Canadian Election 2011 Update 5-Election Night Simulcast Coverage on C-SPAN2

Our Canadian cousins have (and in some cases still are) casting ballots in what promises to be an exciting and historic federal election.    In a few hours the political drama will begin to take shape and we'll learn the answers to how the Drive for 155 shook out..

Live south of the border like I do but want to be informed about how the election went?   C-SPAN 2 will simulcast the CBC coverage that starts at 9 PM CDT.    Don't bother going on Twitter, Facebook, Canadian online newspapers or any online media yet    Due to Section 329 of the Canada Elections Act that attempts to ensures that all sections of the country go to the polls armed with the same info the comment sections are shut down until 9 PM CDT until the polls close in the western timezones.

I'll be checking Election Almanac as well.

If you Canadian TransGriot readers violate Section 329, hope you have $25,000 handy.  That's the fine for violating the Act. 

I'll definitely be checking with my Canadian friends later and finding out how their Election Day went on various section of the country as I watch C-SPAN 2 and the CBC team pontificating on the 2011 election.

It's Election Day In Canada-Go Vote!

After a month of an intense campaigning with some surprising twists and turns in it and a record early vote turnout, Canada's May 2 election day has finally arrived.

The Drive For 155 is in the hands of the Canadian electorate.

There are a lot of interesting developments and plot twists that will be resolved today.    Will the NDP's historic surge catapult Jack Layton into becoming the next prime minister of Canada or will they fall just short and become the Official Opposition?

Will the Sweater Vest and his Conservatives get the 12 seats they needed at the start of this campaign to form their majority government, or will they regress and open up some drama in the Conservative party amongst their adherents who didn't think Harper was conservative enough?.

And what about the Liberals who are now in third place behind the NDP?   How many seats will they lose, and will Liberal party members start calling for Iggy's head if they do?

The Bloc Quebecois.is tripping because the NDP has rocketed to the top of the polls in Quebec at BQ expense.  What will happen to Gilles Duceppe if the BQ ends election night with less than the 47 seats they started this campaign with?

So my loyal TransGriot Canadian readers, time to do your civic duty in a few hours and go vote at your local polling place.   You can bet your Conservative friends will be up bright and early at 7 AM (or whatever your opening time is) doing it at theirs..


Looking forward to watching those returns when the polls close in the Great White North.   Here's hoping my Canadian sis gets the result she's hoping for.   All I am in this case is an interested observer and political junkie fascinated by how this 2011 Canadian election is playing out.   

Canadian Election 2011 Update 4-Record Early Vote Turnout

In what may be a good sign for the Canadian center-left parties such as the NDP and the Liberals , the early voting saw more than 2 million Canadians take advantage of the three day period of advance polling with the May 2 election just five agonizing days away.

In the 2008 Canadian federal elections 1,528,780 people voted early in an election that saw the lowest voter turnout in Canadian history at 58.8 %.

With polls showing the NDP on a historic rise that puts them first in Quebec and second nationally, if it holds they may end up becoming the Official Opposition or if they catch a few breaks may garner enough seats to have Jack Layton become Canada's new prime minister.

Alarmed by the NDP surge, the leaders of the Bloc Quebecois, Liberals and Conservatives have stopped training their rhetorical fire on each other and turned it on the NDP.

NDP Leader Jack Layton noted at a recent campaign event in Winnipeg, "Now, the old parties are spending the last week on the attack, hoping to drown out the voices for change in Canada."

"Well, in the final days of this campaign, New Democrats will launch a few attacks of our own. My friends, I will attack health-care wait times. I will attack doctor shortages. I will attack seniors' poverty. I will tackle the crisis in retirement security."

Too bad there isn't one more debate on the horizon...The last two were fun to watch.  

May 2 is going to be a very interesting and potentially historic day in Canada if the NDP surge continues, and Madame Political Junkie will be watching every minute of it..