harper wins a minority, couldn't the Libs and NDP form a coalition and run the country? Please say yes.

Technically if the Governor general is faced with the option of dissolving Parliament or allowing a coalition of opposition parties to form government, s/he can. But will only do so if convinced that said coalition will function well enough to avoid another failure, and unfortunately the NDP and liberals just don't seem to want to get along.

[Deleted]

Oct 1, 2015 8:34:58 GMT -5 Jennyanydots said:

Oct 1, 2015 8:29:59 GMT -5 gibbinator said:

Technically if the Governor general is faced with the option of dissolving Parliament or allowing a coalition of opposition parties to form government, s/he can. But will only do so if convinced that said coalition will function well enough to avoid another , and unfortunately the NDP and liberals just don't seem to want to get along.

I believe that Mulcair has gone on record and said he would consider a coalition government with the Liberals, but Trudeau said he is not thinking of a coalition at this time. Typically Canada and it's GGs have not done coalitions made with the opposing parties because they are so precarious and are not seen as the "will of the people".

I think as a a candidate, it seems a little weak to agree to forming a coalition. If some voters heard that the Libs will form a coalition with the NDP, they may not worry about voting for one party to win - just to avoid the Cons. By saying they will not make a coalition, you are more willing to dump the party lagging in the polls

[qcinoct]

Nanos polling as of this AM has support at 32.8% for the Conservatives, 31.7% for the Liberals, 26.1% for the NDP and 4.1% for the Greens nationally.

[niq]

Just during the ceremony? Wtf? Official documents would still have the picture and stuff, right?

I do get why people find the niqab problematic even if I disagree, but the practical impact in this case is like zero. I guess it's heartening to realize the US does not have a monopoly on stupid election bullshit.

[Deleted]

Oct 1, 2015 10:01:01 GMT -5 niq said:

Just during the ceremony? Wtf? Official documents would still have the picture and stuff, right?

I do get why people find the niqab problematic even if I disagree, but the practical impact in this case is like zero. I guess it's heartening to realize the US does not have a monopoly on stupid election bullshit.

Yes, identification requires an unobscured photo, and she can meet with a female officer of whatever to confirm her identity prior to the ceremony. It's a red herring "issue" to let all the racists in my newsfeed know it's totes cool to be a racist, xenophobic asshole.

I'm so scared we'll end up just where we were and be stuck with this nonsense for another 4 years. 

[rugbywife]

Oct 1, 2015 8:57:38 GMT -5 qcinoct said:

Nanos polling as of this AM has support at 32.8% for the Conservatives, 31.7% for the Liberals, 26.1% for the NDP and 4.1% for the Greens nationally.

That is TIGHT, it would have to have a 3-4% margin of error, no?