Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the first Western leader to contest an election since the financial meltdown, won a second minority government mandate Tuesday, two television networks projected. The Conservatives convinced voters they were the best choice to steer Canada through the economic turmoil, but projections by Global Television and CTV put them short of winning a majority. That means they would still need opposition party support to govern. The official opposition Liberals, who have historically governed Canada for longer than any other party, trailed far behind in second place and looked set for their worst showing in at least 20 years.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the first Western leader to contest an election since the financial meltdown, won a second minority government mandate Tuesday, two television networks projected.
The Conservatives convinced voters they were the best choice to steer Canada through the economic turmoil, but projections by Global Television and CTV put them short of winning a majority. That means they would still need opposition party support to govern.
The official opposition Liberals, who have historically governed Canada for longer than any other party, trailed far behind in second place and looked set for their worst showing in at least 20 years.
Matthew Yglesias » Home Page
The big winner from the Canadian electoral system is the Bloc Québécois. But the main problem with the system isn't even that it's unfair -- the US Senate is horribly unfair -- but that the system is incredibly unresponsive to shifts in voter sentiment or behavior.
All other things equal, the system isn't just unresponsive, it's perverse. If certain moves towards the right by the conservative party (say, building nuclear power stations to extract oil from the Alberta tar sands) radicalise the left, the resulting splits benefit the right as long as it hangs onto its own base (it doesn't need more than 40%).
It might still be cured by better leadership among the liberals.
The Conservatives convinced voters they were the best choice... but projections ... put them short of winning a majority
How can someone write down such a total contradiction. Cognitive dissonance at its best. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
For the record, I should have included that the piece is by reuters, not by JMM or TPM staff.
The reason why Canadian elections have perverse results is that the first past the post system rewards concentrated support and penalises parties with votes spread more thinly.
Given that most Quebec seats are won by the Bloc Quebecois (likely to return about 40-50 seats for the forseeable future) and the New Democratic Party (with more than twice the Bloc's overall vote) is likely to elect 20-40 members, the results will be highly disproportional and neither of the two major parties is likely to obtain an overall majority.
First past the post is incompatible with meaningful democracy.
