Canadian Election Results

[Hades]

So Trudeau lost the popular vote but ended with the most seats. How does that work? I thought America was among the few places to use the stupid electoral college system.

 

[Hades]

It fails in two respects. It has single member electoral districts and a media landscape dominated by the wealthy. The latter makes any so-called 'democracy' a managed democracy at best

Isn't every media landscape dominated by the wealthy because you already need to have a lot of money to own any media? I doubt there are many plebeians able to afford a tv company.

 

[CM156]

So Trudeau lost the popular vote but ended with the most seats. How does that work? I thought America was among the few places to use the stupid electoral college system.

Canada is a Democratic Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy. The prime minister is not directly elected.
Whichever party gets the most seats in parament gets to pick the Prime Minister. Since they use a first-past-the-post system, this can result in one party winning fewer votes but more seats.

 

[Agema]

Canada is a Democratic Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy. The prime minister is not directly elected.
Whichever party gets the most seats in parament gets to pick the Prime Minister. Since they use a first-past-the-post system, this can result in one party winning fewer votes but more seats.

Americans could perhaps imagine it as there being no president, and the president's powers instead exercised by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

 

[Hawki]

This is one of those few times I'm sad Zontar isn't here, because I seem to remember him insisting there was no way in hell Trudeau was going to win, and that the Conservative Party was going to stomp him.

From what I recall (and looking at his Twitter, it's still the case), Zontar seems to be a PPC fan.

I suppose in theory that would mean he'd like the conservatives more, but I don't recall him cheering for them.

 

[Seanchaidh]

Isn't every media landscape dominated by the wealthy because you already need to have a lot of money to own any media? I doubt there are many plebeians able to afford a tv company.

Yes, democracy that lives up to the name is quite rare. However, there are ways around the problem. It is possible, for example, to have less of a reliance on television and so forth for the supply of information; you might have a more participatory system which goes out of its way to educate voters during the decision-making process. It is also possible for wealth to be more evenly distributed, media company ownership to be less concentrated, and so on. Given the outsize influence of the United States on Canada, it's questionable whether Canada is capable of any of these solutions at this time. I have to imagine that the ruling class of the United States has been quite content with Trudeau.

 

[Agema]

From what I recall (and looking at his Twitter, it's still the case), Zontar seems to be a PPC fan.

He was a Conservative supporter, but was disappointed when the rabidly right-wing faction didn't win the leadership election a few years ago and switched to PPC as soon as Bernier created it.