Here's my riding:
1939-1985 inclusive - LIB
1989 - Equality Party
Since 1994 - LIB
1995 sovereignty referendum: No - 91.02 per cent; Yes - 8.98 per cent
Language breakdown: English: 55.3 per cent French: 27 per cent Other: 17.6 per cent (3.80 per cent Italian)The Liberals (in my riding) got 80%, higher than last time.
The Greens actually beat the PQ with 7.5 ...kinda funny.
The lowest result was the Marxist-Leninist party--they got 87 votes (presumably all 18 years old.) They came canvassing door to door to get signatures just so they could qualify, so Fernando took signed it. He thought it was interesting to have a Marxist party running! He asked if I wanted to sign, but I had just woken up, so I said something rude in return. Which would translate into: They'll never win, so why do I have to get out of my bed! ;-) Fernando... clearly a better supporter of democracy than I.
The Liberals in Quebec won a few more seats in this election, but the PQ didn't exactly lose since they got back some of their seats from the ADQ, who got killed.
11 comments:
This was the Oscar Wilde quote right under your story:
"If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you."
I guess the ADQ didn't make them laugh...
WHAT? You didn't vote?
Nope. Aren't we all allowed to take a turn on the Free Rider when we live in a riding that votes overwhelmingly the way we plan to vote? I like to vote usually, just on principle. But to go through the bla bla of getting out to the registry office etc. at the busiest time of the year for my job, when we just had another election? Fuggedaboutit. And clearly I wasn't the only one who felt that way. (I wish they'd just give the option of registering when you pay your taxes, as they do for the federal election.)
The election was hardly even news this year. But now that the ADQ has fallen, I hear the PQ is going to charge back into separatism--and then it's a different story. There was a 94% voter turnout for the last separatist referendum.
"(I wish they'd just give the option of registering when you pay your taxes, as they do for the federal election.)"
Yeah, we have that option in some states, I think, but also... Here, there were people standing on every street corner for *months* to help us register to vote and do the paperwork right there... Also, people came to classrooms and passed out voter registration forms fairly frequently. So, no one actually had to go out of the way to do it.
So, back into separatism, eh? We never really talked about this... Did you support that? I'm assuming so...? But that you wouldn't if it meant real secession instead of more sedimented cultural rights?
"Aren't we all allowed to take a turn on the Free Rider when we live in a riding that votes overwhelmingly the way we plan to vote?"
Yeah, I mean, I can't really sustain moral outrage here, since I have also absconded on local elections. For me, it often had to do with the fact that, well, North Carolina Democrats are not that different from North Carolina Republicans, at least not at the local level... At the level of the US Congress, yeah, but certainly not a lot of issues. I do usually try to be registered, though, because I do want to vote when there are issues (like school funding referendums) at stake and it looks schools won't be afforded the funding they need. But, then, I know some of those things are far more localized in my country than in yours.
No, I don't support separatism -- though I'm sympathetic to the feelings/history behind it. They're talking about real secession.
Re referendums: We don't really have them, actually. It's not a common thing.
Would real secession pass, d'you think?
I could be wrong, but I think that's what people had in mind at the last referendum, and 49% voted yes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Quebec_referendum
Well, okay, so... I really don't quite get the dynamic, still... I mean, how would if affect your material life if this happened? I mean... Would you move to Canada then, or...? Would you be some kind of dual citizen? Would things not really change all that much except on the books?
So, my context for what happens with secession pretty much everywhere except there is: violence, war, etc. But not in this case, so what *would* it actually be? I mean, wouldn't the economy stay just as integrated with Canada's as ever? And McGill still a Canadian institution... And... Cannot really grasp this. So, how would Quebec be any different, really, as an independent state besides...less regulation?
And... I mean... If Quebec lost federal social services type aid from Ottawa, then... Would it have the resources to provide the same kind of safety net you have now?
Sorry if this is an annoying/ignorant 101 type thing. If this is too derailing, maybe send me an email.
And also... What about native communities in Quebec? Would *their* "cultural rights" be a lot less secure too?
Is there a comprehensive plan in place? I'd be nervous about this kind of uncertainty.
P.S. I guess my country is out-drama-ing yours again... Sorry, I gotta rant for a moment. Major derail. Too lazy to take it to email at the moment 'cause I'm supposed to be finishing a paper...
Did you here we can now be denied *miscarriage treatment* if a doctor feels it conflicts with his/her conscience? Not only abortion now, but also: birth control and antiretrovirals (including to rape victims), and doctors are no longer compelled to (1) provide a referral or (2) explain their position (To wit, there'll be more: "Well, I think you'll die if you go on the Pill because of your slightly elevated blood pressure." The door got thrown wide open for doctors to be "protected" for systematically discriminating against patients who are deemed to be "unworthy" of care/"morally repugnant." As for miscarriages: Why would anyone *not* want to perform them, unless part of the new "conscience" clause has something to do with doctors clamoring for the "right" to deny care to Bad Women who Cause their Miscarriages (i.e. potential drug users, homeless women, immigrants..." Medical duty of care overturned in one fell swoop in the name of doctors' "rights to tolerance" for "unpopular beliefs" (See: bigoted beliefs). Not to mention... Those of us with chronic pain were ALREADY treated like drug-seeking junkies...
It happened on Thursday. Another one of Bush's surprise "twilight regulations" bullshit clauses... Very, very difficult for any incoming administration to overturn... Obama would need legislation drafted, passed in both houses, and signed within thirty days in order to overturn it, and well... Nothing happens quickly 'round here. Nothing, of course, except for Bush's two months of "fuck yous" to the American public. "Well, you don't like me, so I'm gonna throw a temper tantrum and do EVERYTHING I can to screw you and everyone else in the world over..." What's NEXT? I mean, all these major overhauls already... He's got a goddamned *month* left to go.
Oh, and...??? No one knows about this or cares. Mainstream media outlets are all on about "Bush's bittersweet final moments in the White House." It will affect virtually everyone I know here, and everyone is all, "Meh, it can't be that bad, Obama will overturn it" when, fuck's sake, it's not gonna be *that* easy for Obama to just wave a wand and *undo* this kind of thing.
And as for Bush... Shoes are too good for him. What a vile shit he is... Just, well, karmically (I know, not a word) speaking, I hope something very, very bad comes to him in the end.
oops, "hear," not "here."
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