By Alison@Creekside
Just a 2% increase in the popular vote took the Cons from 143 seats in 2008 to a 167 seat majority tonight, thanks to our fucked up first-past-the-post system and because of what happened in key ridings in Ontario where presumably the Lib voters moved over to the Cons: ie., in Toronto the Cons took 31 seats to the Libs’ 8 and the Dippers’ 12.
So the Libs and the Dippers change places in seat count compared to 2008, Elizabeth May finally gets a seat while Duceppe and Iggy lose theirs, and the Bloc, the only genuinely social democratic party in the country, is wiped out.
Consider this: Quebec’s 59 seats has kept the Cons from an almost total lock on the country this time.
It will be interesting to see how Alice at Pundit’s Guide breaks down the efficacy of the various strategic voting guides. In my own riding — West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast-Sea-to-Sky — the recommendation from Project Democracy, previously Vote for Environment in 2008, and other strategic voting sites was to vote Liberal. As it turned out, the Dipper came second to the winning Con, who would have won anyway.
Note: In 2008 the voter turnout was 59%; today it was 61%. So much for Get Out the Vote.
What else hasn’t changed since 2008?
60% of the 60% of Canadians who voted still did not vote for Harper, who has been allowed to govern as if he held a majority for five years already now.
Leave a Reply