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

[Barnes]

This seems like a really long campaign for a parliamentary system.

It certainly is.  There was already a de facto campaign, of course, but it could be mostly ignored by the majority of the public, as I think this campaign will be until late September.

[Barnes]

Much more excited about this debate than that Republican circus here in the States.  Thank you, Canada!

[Barnes]

The Greens aren't left-wing, nor would they describe themselves as such.

On another note, Mulcair has withdrawn from a planned debate on Women's Issues leading to its cancellation.  Before the NDP reneged on its invitation all but the Conservatives were set to participate.

[Barnes]

These are always fun.  I played as a citizen of Quebec for fun, and because I adore that part of Canada.

Liberals: 81%
Green: 79%
NDP: 77%
Bloc: 63%
Conservatives: 49%

All in all, about where I would put myself.  The percentage with the Bloc is a bit amusing seeing as I'm a pretty committed federalist!

EDIT: Accidentally voted the wrong way on the question about government worker strike action - fixed the results now.

[Barnes]

I think the only reason that my Vote Compass score was at nearly 50% for the Tories was because I said the ISIS Strikes should stay the way they are - which just goes to show how easily these kinds of tests can be swung.  I really don't feel much of any similarities with the Tories on any issues, and certainly not with Harper in charge.

[Barnes]

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.

[Barnes]

Crap campaigner against a fantastic one in Diefenbaker. I guess you could count '72 for uncertainty but Trudeau would probably have stayed so long as LPC/NDP had a majority against PC/Socred.

In '72 the results looked as if the Tories would be ahead by two seats - the reverse of the actual result of course.  Many Tory MPs (and some Liberals) immediately started talking of Trudeau's resignation, which would have been a massive jumping of the gun in such a closely divided Parliament.

[Barnes]

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.

[Barnes]

Here are the provincial poll closing times in both local time and Eastern Time.