Redistribution of Federal Electoral Districts 2012

[DC Al Fine]

Can someone explain to me why ridings in Quebec are named after people?

[DC Al Fine]

Can someone explain to me why ridings in Quebec are named after people?

Well, they've ditched that plan... although the one's that currently are named for people will remain. And provincially, I think at least 1/3 are named after people. It's a Quebec thing, I guess. Perhaps one reason is to avoid having long hyphenated names. It's really annoying in my view.

Glad they dropped it. I was looking at maps and the whole of Quebec City was random Quebecois dudes who I've never heard of. Stick with neighborhoods or _____ East please

[DC Al Fine]

Directional names are strongly discouraged in Quebec, so as to avoid having to translate federal riding names into English.  Calgary East/Calgary-Est is considered OK, but Laval-Est/Laval East is not.

Here is a quick read: Naming Canada's Constituencies

Interesting read. I still prefer that they use community names. If I can't get Quebec East/West/Centre, then I should at least be able to get Saint Foy/Charlesbourg/Quebec etc.

[DC Al Fine]

As discussed earlier in this thread, it is rather obvious that the Tories are trying to prevent Oshawa from ever going NDP. Not that it ever would under the proposed boundaries anyways.

Under the proposed boundaries in 2011 Oshawa would have gone Tory 50% and NDP 38%...and that was in a year where the Tories swept Ontario with 45% of the vote province-wide. Most polls have them down in the low to mid-30s in Ontario. I have to think that if CPC support in Ontario drops 10 points - an NDP win in Oshawa is possible - esp. if they stop running old-fashioned CAW firebrands in that riding and instead run someone who can appeal to the mainstream suburban population.

Maybe, but also remember that 2011 was the best year ever for the NDP, and they still lost it. They would need the Tories to come down significantly. Plus, Oshawa's demographics are changing as it becomes more of a cookie-cutter 905 suburb and less of a union town.

Another factor to remember is that NDP support is dropping along with the Tories (although not nearly as much). If the NDP support were holding steady while the Tories swung to the Liberals, I'd call Oshawa in play.

[DC Al Fine]

Dude, that's already how it works. It's rare to have actual nomination contests, and besides- in MMP they candidate lists would probably be elected in nomination contests as well.

There's no real good argument against MMP. It's not that complicated, it keeps local representation, and it accurately represents the will of the public. Can't go wrong with that.

It's an excellent compromise between FPTP & PR. My only complaint about it is the 5% threshold that usually comes along with it.

[DC Al Fine]

This is getting off topic, but has anyone adopted a model of having coalitions come together by democratic vote? It would be interesting if when in the voting booth, an elector could vote for what coalitions he/she would support in addition to his/her vote(s).

For example, I could say I would support an NDP-Green-Liberal coalition.

That way we can avoid situations like in Belgium where they had no government for over a year. This would force coalitions together.

My main concern is that it takes away any flexiblity of the system for when sh**t happens. Suppose this surprise election result happened
Nazi - 45% of seats
Conservative - 20%
NDP - 20%
Liberal - 15%

Now you'd have a bunch of ABC voters with votes to avoid coalitions with the Tories and the government is unworkable. Obviously that example is hyperbole, but it shows what happens when unexpected results occur. Also I'm not quite sure why it's needed. Other countries with PR seem to do an ok job of figuring out voters' coalition preferences.

Otherwise, I agree with your view. I'd love to see the MLP & CHP in parliament and both could probably swing 1-3% of the vote in the right circumstances.

[DC Al Fine]

Parliament should reflect the diverse political views of the Canadian public. Even if that means a Nazi MP

I'm talking about coalition building, not who gets seats in parliament. I imagine it'd be impossible to do a cordon sanitaire if voters were allowed to pick and choose coalitions.

[DC Al Fine]

It still works as only Ralph Goodale's riding remains untouched by Tory MP's

[DC Al Fine]

I'm referring to the demographic makeup of the riding...it's hard to use the 2011 numbers as much of a gauge since the NDP had almost no active campaign in TC in. 2011 and a very weak, absent candidate.

Plus the Liberal candidate won't be Bob Rae

[DC Al Fine]

http://www.recorder.ca/2014/06/11/riding-changes-its-name

I realized that since he is not the only Mr. Brown in Parliament, whenever they speaker records his vote, he's going to have to say the whole riding name. I get it now.

"Mr. Brown, Leeds-Greenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes"

After watching that, I think we should limit all riding names to 2-3 short words
The same is true for Mr. Weston, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country

Video of a vote (See 0:38 for Mr. Weston)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seCxYevVYMA

Lolol

Related to that