**BREAKING** NCV HAS PASSED

[2952-0-0]

Well, in less than five minutes MPs will vote on a non-confidence motion that had been introduced by the NDP last week. This is sure to start a winter election campaign. Thoughts?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

You better post the result as soon as you hear it

[2952-0-0]

You better post the result as soon as you hear it

I'm at school right now so it will be a bit hard...I predict in BC the Tories will be smashed and the NDP will win seats on Vancouver Island, the southern Interior and inner Vancouver suburbs...just my two cents there...

[2952-0-0]

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/11/28/noconfidencevote051128.html

I found this fifteen minutes ago...

[2952-0-0]

***BREAKING*** IT HAS PASSED

The opposition parties banded together Monday to defeat the Liberal minority government and trigger an election that is expected to culminate in a mid-January vote.

The House passed an historic no-confidence motion exactly one year and five months after Canadian voters elected the Liberals.

Prime Minister Paul Martin will now have to go see Governor General Michaëlle Jean Tuesday morning and ask her to dissolve Parliament.

The Liberal defeat marks the first time a government has fallen on a straight motion of no-confidence in Parliament.

Other minority governments have been forced into elections after losing budget votes or censure motions interpreted as loss of confidence.

Last week, Opposition Leader Stephen Harper officially tabled the motion of no-confidence which read: "That this House has lost confidence in the government."

The Liberals have 133 seats, followed by the Conservatives with 98, the Bloc Quebecois with 53 and the NDP with 18. There are four seats held by Independents.

According to a poll conducted by Environics Research for the CBC, 35 per cent of decided voters said they would vote Liberal. The Conservatives came in at 30 per cent and the NDP were picked by 20 per cent.

With a margin of error +/- 2.5%, 19 times out of 20, the poll puts the Liberals and Conservatives at a virtual dead heat.

Federal elections have to be held on a Monday and the campaigns have to be at least 36 days long. Martin is expected to call for a slightly longer campaign, setting the vote for mid-January, either the 16th or the 23rd, with an agreement among the parties to take a holiday break and stop campaigning between Dec. 23 and Jan. 3.

An eight-week campaign would be the longest the country has seen in two decades.

The last time a government fell at the hands of the opposition was Joe Clark's Conservative government in 1979.

Monday's vote means a number of bills will die on the order paper, among them an act to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana and an animal cruelty bill.

[Harry Hayfield]

The tally was:

YES 171
NO 133

[Max Power]

[Harry Hayfield]

According to a poll conducted by Environics Research for the CBC, 35 per cent of decided voters said they would vote Liberal. The Conservatives came in at 30 per cent and the NDP were picked by 20 per cent.

Bloc: 14%, Others: 1%

Forecast House of Commons:

Liberals 106 (-29 on Election 2004)
Conservatives 93 (-6 on Election 2004)
Bloc Quebecois 62 (+8 on Election 2004)
New Democrats 47 (+28 on Election 2004)
Liberals short by 49

[Hatman 🍁]

According to a poll conducted by Environics Research for the CBC, 35 per cent of decided voters said they would vote Liberal. The Conservatives came in at 30 per cent and the NDP were picked by 20 per cent.

Bloc: 14%, Others: 1%

Forecast House of Commons:

Liberals 106 (-29 on Election 2004)
Conservatives 93 (-6 on Election 2004)
Bloc Quebecois 62 (+8 on Election 2004)
New Democrats 47 (+28 on Election 2004)
Liberals short by 49

I hate to be a pressimist, but the NDP will not win more than 30 seats, and 62 seats fro the Bloc is a stretch.

[Cubby]

Dammit!!!!    

I'm mad at the NDP, this is their fault. They are like the Kennedy/Dean wing of the Democrats, demanding more than the electorate will allow. The Liberal Party is as left-wing as Canada's going to get, so they just shot themselves in the foot.

[Hatman 🍁]

Dammit!!!!    

I'm mad at the NDP, this is their fault. They are like the Kennedy/Dean wing of the Democrats, demanding more than the electorate will allow. The Liberal Party is as left-wing as Canada's going to get, so they just shot themselves in the foot.

The Liberal Party is the most right wing it has been in decades.

I am quite happy with the NDP. They should have done this in the Spring.

[WMS]

Monday's vote means a number of bills will die on the order paper, among them an act to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana and an animal cruelty bill.

Aww, I hope they get back to those two bills...

[Bono]

[Hatman 🍁]

Monday's vote means a number of bills will die on the order paper, among them an act to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana and an animal cruelty bill.

