Today is Election Day in Canada. Do your civic duty and go vote. You might have read our takes on this election every Sunday and become a bit cynical. Be cynical if you choose but go out and vote.
Some political reporters don't vote on a principle of complete lack of bias. Your humble narrator argues that reporters are citizens and should exercise the right to vote. Even if you are as cynical as a reporter, you should vote.
If you dislike the first past the post style of voting, vote for a candidate who will change that approach. If you don't vote, you won't have the power to change the system for better representation in Parliament in Ottawa. If you like the idea of federal senators who are independent or like having a party assigned to senators, vote for the candidate that matches your view on the topic.
This election might not have the best turnout: pandemic, difficulty in voting, lots of people using mail-in ballots. All the more reason to vote. Caution: We are hearing that counting might be slower than normal. More people using mail-in ballots will play into that scenario. Be patient through the process.
If you are able to vote and haven't voted, please vote today. Your vote is worthwhile and crucial to a functioning democracy.
This, hundred times strong. People of any country should decide for themselves how to vote. They should vote but the decisions are up to them. #elxn44 #cdnpoli https://t.co/lJHbHaZxGp
— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) September 18, 2021
When you do go out to vote today, you might find a lot fewer polling stations. Elections Canada has said 11 Greater Toronto Area ridings will see fewer than half the number of polling stations that were open in 2019.
About 5.7 million people voted in advance polls — an 18% increase from the 4.8 million who voted in advance in 2019.
An unusual feature of O’Toole’s daily press events is that he doesn’t introduce the his candidates in the ridings he visits, much less let them speak. pic.twitter.com/HGClycJ9jw
— Glen McGregor (@glen_mcgregor) September 14, 2021
In the parliamentary system, the people vote for a MP in their riding. The party with the most MPs can establish government, whether a majority or minority. There are a few nuances to that but basically that is how the system works.
You can get the impression that the race is about the federal party leaders, which is sort of true-ish. The MP is the person who represents the people in the riding and the way to get your voice heard in Ottawa.
MP candidates should be encouraged to speak up, especially with the party leader by your side.
Justin Trudeau wins second term as Canada PM but in a minority government
Our 2019 Canadian election coverage comprehensive guide
If you would like to see how 2019 turned out, we have some helpful links to our coverage. The growth of the Bloc Quebecois is pretty much why there was a minority government in 2019 and why we are having this election in 2021. If the Liberals had a majority government, this election would not exist. No government with a majority would risk this kind of scenario. Manitoba did vote a year early in 2019 but that was nothing like this.
Canadians have lots of choices to get their election night coverage. CTV and Global will interrupt their American TV shows to show Canadian election coverage. Citytv doesn't have a national news team. Newspapers will have their reporters commenting online. The Backbench podcast will have a Twitter space.
CBC will have a wide presence on its (temporarily) free CBC News Network feed (for Canadians). You can watch on CBC Gem in Canada. You can watch the feed online outside of Canada.
C-SPAN will simulcast the CBC feed starting at 9 pm Eastern until 1 am Eastern. The political geeks can tune in at 6:30 pm Eastern but the action will be more speculation. Once Quebec weighs in, we should have a better idea about how the night will go.
Canada election 2021: The pressure of the final week of the campaign
We want to try something different on Election Day. These are a few tweets that made an impact on what they felt about the campaign and its coverage. The use of these tweets isn't an endorsement of the rest of their Twitter feed: just the acknowledgment of their enthusiasm on a specific tweet.
I have to say this. I've been skeptical and critical of mainstream Canadian journalism, but I have never seen this level of trying to choose the winner/influence the outcome of an election as I have with this one. I feel objectivity is a lost art for many in #cdnmedia. #cdnpoli
— Neil Before Zod™ (@WaytowichNeil) September 11, 2021
The media, Barton in particular, harp on the NDP's $200 millon in spending pledges while ignoring that the current government is spending nearly that much on weapons of war and pipelines Only spending that helps people gets challenged #Elxn44
— trapdinawrpool (@trapdinawrpool) September 15, 2021
I hate it when politicians take advantage of Canadians lack of specialized knowledge of complex concepts to misinform.
