It's been too long since I've posted, but I have some time today, so I thought I would post some election related news, to follow up on my last post.
The results are in from this Monday's election, and for those who thought this election wouldn’t make a difference, just look at the colour coded map of Canada, taken from the CBC’s website:
Click on the map if you want to go to CBC’s website and check out who won in your area (if you don’t already know).
Can’t tell what’s changed? Just look at the map after the 2008 Election (also from the CBC’s website). And look, they haven’t changed their formatting in 3 years! Impressive CBC!
Ok, wait, I guess the colours are a little different, but still pretty close.
My riding in Calgary Center is pretty boring (Conservative again) since from 1968 it has been held by some sort of right leaning party (Tories from 1968 to 1993, Reform in 1993, 1997 and 2000, then Conservatives in 2006 and 2008).
*Side note, looking back at my riding info, it looks like all the info has changed since I wrote my last post…don’t know what that’s about. I blame the CBC.
However, some exciting news came when I found out Elizabeth May of the Green Party was elected in one of my old ridings, Saanich Gulf Islands. I saw her interviewed on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, and I can’t say she impressed me too much as a person, but of course as a native BC’er, I have to support the Green Party.
I thought she made a great acceptance speech, even though she comes across a little goofy, you can’t help but share in some of her excitement. I posted the video below, even though CBC has a better quality one on their site here, but with the amateur video you can really hear sound of the crowd cheering. Check it out below.
She has an impressive resume, including getting a letter of reference from then Governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton, for her acceptance into Dalhousie Law School. Let's hope she can actually make a positive difference in parliament.
I also compared the results in my old ridings, which I talked about in my last post, but besides the Green Party winning in Saanich Gulf Islands, not too much of a change…
Actually no changes at all in my old ridings (except for May).
Of course there were other big changes, like how the Liberals lost a lot of other ridings (especially in Ontario and Quebec) and Michael Ignatieff stepped down as leader. Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe also quit immediately after the results came in that his party had been crushed in Quebec. But maybe change isn’t necessarily a bad thing?
A lot of these changes are due to the fact that the New Democratic Party got a record 102 seats and will form the official opposition to Harpers Majority Government. No word yet on if this will be a good (yay NDP!) or bad thing (boo Harper Majority!) for the country.
Unfortunately, Voter turnout was only up to 61.4% but I guess that’s a bit better than last time, and a record number of women were elected so that’s another positive…not all bad news!
So I still have hope for my country, especially since so many new, young MPs were elected for the NDP. So what if they don’t have that much political experience. They ran and they won! That’s Democracy for you. How much power individual MPs will really have in parliament under a Conservative Majority anyways? And I’m pretty sure the government won’t collapse if we give young people a chance.
And thank you Jack Layton, for saying “I don’t share this notion that a young person is somehow not qualified”.
"Young people got involved in this election in an unprecedented way…We should see that as something to celebrate, not something to criticize."
I agree wholeheartedly.
The results are in from this Monday's election, and for those who thought this election wouldn’t make a difference, just look at the colour coded map of Canada, taken from the CBC’s website:
Click on the map if you want to go to CBC’s website and check out who won in your area (if you don’t already know).
Can’t tell what’s changed? Just look at the map after the 2008 Election (also from the CBC’s website). And look, they haven’t changed their formatting in 3 years! Impressive CBC!
Ok, wait, I guess the colours are a little different, but still pretty close.
My riding in Calgary Center is pretty boring (Conservative again) since from 1968 it has been held by some sort of right leaning party (Tories from 1968 to 1993, Reform in 1993, 1997 and 2000, then Conservatives in 2006 and 2008).
*Side note, looking back at my riding info, it looks like all the info has changed since I wrote my last post…don’t know what that’s about. I blame the CBC.
However, some exciting news came when I found out Elizabeth May of the Green Party was elected in one of my old ridings, Saanich Gulf Islands. I saw her interviewed on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, and I can’t say she impressed me too much as a person, but of course as a native BC’er, I have to support the Green Party.
I thought she made a great acceptance speech, even though she comes across a little goofy, you can’t help but share in some of her excitement. I posted the video below, even though CBC has a better quality one on their site here, but with the amateur video you can really hear sound of the crowd cheering. Check it out below.
I also compared the results in my old ridings, which I talked about in my last post, but besides the Green Party winning in Saanich Gulf Islands, not too much of a change…
 |
| 2008 Results |
 | |
| 2011 Results |
Actually no changes at all in my old ridings (except for May).
Of course there were other big changes, like how the Liberals lost a lot of other ridings (especially in Ontario and Quebec) and Michael Ignatieff stepped down as leader. Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe also quit immediately after the results came in that his party had been crushed in Quebec. But maybe change isn’t necessarily a bad thing?
 |
Layton defends inexperienced Quebec caucus |
Unfortunately, Voter turnout was only up to 61.4% but I guess that’s a bit better than last time, and a record number of women were elected so that’s another positive…not all bad news!
So I still have hope for my country, especially since so many new, young MPs were elected for the NDP. So what if they don’t have that much political experience. They ran and they won! That’s Democracy for you. How much power individual MPs will really have in parliament under a Conservative Majority anyways? And I’m pretty sure the government won’t collapse if we give young people a chance.
And thank you Jack Layton, for saying “I don’t share this notion that a young person is somehow not qualified”.
"Young people got involved in this election in an unprecedented way…We should see that as something to celebrate, not something to criticize."
I agree wholeheartedly.
No comments:
Post a Comment