December 04, 2008

 

Coalitions for Dummies


Many on the left are disputing the idea that the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc are trying to form a coalition government. They claim that the Bloc Quebecois are not actually part of the coalition, because... uh, because they say so.

So what is the proper way to answer this question? Fortunately, I have discovered a simple and effective test:

If your leader's signature is on this document, then your party is part of the coalition.

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November 27, 2008

 

What's not to like?


So the Conservatives want to axe the $1.95-per-vote subsidy given to the various political parties, at a cost of $27 million each year.

I support this for multiple reasons:
  1. It's the right thing to do. Why should taxpayers be forced to subsidize political campaigns in the first place? Leave it to those Canadians who care enough about a party to send their own money.
  2. It's ideologically consistent. Stephen Harper was opposed to the subsidy when it was first proposed in 2003.
  3. It shows that politicians are willing to include themselves in the upcoming belt-tightening.
  4. As a bonus, it completely screws the Bloc, and to a lesser extent the Liberals. :)

Two thumbs up!

Update: This post has apparently caused Canadian Cynic to call me an "asshole." I will wear it as a badge of honour.

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October 15, 2008

 

Unexpected winner


I'm too tired to write a decent review of the election right now, so here's something completely trivial. The popular vote totals were:

CPC 37.6, LPC 26.2, NDP 18.2, BQ 10.0, Grn 6.8, Other 1.2

If you plug that into the Hill & Knowlton Predictor, you get the following seat count:

CPC 143, LPC 74, NDP 38, BQ 52, Grn 0, Other 1

And the actual results (pending recounts)?

CPC 143, LPC 76, NDP 37, BQ 50, Grn 0, Other 2

Not bad, especially considering that their formula completely ignores local dynamics.

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June 02, 2005

 

Liberals Form Alliance with Bloc to Hamstring Gomery

Over the last few weeks, we've heard endless claims that Stephen Harper and Gilles Duceppe formed an "alliance" to bring down the Liberal budget and thereby destroy Canada. Certain media outlets were happy to use misleading pictures to promote the idea.

Yesterday, the Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois joined together to defeat a Conservative motion to give Justice Gomery's final report some teeth. Well, I guess this means the media will be all over how the fact that the Liberals and the Bloc voted the same way on something is proof that they have an "alliance."

Right?

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