I would make the note that federally we just vote for an MP (as mentioned). Votes are passed with a majority vote of the House of Commons. There is a Senate that can hold things up but the Prime Minister can appoint people to it at will. This means that other than the Supreme Court, there is no effective check on power of a majority government. The one positive thing I can say about that is that if a party wins majority and wants to keep it next time they have to moderate themselves, because they OWN the results of anything they pass. None of this passing something for political points that you know another branch will shoot down, or blaming everything that's wrong on the one branch you don't control. Though I suppose you could pass something you know the courts will say no to when it comes up (there are ways even around that in cases: ( http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/cdngovernment/notwithstanding.html ).
Splitting of votes on the left is not a new thing (as mentioned, the NDP has been around quite a while now), but at the same time a lot of people in the political "middle" here will most likely oscillate between Conservative and Liberal parties. Until a few years ago there was right-wing vote splitting too.
Another note: Gerrymandering is much less of a problem here, with boundaries for federal ridings set up by a neutral independent body. There are a few exceptions, like where I live where there was public consultation, and the city was broken into 4 ridings each with a large rural component ensuring it all went Conservative despite a strong NDP vote in the city (I suspect the meetings were stacked, but that's just me).
no subject
For a less serious but pretty accurate primer there is this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi1yhp-_x7A
I would make the note that federally we just vote for an MP (as mentioned). Votes are passed with a majority vote of the House of Commons. There is a Senate that can hold things up but the Prime Minister can appoint people to it at will. This means that other than the Supreme Court, there is no effective check on power of a majority government. The one positive thing I can say about that is that if a party wins majority and wants to keep it next time they have to moderate themselves, because they OWN the results of anything they pass. None of this passing something for political points that you know another branch will shoot down, or blaming everything that's wrong on the one branch you don't control. Though I suppose you could pass something you know the courts will say no to when it comes up (there are ways even around that in cases: ( http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/cdngovernment/notwithstanding.html ).
Splitting of votes on the left is not a new thing (as mentioned, the NDP has been around quite a while now), but at the same time a lot of people in the political "middle" here will most likely oscillate between Conservative and Liberal parties. Until a few years ago there was right-wing vote splitting too.
Another note: Gerrymandering is much less of a problem here, with boundaries for federal ridings set up by a neutral independent body. There are a few exceptions, like where I live where there was public consultation, and the city was broken into 4 ridings each with a large rural component ensuring it all went Conservative despite a strong NDP vote in the city (I suspect the meetings were stacked, but that's just me).