Canadian federal election

[loira]

If it feels like we JUST did this, it's because the last one was less than 2 years ago, sigh.

On the plus side we don't have a years-long campaign to suffer through?

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-election-call-1.6141189

[nellgirl]

And a provincial election last year (you’re BC, too, right?)
I’m a teacher and the electoral process/student vote has been my September Social Studies unit for the last couple of years as a result. At least it makes planning easier for the beginning of the year?

Did you see the Conservative Party’s ad based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? It was doing the rounds on Twitter yesterday.

[Velar Fricative]

I can’t believe the last one was two years ago because it feels so recent, but we are operating on covid time so that’s probably why.

[aprilsails]

I am not enthused about this at all. I have volunteered with Fair Vote Canada and am hoping that we can make some more headway towards proportional representation.

I don’t want to fundraise or door knock for the Liberals or the NDP right now and normally I would. Ugh. I’m guessing we are going to have a brutal turnout.

[loira]

Aug 16, 2021 1:19:27 GMT -5 nellgirl said:

And a provincial election last year (you’re BC, too, right?)
I’m a teacher and the electoral process/student vote has been my September Social Studies unit for the last couple of years as a result. At least it makes planning easier for the beginning of the year?

Did you see the Conservative Party’s ad based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? It was doing the rounds on Twitter yesterday.

Yes in BC too! I feel like my life is nothing but one big election and I don't even work in politics or education haha. At least our campaigns are mercifully short compared to the US.

OMG that ad was... something. Like, what the heck? Who signed off on that? And lol to them making fun of the Liberals for calling an election with the hope of gaining a majority because didn't Harper do that like 3 times in a row until he got his coveted majority?

aprilsails, I agree that turnout is likely to be quite low.

[aprilsails]

I don’t know if any of you are familiar with Pierre Poilievre but I unfortunately moved into his riding two years ago. He is running these brutal ads on YouTube for the past month where he talks in stilted short sentences like Trump. He sounds so bad. I have met him several times and I know that he is no dunce so this is a campaign tactic but I do not like it one bit. Also my riding is full of well educated people so I don’t know who among his own constituents he is trying to appeal to here.

DH was pleased since he had doorknockers out offering signs and everyone on our street turned them down. Considering our neighbours are largely well off boomers I would have expected more Conservatives.

[chickadee77]

Do any of you have a good resource about explaining the candidates and process in fairly simple terms? I'm woefully uneducated about this and would like to understand better, but there are so.many.websites and I don't want to end up on the Canadian equivalent of Fox News.

[aprilsails]

Aug 16, 2021 15:01:21 GMT -5 chickadee77 said:

Do any of you have a good resource about explaining the candidates and process in fairly simple terms? I'm woefully uneducated about this and would like to understand better, but there are so.many.websites and I don't want to end up on the Canadian equivalent of Fox News.

The CBC’s Vote Compass might be a good place to start. I know the PCs just released their platform today, I haven’t seen the Liberal’s or NDPs or Greens yet, so it may be a couple of days until you can get a very straightforward resource.

votecompass.cbc.ca/canada

Actually VoteCompass isn’t a great education tool at all. It mostly places you based on your primary concerns. Might be useful though.

[loira]

chickadee77, Elections Canada (our independent, non partisan agency that runs elections) has a great list of resources, although it's pretty dense.

You could start with The Electoral System of Canada: www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=ces&document=index&lang=e

[nellgirl]

Aug 16, 2021 15:01:21 GMT -5 chickadee77 said:

Do any of you have a good resource about explaining the candidates and process in fairly simple terms? I'm woefully uneducated about this and would like to understand better, but there are so.many.websites and I don't want to end up on the Canadian equivalent of Fox News.

This is pretty good:
civix.ca/main/

[aurora]

Looks like I will be in Canada for this, so I am looking forward to observing and learning more! Thanks for the links already provided.

[katiecj6]

This is the first election since I started voting that I will not be eligible to vote for since I am no longer a resident.

I am surprised he called the election during an ongoing new wave of covid.

[AJL]

Why does Trudeau want to dissolve parliament?

[aurora]

Aug 18, 2021 7:56:07 GMT -5 AJL said:

Why does Trudeau want to dissolve parliament?

I'm not an expert at all, but the articles I've read say he wants to secure a majority for his party, thinking people are happy with him over his COVID response.

ETA this is of course the speculation over his "real" reason - assuming it's not exactly as stated. In the OP's article he thinks it's important to give Canadians a choice about who leads them out of the pandemic.

I of course have no insight into his mind.

[loira]

Aug 18, 2021 7:56:07 GMT -5 AJL said:

Why does Trudeau want to dissolve parliament?

Asking the Governor General to dissolve parliament is a normal part of the election process. Canada doesn't have set election dates, so dissolving parliament is necessary to run an election to create a new parliament, if that makes sense. It also means no one is allowed to govern while they're campaigning.

ETA unless you're asking why he called an election in which case aurora is right. The Liberals clearly think the timing is good and are hoping to secure a majority.

[aprilsails]

Aug 18, 2021 9:16:00 GMT -5 loira said:

ETA unless you're asking why he called an election in which case aurora is right. The Liberals clearly think the timing is good and are hoping to secure a majority.

I think this may backfire spectacularly and that we will come out with another minority considering cases are rising around the country again and people will be mad that they have to go out and vote during the start of another wave. He needed to do this one month earlier, but no one likes a summer campaign either.

[loira]

Aug 18, 2021 9:46:23 GMT -5 aprilsails said:

Aug 18, 2021 9:16:00 GMT -5 loira said:

ETA unless you're asking why he called an election in which case aurora is right. The Liberals clearly think the timing is good and are hoping to secure a majority.

I think this may backfire spectacularly and that we will come out with another minority considering cases are rising around the country again and people will be mad that they have to go out and vote during the start of another wave. He needed to do this one month earlier, but no one likes a summer campaign either.

Oh I fully agree that the results will likely be pointless. Yeah, candidates don't want to be out knocking on doors in the summer, they want to be at the cabin/cottage, lounging in Muskoka chairs and pouring beer on the BBQ.

[aprilsails]

O’Toole is going in hard on the Liberals and brining forward some very centrist ideas for the Conservative Party. I don’t know if I believe him to be honest.

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/erin-otoole-pro-choice-conscience-rights-1.6146200