___________________________________________________________________________
WHAT
___________________________________________________________________________
Canada's 42nd general election, happening October 19th. That's just
away!
Yes, we've known this is the date since 2011. And yes, you've been seeing Conservative Party attack ads against Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau for many, many months now, assuming you have a TV. But the election period only officially begins when Prime Minister Stephen Harper visits Governor General David Johnston to request the election period officially begin, so
now -- or, at least, as of 10 am on Sunday, August 2nd -- we're into the longest election campaign since 1872. (
CBC has a brief overview of how everything changes with the official writ drop, if you're curious.)
___________________________________________________________________________
WHY
___________________________________________________________________________
Because constitutionally, Canada is required to have an election every five years. There's also a "Fair Elections Act" that calls for elections to be every four years, and the last one was 2011, so...
Why is it starting now, you mean? Because even though the Act says Elections have to be every four years, and the Canada Elections Act includes a provision for the
minimum length of a campaign (36 days), there's nothing anywhere that says the
maximum length of a campaign. The longer a campaign goes, the higher the spending limits go: during a typical election campaign, the spending limit per party is $25 million. For each additional day, the limit is increased by 1/37th, or an extra $675,000, meaning an 11-week campaign would allow parties to spend more than $50 million.
Perhaps not coincidentally,
the Conservatives are estimated to have more money than all the other parties combined.
___________________________________________________________________________
WHERE
___________________________________________________________________________
...Canada, obviously. Though to be more precise, it's technically 338 local elections happening concurrently. Want to know what riding you're in, or who's running in your area, or where to vote? Then head to
Elections Canada's website and scroll down to the Voter Information Service section. This is the first election with new boundaries, so your electoral district may have changed!
___________________________________________________________________________
WHEN
___________________________________________________________________________
Again, October 19th.
There will, presumably, be many opportunities for advance voting, though the dates and locations of those won't be known until all the candidates have filed their paperwork. Again, check with
Elections Canada for details!
There are also debates. Maybe lots of debates, though that's still up in the air. The Conservatives are refusing to take part in the traditional televised debates, organized by the broadcast consortium, because (according to
the Globe and Mail, at least) they want to "decrease the political weight of the debates by splitting them into smaller events with smaller audiences where the Conservatives have more leverage to achieve the format and focus that they feel suits them as a right-of-centre incumbents". The NDP won't take part in any debates that a) don't include the Conservatives, or b) do include the Greens. The Liberals aren't committing to anything at the moment. And the Greens are waiting by the phone, hoping someone remembers they exist.
But we know the details of the first debate -- and it's not far off! It's
August 6th, it's being sponsored by Macleans Magazine, Rogers, and CityTV, and leaders of all four parties will be there.
The traditional TV debates are scheduled for October 7th and 8th, but it remains to be seen who'll be taking part in them.
___________________________________________________________________________
WHO
___________________________________________________________________________
At the time of Parliament's dissolution, the seat standings look like this:
Conservatives: 159 seats
NDP: 95
Liberal: 36
Bloc Québécois: 2
Greens: 2
Strength in Democracy: 2
There are also 8 independents and 4 vacant seats.
Who are your voting options?
Elections Canada, once again, has a list of all the registered and eligible political parties in the country, but with all apologies to the Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada, the Marijuana Party, Pirate Party of Canada and the Bridge Party of Canada (among others), there are really only a couple of parties that will win seats, or even have candidates in most ridings. So here's who you need to know:
The
Democratic Advancement Party of Canada -- Nah, just kidding.
Conservative Party of Canada
Leader: Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper is the leader of the Conservative Party, the Prime Minister of Canada, and the Member of Parliament for Calgary Southwest. He's been Prime Minister since 2006, leader of the Conservative Party (and its predecessor, the Canadian Alliance Party) since 2002, and an MP since 1993 (with a brief hiatus from 1997 to 2002). This will be his fifth election as leader. He's trying to become the first person since 1908 to win four consecutive elections.
New Democratic Party of Canada
Leader: Thomas Mulcair
Thomas Mulcair is the leader of the New Democratic Party, Leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons, and the Member of Parliament for Outremont. He's been Leader of the Opposition and the NDP since 2012, and an MP since 2007. This will be his first election as leader. He's trying to become the first NDP leader to become Prime Minister.
Liberal Party of Canada
Leader: Justin Trudeau
Party Platform: realchange.ca
Justin Trudeau is the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, and Member of Parliament for Papineau. He's been the Liberal leader since 2013, and an MP since 2008. This is his first election as leader. He's hoping to lead the Liberals back to power for the first time since 2006.
Bloc Québécois
Leader: Gilles Duceppe
Gilles Duceppe is the leader of the Bloc Quebecois, and is not currently a member of Parliament. He was previously Bloc leader from 1996 to 2011, and the Member of Parliament for Laurier-Sainte-Marie from 1990 to 2011. This is his seventh election as leader. He's trying to...get back into Parliament, I guess? Make the Bloc Quebecois an official party again? If there are any separatists among us, they can let us know what the party's federal aim is at this point, because it's not entirely clear.
Green Party
Leader: Elizabeth May
Party Platform: Vision Green
Elizabeth May is the leader of the Green Party of Canada, and Member of Parliament for SaanichGulf Islands. She's been the Green Party leader since 2006, and an MP since 2011. This is her third election as leader. She's hoping to build on the success of the last election, which saw her become the first elected Green in Canadian history.
___________________________________________________________________________
HOW
___________________________________________________________________________
...to vote? Again,
Elections Canada has you covered. Voting locations, hours, candidates -- everything you could possibly need to know is there.
...will this thread go? I'll take a page from the very impressive UK election thread and lay down some rough guidelines:
1)
No personal attacks. Don't attack someone for their party affiliation, whether perceived or stated. Let's try keep our debates/arguments focused on policies. Just because it's an election doesn't mean you get to ignore the
NeoGAF Terms of Service.
2) You don't have to reveal your party affiliation or who you plan on voting for. By extension, that means no pressuring someone into revealing who they voted for.
3) If you're making a factual argument, please use facts from credible sources. If you want to talk polling, that's fine, but remember that polls aren't the be-all and end-all of discourse. That's especially true in Canada, where the pollsters are notoriously unreliable and our electoral system doesn't lend itself as well as the US system to traditional opinion polling.
4) All viewpoints are welcome. We have a multiparty system, we can have a multiparty discussion.
5) Keep it civil. Just want to emphasize that point.
...should you vote? That's up to you. Read up on the parties and candidates in your riding, and decide which platform most closely aligns with your values. The
CBC Vote Compass is probably the most accurate online quiz, if you want to farm out your decision-making to a website. There's also the
Canadian version of I Side With, though be warned that it may not be particularly accurate or helpful (at least judging by the experiences of
Canadian Poligaf -- though it's also entirely possible every one of us is a raging communist, I suppose).
If there's anything else to add, let me know. And if anyone wants to contribute a different header, feel free, because mine kind of sucks.
8/6/2015: Added first English debate links.
___________________________________________________________________________
Debate #1: August 6, 2015
___________________________________________________________________________
How to Watch
TV:
CityTV (English)
CPAC (English/French)
OMNI (Italian, Punjabi, Mandarin and Cantonese)
Online:
http://www.macleans.ca/debate
http://www.cpac.ca/
http://www.omnitv.ca/