Aww, I hope they get back to those two bills...

There's also an amendment to the copyright act that would make cds with downloaded music legal or something. I dont know the full details. But, they can pass a motion to reconvene this bills at the same stage they died at in the new parliament. If the tories win though, you can kiss these bills goodbye.

[Speed of Sound]

Excuse my ignorance on Canadian politics, but what does this mean for Canada?

[© tweed]

Excuse my ignorance on Canadian politics, but what does this mean for Canada?

There will be an election in mid-January.  Elections aren't written in stone, as for the dates, liter they are in the USA; the elections must be 'called' by the gov't.

[Hatman 🍁]

Excuse my ignorance on Canadian politics, but what does this mean for Canada?

There will be an election in mid-January.  Elections aren't written in stone, as for the dates, liter they are in the USA; the elections must be 'called' by the gov't.

It's the same for most parliamentary democracies. No confidence = elections.

[Cubby]

Dammit!!!!    

I'm mad at the NDP, this is their fault. They are like the Kennedy/Dean wing of the Democrats, demanding more than the electorate will allow. The Liberal Party is as left-wing as Canada's going to get, so they just shot themselves in the foot.

The Liberal Party is the most right wing it has been in decades.

I am quite happy with the NDP. They should have done this in the Spring.

Right wing by Canadian standards. The Canadian Liberal Party is far, far more liberal than the Democrats have ever or will ever be. At first the NDP sounded like the Lib Dems in Britain, an actual alternative, but lately they seem more like Nader and his Greens.

I don't know much about the NDP, I still have more to learn. But the Liberal Party sounds great down here, it'd be really bad if it fell out of power.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The Canadian Liberal Party is far, far more liberal than the Democrats have ever or will ever be

Depends what you mean by "liberal"; liberal as in the international/traditional useage of a the word, yes, absolutely. The Canadian Liberals are one of the few traditional liberal parties to have been able to survive as a party of government after the Great Depression or so.
"Liberal" as in the American usage... then no. With the exception of a couple of hot-button wedge issues (gay marriage being the most obvious, but there are others) and a couple of other things (healthcare is the main one) then that certainly isn't true. Some of Martin's fiscal policies in the '90's come to mind; some of the things he did would be totally unacceptable to the vast, vast majority of the Democratic Party.

[WalterMitty]

which party is more philosophically similar to the american dems:

canada liberal
 
british labour

[Filuwaúrdjan]

which party is more philosophically similar to the american dems:

canada liberal
 
british labour

Due to the diverse nature of the Democratic Party it's both;

The traditional blue collar/ethnic/etc wing of the Democratic Party is very similer to Labour, while the newer white collar/socially liberal/etc wing closely resembles the Liberals. So in terms of overall registered voters and what you could think of as the party's "soul", the answer is Labour, while in terms of leadership and policies it's tended to be much more like the Liberals.

The geography of Kerry's vote last year was pretty similer to that of the Liberals, while the geography of the state legislatures (http://www.fairdata2000.com/Legislative/) is pretty similer to that of Labour (although there are important differences in both cases).

[Hatman 🍁]

Dammit!!!!    

I'm mad at the NDP, this is their fault. They are like the Kennedy/Dean wing of the Democrats, demanding more than the electorate will allow. The Liberal Party is as left-wing as Canada's going to get, so they just shot themselves in the foot.

The Liberal Party is the most right wing it has been in decades.

I am quite happy with the NDP. They should have done this in the Spring.

Right wing by Canadian standards. The Canadian Liberal Party is far, far more liberal than the Democrats have ever or will ever be. At first the NDP sounded like the Lib Dems in Britain, an actual alternative, but lately they seem more like Nader and his Greens.

I don't know much about the NDP, I still have more to learn. But the Liberal Party sounds great down here, it'd be really bad if it fell out of power.

This is true, but if we're going by political compass scores, I notice you fit the NDP perfectly. The Liberals are very free market, like the UK Lib Dems (very similar parties I think), so if you can get by that, then fine. The NDP is a social democratic party in every sense of the word. Unlike the Liberals, the NDP has a social conscience.

In U.S. terms, the Canadian Liberals are the extreme left wing of the Democrats, I'll give you that. The NDP may be like Nader, but because this is Canada, the NDP doesn't get a bad rap like Nader does.

which party is more philosophically similar to the american dems:

canada liberal
 
british labour

I would say definately Labour

[WMS]

Monday's vote means a number of bills will die on the order paper, among them an act to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana and an animal cruelty bill.

