Canadian federal election - October 19, 2015 (Official Campaign Thread)

[Vega]

Does the NDP have a full policy manifesto anywhere? I can't seem to find one.

[Vega]

This might not be the best thread for this, but the makers of President Forever/Infinity are coming out with a similar sim but based around the Canadian elections; ought to be fun.

[Vega]

Out of curiosity, how do Canadian Asians vote? Don't they break pretty Liberal

[Vega]

What has been the best station to watch the election results on? CBC?

[Vega]

What should Harper be wearing?

A Niqab?

It would be more fitting with where Canada is headed demographically.

[Vega]

Where has all this talk of Elizabeth May somehow taking the Greens to the political right? Some people even call them centrist. Seems a bit odd to me, especially considering how they're to the left of the NDP.

[Vega]

What should Harper be wearing?

A Niqab?

It would be more fitting with where Canada is headed demographically.

in 2011 Muslims made up just over 3% of the population, Arabs just over 1%... so no, it wouldn't

Right now, yes. But given that Muslims/Arabs are one of the fastest growing groups in Canada, headed is the proper term.

[Vega]

Wow a whole three percent of the population! That's practically a majority!

Good thing I never said that, then. But they are obviously one of (if not the) fastest growing minority in Canada - that's a fact.

[Vega]

Some more candidate issues, this time with the Liberals: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/09/09/christopher-w-brown-liberal-candidate-tweets_n_8113368.html

I knew I recognized him, I have conversed with him the past on Twitter.  He no longer has an account, which means I have lost a follower

Christ, what a stupid scandal.

[Vega]

The Greens came out with their platform.

... and it actually looks pretty good. They're definitely the leftist party this election.

[Vega]

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question. But..

What happens if the parties are all within 5 seats (or so) of each other after the election?

Most likely there would be a lot of talk of a LPC and NDP coalition. I don't think a minority government could be feasible in that situation.

[Vega]

Right on que, the NDP came out with an email which had the gyst of, "How can Justin take the fight to the Conservatives when he's losing his own seat"?

I can only imagine the oddness of a scenario in which he loses his own seat, but the Liberals make gains elsewhere.

[Vega]

I've noticed that it's commonplace for leaders to just switch language in the middle of their sentience, is there some equal language speaking rule?

[Vega]

I've noticed that it's commonplace for leaders to just switch language in the middle of their sentience, is there some equal language speaking rule?

No, that's common for all bi-lingual politicians in Canada -- especially during debates in the House of Commons.

I have read a biography of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, which from memory mentioned that in the 19th century the House of Commons had a rule against switching between the French and English languages in mid-speech. It was with reference to a bi-lingual politician who, after being interrupted, continued his remarks in the other language than the one he had been using previously.

Yeah, it's super distracting. Did the leaders switch language to English in the French debate? I doubt it.

[Vega]

How is Inky Mark doing in Manitoba? When he announced, it didn't look like he had a chance.

[Vega]

Mulcair looks all well and good on paper but in practice has thusfar ran a boring as f**k campaign.

I'd actually contend that on paper, he looks pretty not great. His campaign hasn't been that bad, though.

[Vega]

So this is shaping up to be a repeat of the last Ontario election i.e. the Liberals cleverly convincing enough people that they are the real progressive/leftie choice?

It's certainly not like the NDP has done anything to counter the notion, they've just advanced it.

[Vega]

Calling it now:

If the NDP loses the election (whether coming in third, or even losing seats), they will move to the centre, while the Liberals while in office, if elected, will act like their social democrat qualities they've shown in the past month never happened.

[Vega]

There doesn't seem to be a site anywhere with all of the redistributed Canadian riding results on one page. As usual there are lots of places where you can look at them one by one which is a bit annoying if you're interested in more than one constituency.

I've put together a spreadsheet with all the redistributed results on one page:

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Nqs8lrKYeN06aXEV3YAguk9fCaMSLDnrvMh7pcn4KV4/edit#gid=0

Neat, nice to see you come over here. Are you planning on recording any election night coverage?

Also, for everyone else, I'll ask what is the best way to watch the coverage? I assume CBC is the best play for it, so do they have a live-stream?

[Vega]

The CBC has an interesting article on various constitutional paths after the election that could happen.

[Vega]

Will CSPAN have coverage tomorrow?

I think on C-SPAN 2

I would suggest watching the CBC live-stream directly on their website; that's what I've done for Canadian elections in the past.

Do you have a link to that?