— Trevor Purdy (@TrevorsIdeas) September 15, 2021
Inflation is an example. It's important but pretending a year-over-year snapshot coming out a pandemic is somehow evidence of a systemic issue is misleading.
I have a question for those of you over 50 years old...
— DerekZoolander85 (@dzoolander85) September 18, 2021
Was Canadian Media always so overwhelmingly bad at providing fair political coverage? 🤔🇨🇦#cdnpoli #Elxn44
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Election Day questions to ponder:
- You can't go home again but some NDP Orange Wave of 2011 winners are running to get back into Parliament from Quebec. The province is seen more as a battleground between the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois. The Conservatives have a few seats mostly around Quebec City. The NDP has a lone representative, the only reason Jagmeet Singh was in the TVA debate. Can the NDP significantly increase their numbers in La Belle Province?
- We feel bad for those people under COVID-19 quarantine who won't be able to vote (unless they voted early). We do feel worse if they are from places such as Alberta, who has suffered under poor provincial leadership and is dealing with extraordinary numbers as a result. Any time that Alberta premier Jason Kenney actually apologizes is a significant moment.
- The Green Party hopes to pick up more MPs. Annamie Paul doesn't have a seat and is running (again) in Toronto Centre. The 2 current Green Party MPs are in British Columbia. Green Party enthusiasts hope they get news early in the evening, such as winning a seat in Atlantic Canada. The Greens had a seat in New Brunswick until MP Jenica Atwin crossed the floor to join the Liberals.
- The pundits went nuts over the fact that the Liberals didn't win a single seat in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Liberals don't have a presence in either provincial legislature. The Liberals have 3 MLAs in Manitoba. The Conservatives have 0 members in the British Columbia legislature. We agree that a few seats from those provinces are helpful to the party with the most seats. The Liberals had 4 MPs from Alberta and 1 MP from Saskatchewan in the 2015 election.
- Some Canadians who want to vote for the Greens don't have a Green candidate in their riding. Some Canadians would prefer to vote for the NDP candidate over the Liberal candidate but are nervous about vote splitting, meaning the Conservative candidate would win. A few Canadians debate between the Conservatives and the party to the right of the Conservatives, wanting to vote their conscience over practicality. We have great respect for those undecided voters. Strategic voting might be practical but isn't much fun. We offer no advice except to vote. Do your best according to your head and heart.
- To the pundits who whined during the election as to why we were having the election, yet were pounding the drums for an election because "it was time" for a minority government to have an election, do better next time.
- "In the last 6 federal elections, Canadians have voted for a minority government 4 times (2004, 2006, 2008, 2019) and a majority government (2011, 2015) 2 times. When 2020 started, Canada had a minority government in 4 provinces and the federal government. If Trudeau and the Liberals won a majority in 2019, there would be a different story to read instead of this one." We wrote these words in the beginning of the campaign. Remember them if Canada votes in another minority government.
2021 Canada election preview
2021 Canadian politics preview
Canadian politics coverage on CanadianCrossing.com
In the 2015 election, Stephen Harper and his family lived at 24 Sussex Drive, the residence of the prime minister. 24 Sussex Drive has a number of repair issues — asbestos and a dangerous electrical system — and needs to be overhauled. No leader wanted to touch the issue about what to do about the prime minister's official residence.
Justin Trudeau and his family have lived in a section of Rideau Hall, the home of the governor general just east of 24 Sussex Drive.
24 Sussex Drive is not even on the radar since no leader wants to deal with the mess that taxpayers would have to pay for the repairs. The potential costs have increased in the last 4 years.
Trudeau did live in the prime minister residence when his father was prime minister from 1968-1979 and 1980-1984.
photo credits: Global News; CBC News
Twitter captures: @canadian_xing; @glen_mcgregor; @WaytowichNeil; @trapdinawrpool; @TrevorsIdeas; @dzoolander85
