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More people voted for the conservatives than for the liberals. Because of Canada 's odd system, you can win the popular vote and still end up with a lot less seats than the party who lost the popular vote.
It's not an odd system, at least, not to Canadians or to those who are familiar with a Westminster parliament. With our multiparty system (and six national parties vying to form a government), and the necessity to get as many seats in Parliament as possible, the winner will likely have less than 50% of the vote. Off the top of my head, I can only think of one time in my voting life that the governing party got more than 50% of the popular vote, and even then, it was only 51% or 52%. What counts is getting "seats in Parliament," not too different from the Electoral College, in a way.
As an Albertan, and on the ground in the province of Alberta, I can state that I haven't heard too much about a secessionist movement. At least, not from colleagues, friends, business associates, and the guys down at the local sports bar. Oh, "Wexit" has been on the news, and presented fairly, but it seems to come from the usual cranks--typically senior-citizen native Albertans, who equate anybody named "Trudeau" with "the NEP," or the "@#$%# Laurentian Elite," and who want to let the eastern bastards freeze in the dark, to this day. They're the old guys who go down to the beat-up, run-down Dominion Tavern, with sawdust on the floor, a dusty Union Jack on a pole, and a shaker of salt on the table; and blame Trudeau (senior or junior) for everything bad that happens to Alberta.
For the rest of us--and it is the vast majority of us, I'd suggest--life goes on normally. Frankly, we're more concerned with who wins the World Series, how the Calgary Flames or Edmonton Oilers are doing in hockey standings, the prices of produce at the local supermarket, who is starring in a local community theatre production, when the next pro wrestling match is in town, and when the local municipality will finish construction on a major artery. I'd suggest that "Wexit" is off the radar for the majority of Albertans, given that pretty much everybody I know is Albertan.
So for those who are supportive of the independence minded protesters in Hong Kong, surely you feel the same way about these people here in Canada, right?
Oh yeah, because it's a very comparable situation. I'm being sarcastic. It's not comparable in any meaningful way.
More people voted for the conservatives than for the liberals. Because of Canada 's odd system, you can win the popular vote and still end up with a lot less seats than the party who lost the popular vote.
That is an odd system. Good thing the US doesn't have something like that or Hillary might be president. Wait.
It's not an odd system, at least, not to Canadians or to those who are familiar with a Westminster parliament. With our multiparty system (and six national parties vying to form a government), and the necessity to get as many seats in Parliament as possible, the winner will likely have less than 50% of the vote. Off the top of my head, I can only think of one time in my voting life that the governing party got more than 50% of the popular vote, and even then, it was only 51% or 52%. What counts is getting "seats in Parliament," not too different from the Electoral College, in a way.
As an Albertan, and on the ground in the province of Alberta, I can state that I haven't heard too much about a secessionist movement. At least, not from colleagues, friends, business associates, and the guys down at the local sports bar. Oh, "Wexit" has been on the news, and presented fairly, but it seems to come from the usual cranks--typically senior-citizen native Albertans, who equate anybody named "Trudeau" with "the NEP," or the "@#$%# Laurentian Elite," and who want to let the eastern bastards freeze in the dark, to this day. They're the old guys who go down to the beat-up, run-down Dominion Tavern, with sawdust on the floor, a dusty Union Jack on a pole, and a shaker of salt on the table; and blame Trudeau (senior or junior) for everything bad that happens to Alberta.
For the rest of us--and it is the vast majority of us, I'd suggest--life goes on normally. Frankly, we're more concerned with who wins the World Series, how the Calgary Flames or Edmonton Oilers are doing in hockey standings, the prices of produce at the local supermarket, who is starring in a local community theatre production, when the next pro wrestling match is in town, and when the local municipality will finish construction on a major artery. I'd suggest that "Wexit" is off the radar for the majority of Albertans, given that pretty much everybody I know is Albertan.
Thanks for sharing your observations on the ground. I live in the bleeding heart of the ******* Liberal elite heartland so I don't have the same perspective. Here, most of the Conservative voters I know are wealthy voters who like tax cuts and complaining about the deficit. There are also some WASPy seniors who vote Conservative. Otherwise, the GTA is a bastion of progressive politics.
I was surprised the Liberals swept Toronto AND the GTA. I guess people got a rude wakeup when they voted Doug Ford and the provincial Conservative party into power and within a few months he was cutting tens of millions of dollars from education, public health, and other social programs that are broadly supported by Ontarians. I think voters in the GTA supported the Liberals in such high numbers largely because they didn't want a Conservative Party doing the same thing at the federal level.
Canada is largely a progressive country, but the moderate and left wing vote gets split between Liberals, NDP, and Green Party, which has allowed the Conservatives to win majority governments twice since their right and center factions came together under Steven Harper in 2003. Trudeau has had some really bad unforced errors while PM, but I believe the Liberal's party and platform are more representative of Canada in 2019 than the CPC. Hell, people would still be going to prison for marijuana if the Conservatives had won in 2015. I rarely smoke it, but legalizing mj was the smartest and most forward-thinking move in politics in a long time. I would like to see other drugs decriminalized and our tax dollars used for education and treatment of addiction instead of wasted on helping to fight America's failed Drug War.
Anyhow, I hope my countrymen don't get stupid and give the reins back to the Conservatives after just a few years. In a minority government situation, the Liberals are likely going to have to steer the ship left to remain in power. I hope Trudeau learns a little humility from this experience and is able to incorporate some NDP ideas into the legislative agenda, have a successful minority government and prove to voters that a progressive party is best for Canada.
These feelings get expressed after every federal election, when the Liberals form government. Even when the Cons formed government, western alienation is still a thing.
It will pass out of the headlines, like it always does. The vast majority of Canadians, including most Albertans, do not want the country to split up and it would be practically impossible for it to happen.
Well dammit. The system ate my post and it's too late in the day to reenter everything.
Saskatchewan and Alberta voted 64.3% and 69.2% respectively for the Conservatives and only 11.6% and 13.7% for the Liberals. This added significantly more to the Conservatives portion of the total Canada-wide votes but it doesn't translate into seats in other Provinces.
The cry that the Conservatives were robbed doesn't match the math of a province by province comparison let alone a riding by riding comparison. In the short version, 6 Provinces had more people vote Liberal then Conservative by a little to a lot. 3 Provinces had more people vote Conservative by very large amounts then Liberal. One province, BC, had the Conservatives get 6% more of the votes then the Liberals.
I don't foresee "Wexit" translating into an active push to separate. It's a lot of work getting the population behind you for the long haul. It all sounds good in the flush of anger but to sustain that and actually get somewhere is a different story. The majority of the people have to believe that there is more upside to the change then downside to the status quo. Even if the majority needed is only 50.5%, it's a hard slog. If you don't believe that, ask both sides in Quebec why Independence is still a thing and neither a memory nor a reality.
Last edited by lollycat; 10-27-2019 at 01:12 AM..
Reason: Because it's late and I worded wrong
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