We knew the NHL Opening Night would have its share of political ads, and we were not disappointed.
The Liberals ran an ad poking a little fun at the "not ready" label placed on Justin Trudeau by the Conservatives. The ad talks about what Trudeau is ready to do if his party wins on October 19 and what he's not ready to expect.
The Conservatives ran an ad that could be called "Justin vs. Harper." In the world of this ad, there are only 2 parties and the Liberal Party path would be the wrong path. The ad is virtually all anti-Liberal and soft, brief mentions of what Conservatives would do.
The other obvious dig is in the names above each column in the ad. The first name of the Liberal Party leader vs. the last name of the Conservative Party leader. We generally prefer positive ads to negative ads: the extra pettiness seems rather childish.
The NDP ad is Tom Mulcair sitting on a desk telling us why true change involves the NDP winning on October 19. No digs at other parties, the ad is straight forward about why the NDP is the best option for change in the upcoming election.
Yes, we know all the parties are running positive and negative ads throughout the campaign. But the NHL opening night should bring out your best. If that's true, we definitely learned something about the 3 major parties in this election.
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Stephen Harper circled October 19 as the election date some time ago. Turns out that meant advance voting happened over the Thanksgiving weekend.
The Canada Elections Act says advance polls must be held the 10th, 9th, 8th and 7th days before election day. In 2015, this meant the Friday-Monday period of Thanksgiving weekend.
In the first 3 days of advance voting, Elections Canada reported around 2.4 million went to the polls, up 16% from 2011. In fact, the stories were about long lines that Elections Canada clearly weren't ready to handle.
The 3-day total surpassed the mark in 2011 with 2.1 million people — 14% of those that voted — voted in advance polls.
These totals do not count those who turned out on Thanksgiving Monday.
If you need information about voting and how to vote, click here for the Elections Canada page.
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Wanting to vote is crucial in an election, but you also have to know where you are going to vote. The report of incorrect voter cards is always a bad sign, but in this election, and with Elections Canada role being reduced in helping voters, hopefully, voters can get the correct information in time to vote.
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Sarah Silverman has certainly spent time in Canada, especially when filming "Take This Waltz" in Toronto. But Silverman is not Canadian.
Silverman sent out the positive tweet for the NDP but specifically called out people to vote for Mira Oreck, the NDP candidate in the Vancouver-Granville riding in British Columbia.
This led to speculation as to whether the American comedian violated Section 331 of the Canada Elections Act.
No person who does not reside in Canada shall, during an election period, in any way induce electors to vote or refrain from voting or vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate unless the person is (a) a Canadian citizen; or (b) a permanent resident within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
The age of Twitter and social media allows more people to know what is going on in Canada. Oreck met Silverman in New York in 2012, so Silverman's endorsement wasn't random.
The vote or refrain for a particular candidate is understandable, though if Silverman conducted the alleged illegal activity on U.S. soil, could Canada do anything about it?
The issue with "induce electors to vote or refrain from voting" is a more curious one. Would that clause not allow CanadianCrossing.com to say, "Vote on October 19," hypothetically?
CanadianCrossing.com hereby and forthwith says we will never ask anyone ever to refrain from voting in any election ever. We also are not and will not endorse any specific candidate or party in this or any other Canadian election. If CanadianCrossing.com could gain tremendous publicity without long-term negative effects by asking people in Canada to vote in this election, we would consider breaking that law.
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"Oil is a natural substance. So spilling into the environment, the land will absorb it, 'cause that's what oil is," Conservative Party candidate Sabrina Zuniga said during an interview with CPAC (Cable Public Affairs Channel).
In the United States, we are used to hearing those on the right wing not knowing or understanding science. And Zuniga wasn't likely to win in the new Spadina-Fort York riding, especially against Liberal candidate Adam Vaughan, NDP candidate Olivia Chow, and Green candidate Sharon Danley.
What makes the saga of Sabrina Zuniga much more hilarious/depressing is that Zuniga is a former science teacher.
"Those who can't do, teach" is a memorable line that really doesn't apply to teachers, but might indeed apply to Zuniga. We shouldn't be afraid of facts and truth and we should incorporate them into the discussion.
Moving oil is a messy issue on both sides of the border. Saying that spilled oil isn't important because "the land will absorb it" is messy in itself 'cause it isn't true.
We know the United States is a great influence on Canada. But the concept of clueless right-wing politicians who don't know science shouldn't be exported to Canada.
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You've sat through a lot of policy and a bit of silliness in this campaign. So here's a summary of the major party leaders through the eyes of "Game of Thrones." This is not the first world election that has been reduced to terms that GOT fans can follow. But this is pretty accurate.
This is the source that we found of this GOT take on the 2015 Canadian federal election. If there is an issue of credit, we are glad to give full credit.
Feel free to print this out and bring it with you to the voting booth if this will help.
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Canada traditionally has higher voter turnout than the United States, though the Canadian numbers have been tumbling in the last few elections.
Rick Mercer is rather upset about this trend, especially among young people. Mercer wants people to go to votenation.ca where people can take a photo and imprint the meme with "I Will Vote 2015."
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If you missed our Toronto Blue Jays playoff preview, you didn't see our story on why the federal party leaders are not going to Blue Jays playoff games. They each attended a game in August or September and the team lost each game. Joe Oliver, who was close to being placed on milk cartons, attended a game after the deal to avoid Rogers Centre, and sure enough, the team lost.
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videos credit: Liberal and Conservative ads: YouTube/Canuck Politics; NDP ad: YouTube/FactPointVideo
Twitter credit: @SarahKSilverman
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