That was voter turnout....lowest in Canadian electoral history.

for shame.......

But you really can't fault the population if they are simply turned off by politics and politicians. Their apathy is discouraging and our government leaders should take note - how can you re-engage Canadians and get them committed about the future of this country?

A successful conclusion to 'Elect a Minority Government '08' - another minority government. Was there a point? Here are four points:

Point for Harper: A majority of people who voted yesterday don't like you that much.

Point for Jack Layton: Not yet, buddy.

Point for Stéphane Dion: Uh-oh.

Point for Elizabeth May: Proportional Representation or melting of polar ice caps. Whatever comes first. (Good try though.)

So, now that Canada's 3rd federal election in 4 years is over and in the books, what have we learned?

* Canadians aren't ready for a Conservative majority, but it definitely was a potential given the number of tight races around the country. So Harper doesn't get to rule with an iron fist - its back to coalitions and compromises for the foreseeable future as we have another minority government. On the flip side, the Tories are no longer a regional curiosity - the last election hinted at that, and this one cemented their position as a national party to rival the Liberals.
* Dion is in for a tough ride - although the party isn't openly talking about it, he will have to undergo a leadership review. One CBC commentator said last night that Dion is a symptom of the problems that the Liberals are having, and not the cause, meaning that the selection of Dion as a leader should be seen as a compromise between the warring factions of the Grits. Until they clean house and sort themselves out, the Liberals are probably an election or two away from governing this country.
* My suspicion is that the NDP are feeling good about their results, but probably wished they got more seats...what was interesting to me was Jack Layton was running for Prime Minister, even though the chances of the NDP actually forming the government is slim to none. But now the NDP can continue playing the role of the conscience of Canada...
* Not suprised that no Green MPs are in this 40th Parliament, but the party broke the 900,000 vote mark which must be promising for a party that has traditionally been seen as having a single-issue platform. Elizabeth May also shown promise as a leader that can carry the Greens to new highs - will the rest of the country agree that the environment is as critical as the economy, health care and other "election" issues?
* The Bloc did as expected - taking the majority of Quebec without sweat and ultimately, prevented the Conservatives from having an outright Majority.

So many questions left unanswered: how will Canada deal with any future economic turmoil? Will climate change be front page news again? What about other hot button issues like crime, gun control, health care? Are we going to stay the course in Afghanistan until 2011 as promised? And when will the next election happen?

Damn you Canada and all you non-voters!

At least Olivia Chow got re-elected.

Ah, voting day. The day that democracy lives and dies for, then we sit back and watch what happens. Or so it seems.

Nowadays young people don’t vote and old people do; however, youth of today are more engaged politically than previous generations in non-traditional ways. Voting is merely one thing about being political for today’s more socially-aware youth and for many it’s more important to be active in-between elections than just at election time. The problem with that thinking is that some youth don’t even vote because they feel like their vote won’t do anything, so they direct their political energy elsewhere, say volunteering at Greenpeace.

That’s fine, but you still need to vote.

Voting allows to send a message beyond just who you want to run the country this time. Thanks to some fancy Canadian election laws each vote gives $1.25 to the party you voted for. That means that if you vote for the NDP this time you are showing support for them AND helping them fight for the next election by raising their coffers. Obviously this works only for registered Canadian political parties so voting for an independent won’t get them any money.

So go vote and support who you’d like to see run this country.

Some more info on voting from my Things Are Good post:

Yes, it ’s finally here! All Things Are Good Canadian readers need to make sure they vote today. If you don’t know where exactly to vote check out elections.ca. It’s not a difficult task to vote since you don’t even need to be registered.

Remember that the most important thing you do today (if not this year) is to vote for the environment.