Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: Moose Jaw, in between the Moose's butt and nose.
5,152 posts, read 8,529,163 times
Reputation: 2038
Advertisements
They had a poll, on TEAM 1040, asking who the locals would vote for, if they had a say. Obama won 80% of the poll.
It shows that while America and Canada have more in common, then differences, well, the 2 countries are very different politically.
My questions: Do you need voter ID, to vote in Canada? While I don't see the big issue in asking for it in the States, to not allow it at all if you don't have one which some states tried to do, was disgusting.
In the past, they just gave you a provisional ballot, if you didn't have ID.
Also, do Canadians feel, that at least the 4 major parties, are equally corrupt and the Canadian election is a sham? 1/3 of Americans feel this way, with the 2000 election and Citizens United, being major reasons why. Harper, is slightly to the right, of the "socialist", "communist", "liberal" Obama.
I'm still learning about how either of these systems work from the beginning.
What I can say for certain though, is that I feel in both countries there are far too few candidates for anyone to be able to truly have a choice in the elections. I don't think it should come down to who has the most money, power and notoriety to get in a campaign with a running start. I want more people's people in the game. I could never, ever relate to people like Mitt or Stephen Harper, because I honesly don't think they understand the life of anyone in a more modest income bracket (or less).
To answer one question - you generally need some form of government-issued ID with your address on it to vote in Canada. Since we have semi-permanent voter's lists, you get a card in the mail before elections. This is automatic. You bring this card plus your ID to the polling station.
I believe that exceptionally someone who knows you can swear you in to vote if you have no card and no ID. But that person has to have ID.
The main complaint Canadians have is not so much the parties themselves but the first-past the post riding system under which you can get 35% of the vote but 65% of the seats and therefore full control of the legislature and power.
In theory if the vote was really split (as it is increasingly in Canada between more and more parties) you could get much less than 35% of the vote and win 100% of the seats if only you got more votes than the number two party in every single riding.
Which is why quite a few people are clamouring for proportional representation in Canada. Not sure if they will get it though.
Hey, how do homeless people vote in both countries? What are the laws regarding people in the prison system?
US - it's a state thing: wiki
- Prisoners can vote in Maine and Vermont, not elsewhere.
- the homeless can vote everywhere but it can sometimes be complicated to register.
They had a poll, on TEAM 1040, asking who the locals would vote for, if they had a say. Obama won 80% of the poll.
It shows that while America and Canada have more in common, then differences, well, the 2 countries are very different politically.
My questions: Do you need voter ID, to vote in Canada? While I don't see the big issue in asking for it in the States, to not allow it at all if you don't have one which some states tried to do, was disgusting.
In the past, they just gave you a provisional ballot, if you didn't have ID.
Also, do Canadians feel, that at least the 4 major parties, are equally corrupt and the Canadian election is a sham? 1/3 of Americans feel this way, with the 2000 election and Citizens United, being major reasons why. Harper, is slightly to the right, of the "socialist", "communist", "liberal" Obama.
What happens before an election is that people get a a card in the mail telling them where they are to vote. It always says on there that you need to bring the card with you, and that may be true in larger centres but since the volunteers manning the voting places know everyone, it's not necessary.
Here's a link that tells what you need to vote in a federal election.
What I personally believe about the parties is that there are corrupt and non-corrupt people in each. No one has a monopoly on corruption. And just because some individuals within a party may take it upon themselves to try and further the interests of their party in an illegal way (the recent Conservative robocall scandal, as one example) it doesn't mean that this is done with any kind of behind-the-scenes sanctioning of that behaviour.
On the other hand, one may vote in a perfectly honourable member who eventually becomes corrupted, in the way that power and opportunity will always corrupt some previously normal people.
And finally, I think the official Harper is to the left of the official Obama. It would be pretty hard to be right of any politics in the US. (I was reading in the paper today that even Vic Toews, my nemesis, my personal thorn in the side, was happy Obama won. That's probably the only time I've ever been on the same side as Vic Toews, otherwise known in this household, in the more polite terms, as That Man.) So I think for the average Canadian, Romney is hard to understand. And I think it doesn't help us to 'get' him when we see the lunatic fringe of the Republicans, like Trump, question his birth certificate.
We 'get' Obama more. Or think we do.
That doesn't mean that the unofficial Harper, private citizen, isn't to the right of Obama. It's not so much about the individual in our elections but rather about the party. A party can continue governing even if a leader is disgraced or resigns. So leaders have to toe the party line which generally weeds out extremists on both sides.
No, I don't feel our elections are a sham. There may be problems with regional representation, but I would not call it a sham. It is what it is under the existing laws.
@netwit: Christ do I feel you on Vic Toews! I'm not some leftist wingnut and I can concede when the Conservatives do something right and that Harper isn't a terrible prime minister even if I wouldn't vote for him and disagree with his politics. But Vic Toews? I despise him intensely he's a complete fascist and needs to be jettisoned from this government yesterday.
As far as corruption goes, no, I don't feel there all corrupt but Harper eliminated the public funding for political parties the day after he won a majority so we could be heading down that path. Certainly I think the Conservatives are too beholden to corporations and are absolutely in bed with big business and will be rewarded with cushy private sector jobs for their services rendered. The NDP and the Liberals and the Bloc are ideological sometimes, but not corrupt, at least the Liberals aren't anymore, and when they were it wasn't sneaky systemic but technically legal corruption like in the US, it was just some small time classical corruption by some individual MPs.
Great conversation on this topic regarding the US and I think they came up with a great solution at 18:18
I'm still learning about how either of these systems work from the beginning.
What I can say for certain though, is that I feel in both countries there are far too few candidates for anyone to be able to truly have a choice in the elections. I don't think it should come down to who has the most money, power and notoriety to get in a campaign with a running start. I want more people's people in the game. I could never, ever relate to people like Mitt or Stephen Harper, because I honesly don't think they understand the life of anyone in a more modest income bracket (or less).
What do you mean Quebec elected the the PQ to power in Quebec and it is a Sepratist party that if they had felt that they had enough support to call a Referendum we have lots of choices
In practice, "separatist" and "sovereigntist" are terms used to describe individuals wanting the province of Quebec to separate from Canada to become a country of its own.
also Canada has limits on the Amount of money public and corpoarte dontions to party members are very low and Harper is not a super wealthy person and Harper is only PM because he is the leader of the Troy Conservative party and if he was not the party leader he would not be the PM of Canada.
the Liberal Party has been positioned to the left of the Conservative Party of Canada and to the right of the New Democratic Party (NDP) and Conservative here is still left of Obama and NDP leader of the last election was Jack Layton before he lost his battle with cancer was the other choice.
I mean sure Ignatieff was a choice but he lost his own seat in the Liberal Party's worst showing in its history one thing Canada did not choose was Ignatieff and we choose to show waht we thought of the Liberal just becoming a Fence Riding middle party by Reducing it to a distant 3RD party.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
