dbd33

I don't know of any, part of my reason for ignoring Canadian news is that British or American news is described with more style.

iaink

There is much to be said for ignoring it, seriously, there is nothing much you can do to influence events, and reading about them will just piss you off I suspect

I glance at the globe and mail online from time to time, but I do wonder why I bother most of the time. The Guardian and Times are better written and offer better footy coverage

KS2008

This may be completely wrong and off-base, but one impression I've gotten about the Tories and the Liberals is that the Tories have historically taken the view that what's best for Canada is to suck up to the superpower of the day (Britain prior to the Second World War and the US after it) while the Liberals view is that their best course of action (and therefore by extension Canada's) is to pursue a more independent line (as seen when Laurier, Pearson, Trudeau etc. were in power). Of course, that's just me looking in from the wrong side of the Pond, so I might be talking a load of rubbish.

iaink

Whomever is in power sucks up to the superpower of the day! Canadas economy depends heavily on exporting resources to the US after all. Its all a question of degrees after that.

triumphguy

Your local (municipal) council will have more affect on your day to day life than politics writ large(ish).

There's a serious lack of vision in Canada right now - though Canuck politics wasn't always dry and dusty. For instance Sir John A. McDonald (the Father of Confederation, and a famous drunk) fired a cabinet minister because "there's not room for two drunks in this government, and I ain't quitting!"

If you want to learn about canuck politics through a cyncial and humourous eye go to youtube and check out Rick Mercer

iaink

Thread done then? I cant think of anything else anyone would need to know

MrGreen

First thing I got when I landed...Canadian History for Dummies. It's a great read and covers political history as well as lots of other, more interesting stuff.

rwin

Thats because a few years back the conservative party of the day (Social Credit) self destructed and all the members went running off to the Liberal party.

Alan2005

Splitters

BristolUK

The Times on-line may not be free for much longer.

Lord Vader

To understand politics in Canada you have to start at the discovery of the place and the wars between France and Britain that spilled over to the colonies. New France (Quebec) and Acadia (Maritimes) were obviously french until concurred by Britain. Acadia was concurred first and the Brits of the day rounded up and expelled the Acadians and renamed the place Nova Scotia, Then New France was concurred and later divided into Ontario and Quebec. Then came the American revolution and the loyalists mostly settled in what is now New Brunswick which was carved out of Nova Scotia. PEI was sort of it's own mini colony and served as a North American vacation destination for the upper class brits of the day.

The 3 Maritimes provinces often discussed unification and were separate colonies from each other and from Upper Canada (Ontario) and lower Canada (Quebec). After the American civil war the Brit government sought to unite the colonies in order to provide a stronger state against the US. The Maritime colonies had planned meetings in PEI to discuss unification when the discussions turned to uniting with Ontario and Quebec. Many Maritime politicians disliked the idea as they were nervous about being dominated by the populations in Ontario and Quebec and cutting themselves off from their natural trading partners and in many cases ancestors in the New England states. Sadly, they were proven correct.

In 1867 Canada was formed and the colonies of Manitoba, BC, and PEI joined soon after. Then the railway and the race to colonize the west took place and lead to Alberta and Saskatchewan and the expansion of some other provinces and eventually Newfoundland joined after WW2.

So we are left with a big ass piece of real estate with essentially 8 different countries including the territories. As you may have noticed with the EU, it is not always easy to get everyone to agree. Canada needs to have a loose federal government with provinces making the bulk of the decisions. This is sole biggest political challenge Canada has and it seems everyone outside of Ontario see's this.

Alan2005

I'm sure the british used violence rather than getting agreement from the french. I think the word you might want is conquered

Lord Vader

heheh, the french did concur after some convincing.

christmasoompa

My grasp on politics is shaky at best, and I was wondering about Canadian politics and how to get to grips with it, so thank you for asking this question!

Now all I've got to do is try and understand it...............

Londonuck

Hahahaaaa

Yes, dear old Gordo. Not only did he get pissed up, drive home and nicked, he then lied about how much he'd had. 3 glasses of wine my 'arris. Very statesmen like.