Don't Panic!

[mousme]

It's the end of an era, but it could be a lot worse.

Conservative minority, but the swing vote could go to anyone.

Final breakdown is as follows:

Conservatives: 124 seats, 36.3% of the vote
Liberals: 103 seats, 30.2% of the vote
NDP: 29 seats, 17.5% of the vote
Bloc Quebecois: 51 seats, 10.5% of the vote
Independent: 1 seat, -
Green: 0 seats, 4.5% of the vote


Paul Martin was obviously elected in spite of my best efforts to vote him away, but he's stepping down as leader of the party. Somehow, I didn't expect that. Don't ask me why. In his shoes, I would have asked myself WWJCD? ("What Would Jean Chrétien Do?"), but maybe that's just me. I have the vague impression that Chrétien would have hung on by his fingernails, although I'm not convinced that's a good thing.

Hey, out there! Friends who are more politically savvy than I! Any idea who the main contenders for leadership are these days? Belinda, maybe?



In other news, it came to my attention during this election that, in spite of keeping a vague eye on the politics of my nation, I'm not nearly aware enough of the nuances that would turn me into a truly informed voter.

So, since I know that a lot of you are ridiculously well-informed about such things, I am turning to you for aid. Can anyone recommend some good websites/feeds/whatever where all the important stuff gets discussed? As non-partisan as possible would be nice, but I'll settle for several sources as long as I can get a general idea of who's saying what and not from just one point of view. (Yikes! No coffee = massively run-on sentences, apparently.)


Anyone? Bueller?

Comments

[elanya.livejournal.com]

~Fraaaaaank McKennnnnnna~

He doesn't control a seat atm, but I bet he could pick one up if needed. We'll have to see what he thinks.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Hunh. I don't know him. I feel woefully ignorant. Details, please?

[elanya.livejournal.com]

Premier of NB from 1987 to 1997 - he stepped down because when elected he said he's spend no more than ten years in office - and he did. I think it was partly a manouvre to be remembered as a guy who keeps political promises ;) While he waa in power, he did a really great job at geting the technology industry to invest in the NB economy, and so forth, although a lot of the jobs created didn't necessarily last. There is a write up on him on Wikipedia, anyway. I see the fact that he has not been involved with Federal politics, at least officially, for a while means that he is less likely to be associated with old Liberal scandals. He has a bunch of corporate ties as well, but I'm less familiar with them.

he would have run federally in the 2004 election, but he wanted a riding close to home (Moncton) but didn't want to oust another (Cabinet) Livberal.

He's been the Canadian Ambasador to the US since March 2005

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Oh, neat. I shall go look him up on Wikipedia then.

[elanya.livejournal.com]

Cbc and globe and mail both have them at the top of their lists too... I posted links in my journal.

[toughlovemuse.livejournal.com]

He's been the Canadian Ambasador to the US since March 2005

Jeebus, that's right! I'd totally forgotten -- he's the guy making all the senators and congresscritters apologize when they say dumb, intolerant, incorrect things about Canada.

[elanya.livejournal.com]

That's our Frank ^-^

[caitlin.livejournal.com]

Is he Liberal?

If so, I hope he gets it.

I don't trust this guy they say is a frontrunner to become leader of the Liberals now. I-something?

C.

[elanya.livejournal.com]

He is *a* liberal... who are you talking about (frontrunner)?

[toughlovemuse.livejournal.com]

Possibly Michael Ignatieff? I think he's the guy they interviewed on CBC last night who acted offended by the question of whether he'd run for the leadership. I'd offer more but I hadn't heard of him until last night.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, that's who I figured, but I wasn't sure. He was the pro-iraq guy. :p

[lucidite.livejournal.com]

Yes and no...
There was an interesting article about him in The Walrus that clarifies that misconception: he was for the Iraq war until it was discovered that there were no WMDs.
I've only "discovered" him in the last few weeks however he definitly looks like someone to look out for...

[caitlin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Ignatieff... That's him.

There's rumour that he's 'frontrunner' in the race to take over Martin's post as head of the party.

I hope not.

C.

