Canadian Election

Our neighbor to the North is having a general federal election on June 28, and mikpos at Kuro5hin has written a very good analysis of the issues and the Canadian political system. bq. For whatever reason, people generally vote for members of political parties. In this way, the parties, their policies, and their leaders, become very important in Canadian politics. bq. There are four of what I will call "really major" parties, three of these being national parties. These are the Liberal Party, Conservative Party, New Democratic Party, and Bloc Qu�becois. These will be discussed in some length. bq. There is also one "sort of major" party, the Green Party. The Greens have a comprehensive policy, are running a full 308 candidates this time around, but have yet to win a seat in Parliament. Due to a change in campaign reform, which prevents large contributions from individuals and especially from unions and corporations, political parties get funding directly from the government. Each party which receives more than 2% of the vote across the country receives $1.75 in funding per vote per year. The Green Party is expected to receive between 1% and 8% of the popular vote this election, and so the added funding could very well launch it into the "really major" party category for the next election. The Green Party's policy is much like that of any other Green Party across the world, in that it economically it favours income tax reduction (via shifting taxes onto polluters) and debt reduction, wants to create "green-collar" jobs, and is mildly socially progressive. bq. The minor parties where are registered for this election (there are any number of unregistered parties) are: Canadian Action Party (opposes free trade, favours monetary reform), Christian Heritage Party, Communist Party of Canada, Libertarian Party, Marijuana Party (a one-issue party), Marxist-Leninist Party (split off from the Communists in the 1970s over disagreements about the USSR), Progressive Canadian Party (see the section of the Conservative Party as to why this party exists). These parties are considered minor parties because they never get many votes, never get any seats, and never get invited to any debates. Many of these can be considered protest parties, although all of them take their policies quite seriously (yes, even the Marijuana Party). Fascinating reading...