Canada General Discussion

[Gass3268]

Anybody care to give me a quick rundown of politics in Canada? Like what are the major parties, what the political geography is like (where are the given parties strong and vice versa) and recent changes. All I know is that the Conservatives are in power an they do really well in Alberta. I'd really like to know more. 

[Gass3268]

Anybody care to give me a quick rundown of politics in Canada? Like what are the major parties, what the political geography is like (where are the given parties strong and vice versa) and recent changes. All I know is that the Conservatives are in power an they do really well in Alberta. I'd really like to know more. 

There are five parties with MPs elected federally - the Conservatives (with a majority), the left-wing NDP (Official Opposition), the slightly-to-the-left-of-centre Liberals (were Opposition until last year, when they lost most of their seats, including their leader's), the Bloc Quebecois (platform is independence for Quebec), and the Greens hold a seat in BC.

With the exception of the NDP, provincial parties aren't affiliated with their federal counterparts, I believe, and while the NDP did best in Quebec federally, there is no provincial NDP in that province. This will lead you to correctly infer that provincial and national elections aren't held concurrently.

There are numerous maps in the International Elections gallery, and discussions about the politics in the International Elections board, just a few boards up.

Earl has a great website, which you should be able to find through google, although there are links in the Alberta election thread, too, he calls it Canadian Election Atlas, and hosts it at blogspot. The506, another poster on here, has a really good webpage, too, but I can't remember the link.

So the maps make sense, Conservatives (Tories) are blue, the NDP (Dippers) are orange, the Liberals (Grits) are red, the Bloc are light blue/aqua and the Greens are, well, green (except in provincial politics, where it is the various conservative parties - Wildrose, the Saskatchewan Party or the Yukon Party).

Oh, and in case you hadn't seen, the NDP stands for New Democrats.

Thanks a lot!