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Canadians voted for a sweeping change in government Monday, giving Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau a majority to end the nearly 10-year rule of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Election returns showed Trudeau's Liberals winning a majority of the 338 seats in Parliament. With 85% of polls reporting, the Liberals either won or were leading in 185 seats. The party needed to win 170 seats for a majority government.
Trudeau, 43, the oldest son of the late prime minister Pierre, will become the second youngest prime minister in Canadian history.
The story is being carried by USA Today and just about every major news outlet. There were some economic takes on the election as well.
takyon: Results at CBC and BBC. DeSmog Canada has an analysis focusing on potential shifts in environmental and science policies:
The Liberal party has taken a strong stance on the war on science in Canada, promising to free scientists to speak publicly about their work. Trudeau has also promised to instate a Parliamentary Science Officer to ensure transparency, expertise and independence of federal scientists. This position will mirror that of the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
In addition to unmuzzling scientists, the party also wants to work collaboratively with the provinces, First Nations and other stakeholders when it comes to ocean management. This is significant in light of the Conservative government's de-funding of numerous marine science programs, including the only research being conducted into the effects of industrial pollutants on marine mammals. The Liberal party has promised to reinstate $40 million of funding for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by gnuman on Tuesday October 20 2015, @06:37AM
Anyone is better than politics of the dethroned Harper. Remember the "you are either with us or with pedophiles"? That has stuck with me and why I made sure to vote.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tories-on-e-snooping-stand-with-us-or-with-the-child-pornographers/article545799/ [theglobeandmail.com]
Now we'll see if Trudeau will do as he promised.
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Liberal Party pursue political reforms which promote:
Open, democratic nominations of candidates;
Fewer “whipped” votes in Parliament and more “free” votes requiring individual MPs to assume full responsibility for their decisions;
Stronger Parliamentary control over public finances, including an annual deadline for the budget; accounting consistency among the Estimates and the Public Accounts; more clarity in voting on Estimates; a costing analysis for each government Bill; and a requirement that government borrowing plans must get Parliament’s pre-approval;
A truly independent, properly resourced Parliamentary Budget Officer;
A more effective Access-to-Information regime with stronger safeguards against political interference;
An impartial system to identify and eliminate the waste of tax-dollars on partisan advertising;
Careful limitations on secret Committee proceedings, Omnibus Bills and Prorogation to avoid their misuse for the short-term partisan convenience of the government;
Adequate funding, investigative powers and enforcement authority to ensure Elections Canada can root out electoral fraud;
Pro-active disclosure of parliamentarians’ expenses, a more transparent Board of Internal Economy and better audit rules;
A truly independent Senate not based upon partisanship or patronage;
I hope this will at least bring an end to the "Action Plan" 24/7 adverts.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by mojo chan on Tuesday October 20 2015, @07:30AM
Another major democracy rejects hard austerity. It's a shame that the UK will have to suffer for another five years before we get this chance, unless the government collapses after the EU vote.
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(Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday October 20 2015, @02:41PM
Another major democracy rejects hard austerity. It's a shame that the UK will have to suffer for another five years before we get this chance, unless the government collapses after the EU vote.
I blame the centrists and the left. They wanted to punish the lib dems for being a small part of the last government, and they did this by voting Tory...
I still don't hear labour pushing for a fairer voting system either, one which wouldn't allow Dave (or Jez) to get in with only 24% of the electorate, 37% of the votes, 50% of the seats, and 100% of the power.
(Score: 2) by n1 on Tuesday October 20 2015, @05:00PM
Regarding the LibDems and reform. AV was still an idiotic sham in my opinion. PR was never offered. It was a similar sham to how the US healthcare reform happened, there was at no point a single payer or NHS type option on the table to vote for or against. Different outcomes that do nothing useful, outside of the empty rhetoric both reform attempts were framed debate and illusion of progress.
(Score: 1) by purple_cobra on Tuesday October 20 2015, @07:56PM
This is something they'll have a long time to cry over once the Tories have forced through (which is seemingly what all those new Tory peers in the House of Lords were for) the boundary changes. I do, in part, blame the younger generation for not voting in larger numbers; had they done so, it is very unlikely we'd be in the situation we are now. That they *didn't* vote was pure masochism as they're the first ones to get the chop (see tuition fees, student loans, etc). The natural Tory voter is the older home-owner, with pensioners being vastly more likely to vote that way (Tories ensure pensions aren't lowered, pensioners vote Tory), though I should say that there's no evidence that they'd be worse off under any other party (though UKIP pulling up the drawbridge would kill the NHS much faster than the Tories are doing so).
But we're stuck with them for another 5 years and I shudder to think what state we'll be in by then.
(Score: 2) by gnuman on Wednesday October 21 2015, @04:48PM
Another major democracy rejects hard austerity.
I would not say that. Canadian government has little to do with "austerity" since liberals of 2000 under Chretien balanced the budget and produced surpluses for many consecutive years. It was not until the Conservative government of Harper (that was just kicked out), that rolled a 60 billion deficit - largest in Canadian history. He also expanded the government at a fastest pace than his predecessors while managing to kill science funding at same time. So no, austerity has little to do with anything here. It was more mentality of "kick the bums out" and positive message of Trudeau.