Aww, I hope they get back to those two bills...

There's also an amendment to the copyright act that would make cds with downloaded music legal or something. I dont know the full details. But, they can pass a motion to reconvene this bills at the same stage they died at in the new parliament. If the tories win though, you can kiss these bills goodbye.

Copyright Act Amendment: Mixed Feelings but leaning in favor.

And while the Tories probably wouldn't push to decriminalize marijuana, I don't see why they'd be against an animal cruelty bill. I have noticed that animal cruelty issues do NOT break along ideological or partisan lines here in the US - if anything, it seems to be a rural-urban split - with some rather unusual coalitions forming.
Two examples: NM is one of only 2 states that allow cockfighting. That is NOT due to popular will - NM is about 70-30 (if not more) in favor of banning it. However, the bills keep getting killed by the Legislature because of pressure from the cockfighting lobby, and there are easily as many Democrats voting to kill the bills in committee as there are Republicans, if not more, both per capita and in absolute numbers. The last major session around (60-day sessions allow these things to be introduced; 30-day sessions are usually strictly budgetary matters) there were bills introduced in both the House and Senate, and one was by a Republican and one by a Democrat. Votes in committee did not break along either partisan or ideological lines. Neither did the sponsors break along those lines. For example, one of the biggest supporters of cockfighting is leftist Democratic Senator Shannon Robinson, who represents one of the poorer Senate districts in NM.
The other example is from Albuquerque municipal government, where support for anti-animal cruelty measures is not along partisan lines. For example, conservative Republican City Councillor Sally Mayer is the strongest supporter of such measures on the Council. Centrist Democrat Martin Chavez is a big backer as well. The lefties on the Council are not always so supportive (IIRC that's one more reason I cheered Miguel Gomez going down in flames...).

So, Earl, on animal issues do not fall into the 'left is good, right is bad' dichotomy, because it simply isn't true.

[Hatman 🍁]

Monday's vote means a number of bills will die on the order paper, among them an act to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana and an animal cruelty bill.

Aww, I hope they get back to those two bills...

There's also an amendment to the copyright act that would make cds with downloaded music legal or something. I dont know the full details. But, they can pass a motion to reconvene this bills at the same stage they died at in the new parliament. If the tories win though, you can kiss these bills goodbye.

Copyright Act Amendment: Mixed Feelings but leaning in favor.

And while the Tories probably wouldn't push to decriminalize marijuana, I don't see why they'd be against an animal cruelty bill. I have noticed that animal cruelty issues do NOT break along ideological or partisan lines here in the US - if anything, it seems to be a rural-urban split - with some rather unusual coalitions forming.
Two examples: NM is one of only 2 states that allow cockfighting. That is NOT due to popular will - NM is about 70-30 (if not more) in favor of banning it. However, the bills keep getting killed by the Legislature because of pressure from the cockfighting lobby, and there are easily as many Democrats voting to kill the bills in committee as there are Republicans, if not more, both per capita and in absolute numbers. The last major session around (60-day sessions allow these things to be introduced; 30-day sessions are usually strictly budgetary matters) there were bills introduced in both the House and Senate, and one was by a Republican and one by a Democrat. Votes in committee did not break along either partisan or ideological lines. Neither did the sponsors break along those lines. For example, one of the biggest supporters of cockfighting is leftist Democratic Senator Shannon Robinson, who represents one of the poorer Senate districts in NM.
The other example is from Albuquerque municipal government, where support for anti-animal cruelty measures is not along partisan lines. For example, conservative Republican City Councillor Sally Mayer is the strongest supporter of such measures on the Council. Centrist Democrat Martin Chavez is a big backer as well. The lefties on the Council are not always so supportive (IIRC that's one more reason I cheered Miguel Gomez going down in flames...).

So, Earl, on animal issues do not fall into the 'left is good, right is bad' dichotomy, because it simply isn't true.

Interesting. Speaking animals, there will be an animal rights party running in this election. And no, it's not PETA

[minionofmidas]

Uh, WMS, an anti-cockfighting measure is not a measure against cruelty to animals.
An anti-battery farming of poultry measure is (Fighting cocks have much the longer and nicer lives ... even if they get killed on their first fight).

Btw - Oklahoma has outlawed it then? Or (gasp) Louisiana? Since my information (dated, 1998 IIRC) NM, OK, LA were the only states where cockfighting was legal, after it had been recently banned in MO and AZ (that geographical distribution sort of makes you wonder what happened to Texas and Arkansas )