Canada is set to vote in less than two weeks on October 14th. It’s a parliamentary system, so voter choices at the representative level (MP=member of Parliament) in each district (riding) determine who the prime minister is. The major parties are the Conservatives (far right & center-right), Liberals (center-left), New Democratic Party (left), Bloc Quebécois (regional), & the Greens. The Bloc is a Quebéc-only party that has fallen out of favor this year. The big issue this year is whether the Conservatives can get a majority government. Currently, they have a minority government but with over 50% of the ridings (155 seats), they can get a majority, which means they would have much more power.
We’ve been talking about frames a lot, so let’s see how these play out in Canadian satire using kids to portray the party leaders. Rick Mercer is in the same vein as Stewart/Colbert and a friend at Ipsos in Vancouver sent the following video around. The players & some perceptions:
- Stephen Harper: Conservative & leader of minority government (“W”-like, from the oil-rich west [Alberta], hoping for a majority, emphasizing the economy and “stay the course” mentality, leader of party doing well in the polls now, good at framing & evading)
- Stephane Dion: Liberal (embraced green issues & carbon taxes, nerdy/egghead reputation, has French accent and is linked to past separatist sentiments in Quebéc, leader of a party suffering from weakness now)
- Jack Layton: NDP (strength metaphor, charismatic, resurgence since Liberal party has faltered)
- Elizabeth May: Green (seen as splitting the vote on the left)
The latest polls show that the Conservatives will likely win, but fall short of a majority. The NDP was hoping to be second, but they’re unlikely to overtake the Liberals. The election will be decided by 45 “battleground ridings.” I’ve been following this election since I spend summers in Toronto and figuring out Canadian politics. I must admit that I find the US election cycle fatiguing… January 2007 – November 2008. In contrast, this Canadian election season officially started on September 7, 2008 when Parliament was dissolved.
Comments 2
Don Waisanen — October 7, 2008
Hey Ken,
I can't get into the video link for some reason, but I'm looking forward to watching this. I've been watching a lot of Australian political humor recently, I think it'd be interesting to do some cross-cultural comparisons between the commonwealth countries and American political parody and satire as a whole. I'm wondering if humorists from other cultures are even more adept at keying in to the ironies of our media democracy--in the same way that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are adept at deconstructing structural media norms and practices (in comparison to most strictly content-focused pundits, who are not).
I agree on the long election. Thomas Patterson has written about this much in his book "The Vanishing Voter." We've set up such a long, grueling presidential cycle that it's no wonder many voters get fatigued with it all. He proposes that the whole election cycle needs changed so that 5 to 10 primaries start in April, and through the summer lead up to a 40-45 state "Super Day" when every other state votes. If the primaries led directly into the conventions, public energy could be sustained through November (instead of the long summer lull--though that was infringed upon a bit this year with the Hillary-Obama spout being longer than the usual primary showdown). He also thinks that, like many European countries, election day should be a national holiday, so everyone can get out and vote easily. Just some of many proposed changes I hope we can get some serious debate on in this country.
ThickCulture » Canadian Politics 201: It’s the economy, stupid! -or- If you’re about to lose, lock the doors! — December 4, 2008
[...] I never blogged a follow up to the Canadian election in October. The Tories (Conservatives) won with Stephen Harper as Prime Minister. The Liberals were [...]