[toughlovemuse.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I'd heard he was thinking of running, but this is only his first term, right? He seems a little green for a party leader, doesn't he? Especially if the next election is not that far away.

[lucidite.livejournal.com]

And as an old New Brunswicker, I can say that he did wonders for our province. In an era where other Atlantic provinces were facing massive unemployment, he managed to revitalize our industries and to create a new industry that allowed the province to cope with the fact that so many jobs had to be cut in the natural resources industries.
I remember that there were rumors about him running as a federal candidate back then and trust me, he would've won that seat.
And I suspect that he would still win it now!

[elanya.livejournal.com]

As an old NB'er myself, I know exactly where you're coming from :)

Man, I remember his first campaign for Premier, when the entire LA turned Red, which lasted for nearly two full terms...

Of course there are some liberal platform things I don't like, like their attitude towards parliamentary/electoral reform, and their strong emphasis on party discipline... but on the other hand, I'm sure he could do a lot of good for the country.

[toughlovemuse.livejournal.com]

You've got some numbers reversed there. Bloc had 10.5% of the vote nationwide, and the NDP had 17.5%.

The CBC reporters asked a few people last night if they'd be running for leadership of the Liberal party and they all acted offended. I don't even remember who they asked now. I know they asked Stronach without putting it in so many words (something like "any big plans?") but she didn't say anything interesting. She might run, but I doubt she'd be elected -- her switching sides will definitely work against her. I think a lot of people don't trust her.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Oops. Thanks for the tip-off. I shall go fix it.

[luvenditti.livejournal.com]

oy. harper.


oy.


whimper.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Like I said, it could be way worse. I'm just not looking forward to having to go through this whole election nonsense *again* in eighteen months or so. :P

[caitlin.livejournal.com]

I have a feeling...

It'll be 6. Months, that is.

C.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Wow. You have even less faith in our Tories than I do. Neat. :D

[caitlin.livejournal.com]

*giggle* Having watched the New Conservatives (I refuse to call them the Tories because the Tories are the PROGRESSIVE Conservatives, not this forced merger of Canadian Alliance and Conservative), they will try to introduce a lot of crazy motions, the vote of no-confidence will come up, and *CRASH*...

Although Layton... I don't know what is up with that guy... I don't trust him either.

C.

[ajpursell.livejournal.com]

My Grandmother, a wise and saintly woman, said of Paul Martin that he was a good finance minister, but would make a lousy prime minister. It's also traditional for a Party Leader that loses control of Parliment to take a bullet for the team.

Pity the Greens made a poor showing my aunt is part of that 4.5%, but the Bloq (of which I believe my mother is part of the 10.5%) will be the true opposition to Harper's Conservatives. I can't see them agreeing with the heavy Federalist notions Harper has spewed and that makes me happy.

Never thought that I'd be glad the Bloq made a strong showing.

[terheyt.livejournal.com]

My guesses on who will run:

Belinda Stronach-won't get very far.
Ralph Gooddale- Might make it to the final 3, or throw his supporrt early behind McKenna.
Frank McKenna- Might end up taking it, but hard to say if they can convince him to try.
Scott Brison- Will drop out early.
Sheila Copps- Will be universally ignored, but hang on to the end out of spite, like last time.

These are just the few names that spring to mind. I think, however, that Martin will be back as finance minister very soon, and within 10 years will at least be asked to take party leadership again. Whether he says yes to that is anyone's guess.

[sorceror.livejournal.com]

Stronach and Brison are both Conservative turncoats!

What about Ignatieff? I thought he was supposed to be the new Trudeau or something.

[karine.livejournal.com]

Here I come with leads of where to look.

First, sites like www.bourque.org and www.nealenews.com have assembled links to different news articles on politics and then some other stuff.

Next, make a search for political blogs, and those of journalists. Some of them are clearly partisan (several of the ones Adam reads, like www.andrewcoyne.com and Paul Wells at Macleans, lean Tory), but all of them have, if not completely accurate information as per bias, a lot of pertinent and relevant info that newspapers don't really have. Most blogs link to other blogs that link to other blogs, and so on...

After a while, these blogs become addictive.

And because you might not see this for a while, I'll find a more recent post and stick a link in as a comment. Bwah!