The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Conservatives: 124 (dances and cheers b/c that numbers lower then all predictions)
Liberals: 103 (much higher then anyone thought)
NDP: 29 (oh come on, can't we have one more seat?)
Bloc: 51 (I'm in shock)
Other: 1 (now this is an interesting one, a guy who is pro Quebec and anti-separation who chose to run as an independant)

so my predictions were not compleatly off, which made me happy in some ways but disspointed in others (come on, why can't the NDP have one more seat?). And the Conservatives got seats in Quebec, so I lost that bet.

TONIGHTS BIG SHOCKER: Martin annouced that he will step down as Liberal leader

So what does this mean? Liberal leadership race which will allow time for government to form without the imdeate threat of being overthrown. So we wont have an election in a year, my bets 2.

Now for campain highlights:

- Harper starting off his election platform by saying that he’d attempt to overturn the gay marriage law
- Everyone else lacking a platform of any sort until the first debates
- Layton bringing his guitar with him on the campaign trial. It’s viewed about the same as his moustache, either amusing or creepy.
Debate # 1 (French)
- They all wore the same thing, black suits, light blue shirts, and black, blue and yellow-striped ties. I’d like to know how they managed such co-ordination
- Gay rights question about what they’d do if one of their kids turned out to be gay (mostly directed at Harper) Martin, Layton and Duceppe said they didn’t care about the sexual orientation of their kids because gay or straight everyone is equal, Harper managed to answer the question without answering the question
- Harper says that he hasn’t quite managed to master his countries second language, seeing as the constitution states French and English are equal he didn’t socre any points with Quebecers.
- Martin and his pen: about 45 minutes into the debate he grabbed his pen and didn’t let go of it until almost the end using it to make dramatic gestures. This became a re-occurring thing throughout all the debates when he got flustered over a question.
Debate # 2 (English)
- Duceppe on the gay marriage law: (paraphrased quote as the real one is much too confusing) “we already had a free vote on it so the issue is decided and it should now be considered normal”. Apparently this method doesn’t work on Quebec sovereignty referendums.
- Martin’s impassioned speech on Quebec, (to Duceppe) “You shall not take my country away from me!” This went on for about a minute and included much arm flailing, finger pointing, and podium pounding while Duceppe rolled his eyes and leaned on his podium with a bored expression on his face.
Holiday Related Stuff
- CBCs “The Election that Ate Christmas” flash cartoon
- Martin getting photographed with any holiday related item he can find
- Layton attempting to sing Christmas carols in a choir and loosing his place and asking “where are we?” in the middle
- Duceppe’s photograph standing next to Santa which even the neutral CBC couldn’t resist captioning “All I want for Christmas is my own country”
Debate # 3 (English)
- The debut of Harpers creepy smile that appears at the end of every statement like a strange punctuation mark
- Layton: “Mr. Harper has just proven that he knows nothing about Quebec or health care” (camera pans to a surly looking Harper with Duceppe standing next to him nodding)
- Duceppe (on Martin): “He’s campaigning like an NDP, but when he’s in power, he’s acting like a Tory.”
- Duceppe: “Quebec is not a bitter nation…nor is it a worse nation…it is simply different.” In reflection he was trying to say better but got his i/e pronunciation switch messed up and it was not helped by the fact that he keeps pausing in the middle of sentences. However I’m of the personal opinion that Quebec is bitter.
- Another impassioned speech on Quebec from Martin, which Duceppe attempts to interrupt 3 times in French before Martin finally explodes; “Quebecers are also polite. They understand what a debate is.” Duceppe mugs for the camera, possibly amusing viewers but it’s lost on the enraged Martin.
- Duceppe and Martin dance around the “Quebec is a nation” issue for about 3 minutes before an exasperated moderator shuts them up
Debate # 4(French)
- During the question on gun violence Martin grabs his pen and starts waving it around while talking about getting tough on crime. It’s starting to look like a weapon
- Harper accidentally says pineapples in the middle of a sentence and doesn’t realise it
- Question: “Will the Bloc disappear/loose power if the fiscal imbalance is fixed?” Duceppe takes a leaf out of Harpers book and answers the question without answering the question
- Durring the “National Unity” section all 3 federal leaders try (very poorly) to outline how they’ll help Quebec, Duceppe tries (and partially succeeds) to tar all three leaders with the same brush using the sponsorship scandal and the option Canada scandal. Result: Quebec wins, National Unity/Canada looses.
The Fight For the Left-Wing Voters (during the final week)
- Martin says that a vote for the NDP is a wasted vote and to keep Conservatives out people should vote Liberal
- Layton retaliates saying that “[the Liberals] are just trying to scare NDPers into voting for them” and “a vote for the Liberals is a vote for corruption”
The Fight For Quebec (during the last 3 days)
- Harpers promises to make Quebec a more active part of the government were met by sneering remarks from Duceppe who criticized Harpers knowledge of both Quebec and French, plus a Bloc add that read “don’t let Calgary make decisions for Quebec”
- Harper responded with the statement “A few days ago Mr. Duceppe discovered the Conservative party, now he has discovered that I come from Calgary”.


and on a slightly more random note, we need elections if only to increase the good comedy on TV (air farce = brillance)

Overall I think I liked the student election results better Conservatives: 128 (shockly close to the real thing) NDP: 64 (I wish, looks good for the future of the NDP though) Liberal: 52 (obviously kids rate broken promises higher then adults do) Bloc: 34 (poor Duceppe, things aren't looking up for the Blocs future)