As a future Canadian

as a future Canadian (my Canadian wife has made it VERY clear that the US will not always be my country of residence), Can someone explain the politics of Canada to me?

Yes, I know this is a very broad question, so I will try to refine it.

I think I have a grip on the general structure of the government. Theres a lot to know, as with any government of a major country.

What I do not understand is how the trends work. For instance, my wife describes Alberta as the Canadian Texas. I can grasp that. The breakdowns of most of the provinces/territories make sense to me. some are wierder than other (mainly Quebec), but they fit into my general understandings of the world.


What I do not understand is BC. As an Oregon, I think of BC mainly in terms of Vancouver. I would have expected them to be more inline with the trends of CA/OR/WA.

So, how are Conservatives the dominant contingent of their representation?

British California. :)

Pot, nude beaches, a more laid-back life-style.

But there is a strong Bible Belt there as well. And there was a major turnaround in attitude after numerous years of NDP govt, and the difficulties of the time. So they now have a 'Liberal' govt, which is actually made up of old rightwing parties. Social Credit, Conservatives, Reform and so on.

Don't worry about understanding it. When most Canadians read about BC politics the reaction is usually either :shrug: or :eyes:

"Canada's Texas" is exactly how I describe Alberta, too. Oil and assholes, with a significant minority of awesome lefties in some of the cities.

In BC, as in much of the rest of the country, people in rural areas and smaller cities tend to go Conservative. Because of the way that ridings are divided, rural areas are over-represented in Parliament (based strictly on population), and urban areas are under represented. This accounts for some of the results. The current parliament overall is extra skewed towards the Cons for a couple of reasons. Harper is (sort of) from Alberta, which has everyone west of Ontario excited, because they can get sick of all of our leaders being from Ontario and Quebec. (Note that Harper is a fake Albertan, and a fake "one of the guys" populist. He grew up in Toronto, and holds an MA in Economics - he's not exactly a Lethbridge farm hand y'know?) Also, this time around, the Liberal leader was perceived as particularly weak, especially out west.

Anyhow, I'm babbling a bit. Hope most of that makes sense and is helpful.

;)

that BC will be turned around in the next election or two?

Honest to George, I would be a little irritated to move to Canada, only to end up living in a "red state".

of American Democrats. And he's OUR far rightwing leader.

So we operate on a somewhat different scale. :)

So BC is a blue province. The Liberal party colour (note the "u" in "colour") is red. Is your mind blown yet? :) The NDP is orange and the Bloc Quebecois is aqua. Or turquoise or whatever. The green party is fuschia.

Seriously, come up here, read up on the Liberals and the NDP, and volunteer for one of them! You'll be most welcome!

its all color coded then. This is... I have no words for the emotions.

We have some more planning to do before we come. Its likely to be 5-10 years, based on loans and things. Plus noone on the grand world wide web will answer any of my immigration questions, and the Canadian consulate down here just shifts me to a message line, which then never ever returns my calls.

My hubby reprehensor is from Alberta, and I from Texas.

We were amazed when we first met and visited each other in our respective spots how similar they were.

The drive from Austin to Dallas is very similar to that from Calgary to Edmonton, with Red Deer standing in for Waco. Lots of crops, lots of cows, lots of oil, and lots of yahoos walking around in cowboy hats.

Yep, just like Texas. Cept colder.

:D

Also, dude... NEVER try to make sense of BC politics. Your head may explode.

is about %50 of the total BC population.

But there's Vancouver and there's Greater Vancouver. The Suburbs are all cons. The closer you get to downtown, the more liberal it all gets.

Yes, I'm totally urban.