You need to vote!!!!

[YoungMormonRoyalist]

Hey! By the way, as of my eighteenth birthday last sunday I got a letter in the mail encouraging me to register!

As of right now the Canadian government is in election time. We have a parlimintarian government which is substantially different from the American one. Basically, instead of voting for a leader, we vote for a representative of our area. More often then not that representative will be a member of a party and if enough representatives, or MPs (Members of Parliament) form a government the leader of their party will become Prime Minister, the de facto head of the government. Though the PM himself is below the official head of the state, Queen Elizabeth (via her proxy, the Govener-General), he generally makes all the propositions for legislation.

For the past few years we've had a couple minority governments. This never happens in the States as the government there is always formed from the two main parties, Dems and Reps. In Canada we have several main parties, so the party with the most forms the government, but may not have a majority, so they have to secure the agreement of the other parties before they pass laws, here are a few of them:

The Conservatives - Our right wing party, currently the greaters holder of seats in Parliament, though not in the majority. Their leader is Stephen Harper.

The Liberals - They are right smack in the middle, neither right nor left really. They've held power for most of the past 40 years, with periods where the government was formed by the Conversatives/Reform party (The two combined into one party). They are lead by Stephane Dion.

(The first two are the parties that usually form the government, the next few, though never leaders, have had a large number of seats and have been the wheels and cogs in great Canadian changes, such as Universal Health Care)

The NDP, or New Democratic Party - These guys are the left of center guys. Though I wouldn't label them full blown socialists they are often in favour of some quasi-liberalsocialistic ideas. The party used to be a provincial one, called the Canadian Commonwealth Federation, started by a pastor during the great depression. They have influenced the legalization of unions, and were the first to propose Universal health care, an idea so popular that the Liberals during WWII started it first because the CCF threatened to gain more votes. They are lead by Jack Layton.

The Green Party - These guys came out of no where, literally. No mention of them being in the race on a significant level during the past year. Then a MP crossed the floor and declared himself Green, which gave them a say in government. They are environmentalists, with conservative economic tendencies. I forget the girls name who's leading them....sad to say.

Finally, there's the Bloc Quebecois. They are a sepratist party by definition, looking to seperate Quebec from 'British Canada' and form their own francophone republic. However, in the past few years they have mellowed, merely seeking government recognition of Quebec's unique culture, language and heritage. They partially influenced Canada's transformation to an officially bilingual nation.

At the moment I have no idea who I want to vote for.

[Lbybug]

thanks for that information YMR. i have no idea how to vote either. and considering we've only had a bit over a month since the election was called for...it all happens so fast!!!

[a-train]

Jimmy Carter failed to support a friend that had been in power for 20 years, and as a result, the world is paying for it now, and will pay in the future.

Now was it our overthrowing of Iranian democracy or our failure to go into war to hold on to dictatorial power there that constituted our first mistake?

Who was right? Harry S. Truman or Dwight D. Eisenhower? We are now faced with this question: Does democracy in Iran evoke fears of war or feelings of peace? Do we really fear the rejection of totalitarianism? Are we Americans or not? Do we support freedom in all lands, or just our own? And, what does this mess teach us about interventionism?

-a-train

PS The Iranians aren't trying to nuke anyone, it is the west who is the aggressor. It is not the Iranians we need fear, it is the neo-conservative American runaway government.

Edited October 7, 2008 by a-train

[MarginOfError]

Now was it our overthrowing of Iranian democracy or our failure to go into war to hold on to dictatorial power there that constituted our first mistake?

Who was right? Harry S. Truman or Dwight D. Eisenhower? We are now faced with this question: Does democracy in Iran evoke fears of war or feelings of peace? Do we really fear the rejection of totalitarianism? Are we Americans or not? Do we support freedom in all lands, or just our own? And, what does this mess teach us about interventionism?

-a-train

PS The Iranians aren't trying to nuke anyone, it is the west who is the aggressor. It is not the Iranians we need fear, it is the neo-conservative American runaway government.

I find them both to be a bit frightening, actually.