Canadian Elections

Yes it's that time again. Unfortunately I couldn't go back home to vote ... and it looks like the separatists will win my riding (damn).

Having lived in the US for almost 9 years I can probably compare the two systems. Canadian elections are shorter (about 2 months of campaigning). Canadian elections are more unpredictable. Canadian elections cost less and the televised election debates probably play a bigger role. And Canadians vote with a pencil and paper AND still have quicker results and fewer problems than American elections. On this last point, some may say, "the Canadian population is smaller". All I can say is that there are 30 million Canadians (about half the size of France) and that although we're 1/10 the size of the US, each polling station probably has the same number of voters - if they can count paper ballots in Canada, they can do it in the US.

What can I say about what's happening (politically) in the True North Strong and Free? You can probably read up on it. Surprisingly all the major papers here have articles on the Canadian elections.

However if you really want to know what's going on, this video clip (click on "Buckley's Ad") probably sums up the mood in Canada right now.