Sunday, October 20, 2019

Federal elections

Every four years I spare a sympathetic thought for our southerly neighbors.

The US has been in campaign mode already for months, and there’s a whole year of it yet to come. Meanwhile, Canada goes to the polls tomorrow for its federal elections. The difference? Official campaigning here started just last month.

That’s right. The entire Canadian federal election process lasts only a few weeks, almost fitting in between two of the US primary debates and barely a blip in the exhausting - and expensive - calendar down south.

The question is, does our fleeting process sell voters short, or does all that effort in the US produce any better outcomes for democracy?

4 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Wish ours was that short. This country is all about ads for everything though.

Denise Covey said...

I hate the idea of the US elections when I think about all the carbon miles those pollies rack up as they fly the length, breadth and width of a huge country. And those debates etc. And look who won (sorta) through this cumbersome process last election. OMG years of it ahead. Australia is like Canada. No longer than 8 weeks or we'd kill our politicians. People stopped listening a long time ago. But I know which country I'd rather live in, LOL.

Botanist said...

Alex, seems like big business is firmly in the driving seat ... adverts, campaign funds, lobbying ...

Denise, ours has been really low-key this year (mostly) which IMO is just as well.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Ian - bet you're glad you're not over here!! Mind you if I'd stuck my time out ... I'd be returning now to this morass ...

Life is not interesting ... probably glad I've had the best of times ... cheers Hilary

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