Election Night Discussion Thread

[ToadBrother]

One way would be not to release the results until the next day. People out west would have to get up realy early but everyone would get the news at the same time.

That has been talked about, but golly, who would want to hear a concession speech at 6am Pacific? Or worse, a victory speech...

I'm not even sure how you would analyze whether eastern votes affected the votes in Alberta and BC. I suppose it's possible that if British Columbians had not known the Liberals had already won a majority before they had hit Manitoba, you might have seen more people voting Liberal, just in case, but really, by the time results started rolling in from Ontario, there was only an hour left to vote in BC.

[GostHacked]

I did not really think the Liberals would get a majority. I suspected a minority at the least with a heavy Conservative and NDP coalition opposition. The numbers seemed to be quite telling of how people feel. Where the liberals won a good deal of them won by very large margins. Where the Conservatives won the seats the margins were much smaller overall. Interesting to see Quebec vote red and marginalize the Bloc. Which to me is a good thing to at least move away from a separatist government. A shame to see the NDP lose that many seats but at least May gets to keep her seat as a Green rep.

[angrypenguin]

It was great chatting with many of you last night! One of the worst nights politically, but it was cool to chat about stuff as it came in!

[Big Guy]

I was hoping for a Liberal minority. I believe in the checks and balances that a minority creates forcing the government to compromise. I also believe that the initial euphoria for the Liberals will soon be replaced by the inherent problems created for the winning party by a large majority. Most parties strive for longevity in their election wins. I believe that a large majority precludes that goal.

Tom Flannagan ( who I consider a guru of political thought) in his book, "Game Theory and Canadian Politics" posited problems with a large majority. Tom used the example of Mulroney's large majority in the late 1980's which ended up with basically all factions in Canada under his umbrella. Within his caucus he had French vs English, East vs West, rural vs urban etc. To continue in power he had to disappoint some segment of his government.

He could not satisfy all so that led to the formation of the Reform in the West and BQ in Quebec eventually condemning the Conservative movement to years of being unable to take power.

Trudeau is going to have to carefully walk that line. He will not be able to please all of the people in his party.

[blueblood]

I was hoping for a Liberal minority. I believe in the checks and balances that a minority creates forcing the government to compromise. I also believe that the initial euphoria for the Liberals will soon be replaced by the inherent problems created for the winning party by a large majority. Most parties strive for longevity in their election wins. I believe that a large majority precludes that goal.

Tom Flannagan ( who I consider a guru of political thought) in his book, "Game Theory and Canadian Politics" posited problems with a large majority. Tom used the example of Mulroney's large majority in the late 1980's which ended up with basically all factions in Canada under his umbrella. Within his caucus he had French vs English, East vs West, rural vs urban etc. To continue in power he had to disappoint some segment of his government.

He could not satisfy all so that led to the formation of the Reform in the West and BQ in Quebec eventually condemning the Conservative movement to years of being unable to take power.

Trudeau is going to have to carefully walk that line. He will not be able to please all of the people in his party.

Trudeau has essentially been shut out of rural agricultural canada which carries with it seats and a sizeable portion of the resource sector.

Liberal governments have tended to go not so well for people in this part of the world given cultural differences to urban canadians that voted the liberals in.

[ToadBrother]

Trudeau has essentially been shut out of rural agricultural canada which carries with it seats and a sizeable portion of the resource sector.

Liberal governments have tended to go not so well for people in this part of the world given cultural differences to urban canadians that voted the liberals in.

He's said he's not going to make previous Liberal governments' mistakes, and really, NEP (which I assume you're talking about) was so reviled and divisive that not even the Chretien Liberals revisited it or anything like it. Heck, it was the Paul Martin government that sold off the last government-held Petrocanada shares, terminating the last vestiges of the Trudeau-era energy tinkering.

[Wilber]

That has been talked about, but golly, who would want to hear a concession speech at 6am Pacific? Or worse, a victory speech...

I'm not even sure how you would analyze whether eastern votes affected the votes in Alberta and BC. I suppose it's possible that if British Columbians had not known the Liberals had already won a majority before they had hit Manitoba, you might have seen more people voting Liberal, just in case, but really, by the time results started rolling in from Ontario, there was only an hour left to vote in BC.

Wouldn't bother me. Result is the same regardless of when you hear it. The speeches are aired multiple times a day if you really want to hear them.

[Canada_First]

Let's see what he does before criticizing him. We will have lots of time to criticize him once he does something. For now I will offer my congratulations to Trudeau for a well fought campaign and deserved victory. He ran a good campaign, good for him. Now he's going to have to decide who he will piss off because he won't be able to give everything he promised to everyone. That's just reality.

[Canada_First]

I don't like minorities. I like majorities where we can actually hold the PM accountable. With a minority the PM can and will just blame it on the other guy. Trudeau won't have that luxury if he's weak.