Peace, Order and Good Government

I suppose some acknowledgement should be made that the Canadians are having an election today. I should probably wait until the results are in, but I’m up to my eyes in costume making and might not have a chance later.

As I’m sure the world is well aware, this is the longest election campaign since 1872. Currently, it’s a competitive three-way race between Conservative Party with Stephen Harper, the Liberal Party of Justin Trudeau, and the New Democratic Party headed by Thomas Mulcair. “Conservative” and “Liberal” should be self-explanatory. “The New Democratic” party is a social democratic party slightly to the left of the Liberal Party.

I haven’t followed Canadian politics too closely in recent years, so I don’t have anything particularly useful to add I’m afraid. The most interesting development for me is the return to prominence of the New Democratic Party which was all but non-existant when I lived there. The collapse of the Bloc Quebecois in 2011 makes the Canadian political terrain one with which I am no longer very familiar. In retrospect, that was not especially surprising because much of the population of Quebec leans towards the left. Although I couldn’t vote when I lived there, as someone married to a Canadian who, at the time, expected that I would be raising children there, I supported the Parti Quebecois’ plan on getting religion out of the schools. If a social democratic alternative to the Parti Quebecois which supported a secular society had existed, I probably would have supported it. Now that the New Democratic Party is a viable alternative, I’m not surprised many people in Quebec are taking it on the federal level. According to the Montreal Gazette, however, the support in Quebec for the NDP has declined this year and much of Quebec is up for grabs.

Not much sense in dwelling on this right now since we shall know soon enough.

Update: I’m streaming Radio Canada while I work. For those who are interested: http://ici.radio-canada.ca/resultats-elections-canada-2015/