Until a few minutes ago, this site was home to a conversation about the role of social media in Canadian elections. It was set up to aggregate the tweets (messages posted to Twitter) that include the hashtag #tweettheresults. That's how people across Canada and around the world have been tagging their reflections on Section 329 of Canada's Elections Act, which severely restricts the transmission of voting results until all polling stations have closed. We hoped that this site would provoke a conversation about Section 329, and raise the profile of the issue across Canada. We think it's done that, both on the social web and in the mainstream media.posted by gman at 4:11 PM on May 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
But that conversation became illegal at 7 pm EST this evening. Rather than face a potential fine or protracted legal battle, we have taken this site offline for 3 hours. When free speech returns to Canada at 10 pm EST, the site will be back online and you will be able to read all the tweets that have accumulated in the interim.
What is with the results on Ontario? Are right-leaning Liberals that scared of the NDP that they went blue? It's freaking me out to see so much blue on CBC's Ontario map.It's called vote splitting. Why do people wait until after an election to bother to learn how election math works? Clearly Canada got the terrible government that it deserves.
It's called vote splitting. Why do people wait until after an election to bother to learn how election math works? Clearly Canada got the terrible government that it deserves.
If you want to talk about vote splitting and strategic voting, the only strategy that works is favoring the party poised to get the most seats. This time that's the NDP, not the Liberals. Do the "election math."Here's the election math: The NDP has had flatline 15% popular support for years. For this election, if you wanted to see Harper removed from power you would have to be a complete fool to put your support behind the NDP.
Sensible long-term plan. Give Harper four more years in exchange for extinguishing the Libs, then take over in 2014.This is the kind of scorched earth politics that I do not understand and absolutely hate: "if I can't have my way then burn everything to the ground".
congrats, i_have_a_computer, you've actually managed to piss me off more effectively than Mr. Harper's done lately. Such a winning fusion of divisiveness, ill will and sour ignorance.Why are you pissed off? This was a huge victory for the NDP. It's all anyone is talking about. It's history. Why aren't you happy?
Last election, I was in a different riding and held my nose and voted LiberalI really don't care how you actually voted, because a single vote does not make any difference. But that statement is so telling; you can't say you voted Liberal without admitting that it was under protest. That is really throwing your vote away.
Mathieu G. Ravignat (Mat) holds a B.A. of Social Science and a M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Ottawa, and currently works as a Research Officer for the Government of Canada. He has been an avid martial artist most of his life and has a variety of experience in WMA, including Greco Roman Wrestling, Boxing, and Fencing (Sabre).Far as I know, that and the fact that he once ran for election as a communist is about all the voters knew about him. That's enough, apparently, to defeat a cabinet minister who won the past two elections with ease. An interesting result.
[...]
On March 15, 2008 he was chosen as “first amongst equals” at the 1st Annual AEMMA Armoured Tournament held at the Royal Ontario Museum. At this event he was honoured by the Lord of Wrentnall with the Ceremonial Claymore of the Clan Fraser-Lovat and received a certificate of excellence in arms.
I don’t know what Ignatieff was like in person, or off-camera, but seemingly every time he was seen on TV he was being rude and nasty, and he showed, or would even fake, zero respect for Harper. You have to remember that many people voted for Harper, and by calling Harper the devil, and telling him to go to hell, and always calling him "that guy" and going on endlessly about the contempt thing and the democracy, etc. etc., Ignatieff was in effect insulting a lot of people who voted for Harper, and I know the minute Ignatieff opened his mouth I switched the channel because he made me feel like a stupid redneck, which I don’t think I am, I just have generally conservative morals (at the moment). I really know the Liberals can’t see this, and I appreciate it, but Ignatieff wasn’t "nice", taken at face value, word for word, he was an order of magnitude more insulting and negative than Harper. Ignatieff would have gotten much more of a look if he wasn’t sort of spitting in the eye of 40% of the country.John Duffy says something similar:
On his part, if you look at Harper, I challenge you to provide one link where he says a single condescending or mean-spirited thing about Ignatieff (maybe the comment about his immigrant roots, but I don’t even think that’s for sure since Ignatieff was really stretching)... he sort of left that to the ads [emphasis added], and therein lies the huge difference between the leaders and the parties, and their results last night.
I see what [Harper's] been doing as positioning himself against the odium of the political system when on stage, while arguably fuelling that odium offstage in advertising and social media with the kind of negative plays you describe so well.It seems unlikely that the Conservatives would refrain from employing a weapon that works so well; so the NDP and Liberals will need to get better at it themselves. I'd expect an increase in the level of viciousness and cynicism over the next few years.
(2) Subject to subsection (1), each general election must be held on the third Monday of October in the fourth calendar year following polling day for the last general election?!?!?!? Is that October 19, 2015 or October 20, 2014?
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Note: I'm pretty sure that posting election results here prior to 10:00 Eastern would also count as publishing, and so any of us Canadians doing so would be violating the act.
posted by Lemurrhea at 10:00 AM on May 2, 2011 [2 favorites]