Who watched the Canadian election results last night?
Me, me!
I know I’m supposed to be depressed that the Conservatives won again, keeping Prime Minister Stephen “Getcha’ hands offa’ my Northwest Passage, eh!” Harper (pictured at right with the Canadian Minister of Cuteness and Awww) in power for another vague period of time determined by something called “parliament.” But let me point out that “conservative” in Canada matches up almost issue for issue with Barack Obama, the so-called liberal candidate here in the United States. He suggests that some private health care is OK and that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was merely a pretty bad disaster. Right wing nutcase!
I like the Canadian system because there are multiple parties, coalitions and regional dynamics going on all the time. No one party gets more than 40 percent of the national vote and the whole thing is basically determined by a few hundred votes difference in each of hundreds of “ridings” across the country. Plus there are regional parties that control whole provinces and halfway through every speech, the politicians switch languages. It’s just more interesting and issue-focused. I know Americans wouldn’t necessarily embrace this system, but I think I’d dig it. And they LIMIT THEIR CAMPAIGN SEASON. Oh, yeah. That sounds niiiice.
Before you get all “America is awesome” on me, ask yourself what the world thinks when we tell them there should be only two candidates in a presidential election, each selected for their ability to placate hippies and religious fundamentalists, respectively? And don’t even try to defend the Electoral College.
Meantime, I note that the part of Ontario closest to the Iron Range remains firmly in the hands of the New Democrats, the most progressive of the top three national parties (four if you count the Quebec party that isn’t supposed to say it wants to secede but, you know …).
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