c9: (Default)
c9 ([personal profile] c9) wrote2004-06-23 09:53 am

Question for those living outside Canada...

Is the Canadian election hitting your news, in any form, at all? Just curious.

[identity profile] bartok.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 06:04 am (UTC)(link)
this is the most I found on CNN.com:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/06/19/canada.politics.reut/index.html

on FOXNEWS.com I found nothing about the election, but I did find this:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,122789,00.html

this was on bbc.co.uk:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3826599.stm

[identity profile] c9.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 06:06 am (UTC)(link)
You're disqualified since you live in Canada. Remember what Elections Canada says: the Internet is not allowed to convey information about elections.

(not entirely true; they actually wanted to prevent election *results* from hitting the internet ahead of the closing of western polls. But this year, that's all changing. I wonder if that will have any effect?)

[identity profile] nihilicious.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 06:34 am (UTC)(link)
I think, to be safe, they should ban the Internet from containing any "information" whatsoever. From here on in, just porn, blogs, and comics about dinosaurs.

[identity profile] c9.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 06:51 am (UTC)(link)
Comics involving dinosaurs and humans living at the same time, specifically. Stockwell Day needs something to read, and it has the bonus of imparting only false information.

[identity profile] nihilicious.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 07:12 am (UTC)(link)
Done.

(This is my favourite comic ever.)

[identity profile] bartok.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 11:08 am (UTC)(link)
that comic is so worth it for the line "The realization that I've had a homosexual affair with the Utahraptor THAT I CANNOT REMEMBER AT LL profoundly disturbs me." alone.

[identity profile] nihilicious.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 11:38 am (UTC)(link)
I really do find it a brilliant comic. I'm a little sad I shared it because I wanted it to be special to me. Plus, to steal its humour and pass it off as my own.

[identity profile] bartok.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 01:55 pm (UTC)(link)
no, we would have noticed you suddenly becoming amusing.

[identity profile] kdborg.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 06:35 am (UTC)(link)
The staggered voting hours helps with keeping the vote secret. However, Atlantic Canada's polls will close 2 hours before much of Canada. B.C.'s polls close 30 minutes after that. For the most part, 30 minutes isn't enough time to count the ballots at most polling stations. The only real vote results will be Atlantic Canada's that everyone will see before polls close elsewhere. That might influence some voters and cause a rush at the polls out West.

The result in Atlantic Canada does have the potential to influence voters. That is unfortunate. The influence could pit regions against each other more than they are.

My own preference is to keep the results secret until everyone has voted. Elections Canada is most likely looking into ways to keep things secret. I'd suggest holding the results in the East until everyone in the West has voted. It would also provide for more convenient voting hours for those out West.

[identity profile] c9.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 06:52 am (UTC)(link)
Courts have held that it's illegal to hold the results, if I recall correctly. But yeah, slightly more staggered voting hours might help. It's tricky having six time zones in one country, I don't think anyone else has to deal with that (maybe Russia?)

[identity profile] kdborg.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 07:02 am (UTC)(link)
The hours of voting are staggered and normalized to Eastern Time here (12 hours of voting):

Newfoundland:   8:30 Local  7:00 ET
Atlantic Time:  8:30 Local  7:30 ET
Eastern Time:   9:30 Local  9:30 ET
Central Time:   8:30 Local  9:30 ET
Mountain Time:  7:30 Local  9:30 ET
Pacific Time:   7:00 Local 10:00 ET

During Daylight Savings, Saskatchewan gets split up.  Those parts in Central Time would be (7:30 Local, 9:30 ET) and Mountain Time would be (7:00 Local, 10:00 ET).  (Hope I got the Daylight Savings to Eastern Time correct.) 


Ignoring Atlantic Canada for the moment, 30 minutes is barely enough time to count most polling stations, let alone the time to get the results out to the media so that someone could use them.

If the courts have held that it's illegal to hold the results, Elections Canada would probably move Atlantic Canadians voting hours later in the day, say to line up with 9:30 ET).

