Congratulations Canada!
| Party | Seats | Percentage of Vote | Percentage of Seats in the House of Commons* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 124 | 36.25% | 40.26% |
| Liberal | 103 | 30.22% | 33.44% |
| Bloc Québécois | 51 | 10.48% (48% in Quebec) | 16.56% |
| New Democratic Party | 29 | 17.49% | 9.42% |
| Independent | 1 | 0 .52% | 0.32% |
| Other | 0 | 5.05% | 0.0% |
Voter turnout is up again after a record low turn out of 60% in 2004, with 64.9 per cent of eligible voters having cast ballots.
My riding of Parkdale – High Park has elected the NDP’s Peggy Nash as our repersentive, defeating Sam “CopyRight” Bulte. In response “Pro-User Zealot’s†throughout the Riding are singing out “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead, the Dead is Dead!“, as well as Hollywood’s MP loses the election — hit the road, Sam!, and Sayonara, Sam.
Question : Any bets on when Sam Bulte turns up as a registered lobbyist for the CopyRight industry? I mean a non elected one 😉
We may still have a new version of the flawed Bill C-60 to deal with – make it more consumer & artist friendly rather than leaning so far towards big industry interests – , and some milder concerns about a the next Minister of Culture (whether that’s Bea Oda or not), but at least we (a whole host of bloggers) managed to make some impact. Maybe not large, but enough to make a difference.
Update : Michael Geist has an excellent summary in :Lessons Learned, what happen, and what’s next. Northworthy: Blogs Don’t Get the Credit They Deserve? notes that turnout in Parkdale/High Park was up higher than the National average of 64.9 with a 72.3% turnout. and CopyrightWatch.ca has Food for Thought in Parkdale/High Park, where as Rob Hyndman wonders about More on the Growing Influence of Blogs in Politics
Now that the Conservative and Liberals have swamped swapped seat counts, with a gain for the NDP, we have an interesting minority government situation, with a block of progressive parties sitting in opposition. I expect that the they will be able to spin out some pro provincial action with the support of BQ. Also most parties might support some action along the lines of reducing the influence of lobbyist, improving accountability, and – a big maybe – electoral reform along the lines of Fair Vote Canada’s proposal for 100 additional seats in the House of Commons to be elected on a proportional bases*. Otherwise the Tories have an opportunity to show how they want to strengthen Canada – how about that 1% of the GST distributed to municipalities on a per capita basis? – Or not. Show us you are worth our vote. (’cause we will be back again in around 2 years! or 9 minutes as per Diesel Sweeties)
*I’ve inculded the Percent of Seats in the House of Commons to highlight the problem with the First Past the Post system. There is a saying in Canada : “40% of the Votes, 60% of the Seats and 100% of the Power”. The current systems under counts Conservative’s in Toronto, Liberal’s in Alberta, and all other national third parties (like the NDP and the Greens). It also tends to over count regional parties. (which may or may not be a bad thing)
Past posting related to “2006 Election Night in Canada” : Celebrating CopyRight Bulte! and Parkdale / High Park All Candidates debate