[identity profile] ratonil.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 07:07 am (UTC)(link)
Wow that's complicated. I wonder if in Canada you have exit polls.

[identity profile] kdborg.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 07:29 am (UTC)(link)
The broadcasters may take them to get a sense of what voters are thinking, but claim they don't rely on them for election night predictions. This seems true since many results can come in before the broadcasters call it.

I'm working at a polling station election night (in Atlantic Canada). I should be home long before the bulk of Canada's polls close. I remember one time getting home and having the election declared based on the results in Atlantic Canada. We're not back to those days.

Last election, CTV had a system online that automatically updated. It was a nice system and expect them to have it up again. It's going to be a late night for me!

[identity profile] kdborg.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 07:31 am (UTC)(link)
...oh yes: Saskatchewan doesn't do the Daylight Savings thing, that's why it looks more complicated.

[identity profile] ratonil.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 07:33 am (UTC)(link)
Well this is a good reason to live in a country with only one time zone :)

Are you a journalist?

[identity profile] kdborg.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 08:11 am (UTC)(link)
I'm going to be a Poll Clerk on election day. Plus, I've always been interested in the process.

Once I get a job again, I'll be a software developer again.

[identity profile] bartok.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 11:19 am (UTC)(link)
however I actually read through some pages at FOXNEWS. I feel that's worth something...

[identity profile] ratonil.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 06:15 am (UTC)(link)
Here in Chile just a few comments in the newspaper. However I've talked with people about this at work and we agreed about the importance of these elections.

[identity profile] c9.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 06:53 am (UTC)(link)
I was going to say "wow", but I suppose within the diplomacy industry knowledge of foreign affairs would make sense. That's cool.

[identity profile] ratonil.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 06:59 am (UTC)(link)
The thing is here we are starting to get worried for our President and Parliament Election, both to be held next year :)

I really wanted to see one of the debates but unfortunately we don't have CBC or CTV here in our cable grill :(

[identity profile] kdborg.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 07:03 am (UTC)(link)
You might have been able to hear them on CBC Radio online.

[identity profile] ratonil.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 07:19 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah! But sometimes the broadcasting is not so good on the Internet. I do read Canadian newspapers though.

[identity profile] scott8424.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 06:41 am (UTC)(link)
I heard a rather lengthy (relatively speaking) report last night on National Public Radio; another more brief report on NPR this morning. And the president of our union made mention of it in his regular message to our board of directors yesterday, indicating how important the outcome could be to our industry.

[identity profile] c9.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 06:54 am (UTC)(link)
That's neat. I didn't realize there were factors that might affect the airlines, but now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense. The Conservatives probably would be far more welcoming to foreign carriers in our markets...

[identity profile] scott8424.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 06:56 am (UTC)(link)
And that's exactly what he was referring to, and, of course, the reciprocation of Canadian carriers in more U.S. markets.

[identity profile] c9.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 07:44 am (UTC)(link)
Hmmm. I wonder. I was about to say that it would never happen since our airlines are so small and fragile for the most part. But there are lucrative routes inside the US that they might be able to jump on. Certainly if the foreign ownership restrictions aren't relaxed. If they are also relaxed, then it's curtains for Canadian airlines, that's for sure.

[identity profile] scott8424.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 10:05 am (UTC)(link)
I don't think the foreign ownership restrictions here will be relaxed any time soon. Though apparently back in the early 1990s Bush I wanted to open up the U.S. market to Canadian carriers, for reciprocal rights of course. After Clinton was elected, that died. Bush II has once again floated the idea.

Apparently, Air Canada was opposed to that in the early 1990s but is now in favor. Amazing how bankruptcy and a little competition can change one's perspective.

[identity profile] cap-hill-latte.livejournal.com 2004-06-23 11:46 am (UTC)(link)
I've heard bits of longish-sounding pieces on NPR. I've also seen a lot on TV thanks to the availablity of CBC Vancouver through my cable provider and habit of watching CBC News: Sunday every week.