Hopefully you read my piece about the election in Canada that took place last Tuesday.‚  If not, here’s a quick look into what’s going on in the immensely boring world of Canadian politics.

An election was called about six weeks ago by Stephen Harper, our current prime minister.‚  His administration had a minority government, which means they didn’t have enough support to have complete control over the country. His party was loosing power, so he called an election for Oct. 14.

The election won him a stronger government, but still, he’s leader of another minority government.‚  He ran mainly against Stƒ©phane Dion of the Liberal party, who stepped down after loosing the election.

Canada has four prominent federal political parties by the way, the Liberals, the Conservatives, the New Democrats and the Bloc Quebecois.‚  Only people in Quebec can vote for the Bloc.‚  Stupid, I know.

So here goes:

I am a liberal.‚  My view on the economy, gay marriage, abortion and on everything and anything that is an issue is pretty much always liberal.‚  I’ve been a supporter of the Liberal party since I started following politics. I think I was about nine.

But last Tuesday, the first election in which I could legally take part, I voted Conservative.‚  Seriously, I’m not proud of it.

I don’t agree with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s policy, especially his administration’s decision to cut funding for the arts and its disregard for the Kyoto Protocol.

More overpowering than my disliking of Harper’s policy is my skepticism toward Stƒ©phane Dion.‚  As leader of our country, I have little faith he would do a competent job on a federal level.

One of my utmost passions is the environment.‚  I had real issue with Harper’s disregard for Kyoto, but Stƒ©phane Dion’s plan for decreasing emissions is worse.

Dion’s suggestion for implementing a carbon tax is pretty outrageous.‚  In Canada, the home of some of the most taxed citizens in the world, more tax on things like gasoline isn’t a good solution, especially for small businesses and individuals.

Implementing a cap on emissions for companies both small and big would be much more effective.‚  It allows companies to get more creative with how they reduce their carbon footprints.‚  It even benefits small business.‚ ‚  But Dion didn’t see it that way.

In the end this election was about choosing the lesser of three evils (four if you live in Quebec).‚  It’s been a while since Canadians have had a formidable candidate for prime minister.‚  A long while.

The prospects don’t look much better for the Liberals.‚  At least not until Justin Trudeau (the son of Pierre Trudeau, one of the most beloved and charismatic leaders in Canadian history) decides to run.

Millions of Canadians are heading to the polls today to cast their ballots in Canada’s third federal election in a little over four years.

Canadian elections work much different than their American counterparts.‚  For starters instead of two major parties there are three, the Liberals, the Conservatives and the New Democrats (NDP), along with a couple of others like the Green Party and the Bloc Quebecois (for whom only people living in Quebec can vote) that always tend to pile up a decent amount of votes.

Regardless of the number of parties, the Liberals and the Conservatives are in reality the only two parties that have a shot at seeing their leaders elected.

However since Canada isn’t run on a two-party system, Canadian government is elected as either a minority or a majority. A new leader is sworn in based on whether or not his or her party wins the most seats in the house of commons (the room where elected representatives from different constituencies across Canada sit) by the end of election night. There is no set amount of seats needed to win, the number just has to be higher than any other party’s.

Also, unlike in the U.S., people do not vote for who they’d like to see as leader; the names of the candidates for prime minister aren’t even on the ballot.

Voters choose who they’d like to see represent their community in the house of commons and whichever party gets the most representatives, wins the federal election.

There are in total 308 different electoral ridings across Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories.‚  Majority governments only come into place if the public elects more than half of the country’s electoral district representatives from the same party.

Minority governments can stay in power until the opposing parties in the house of commons decide that the current government is no longer productive.

When the opposing parties call this to attention, it is known as a no confidence motion or a vote of no confidence.‚  The phrase’s meaning is literal; the majority of the political representatives no longer have confidence in the current government’s ability to effectively govern the country, and want the public to reevaluate their choices through an election.

An election can also take place (and this is rare) if the leader of the minority government calls one because HE feels the government isn’t being as productive as it could be. The election’s goal would be to re-establish support for his party.

This happened about five weeks ago.‚  Opposing candidates have been campaigning for five weeks (yea, a lot shorter than in America eh?) in hopes of replacing current Prime Minister Stephen Harper of the Conservative party.

Pre-election polls predict another minority government for Harper’s Conservatives.

Not surprising, here’s the main opposition, Stƒ©phane Dion of the Liberal party.‚  In this interview, he has a moment that’s well…Sarah Palin-esque.‚  The interview starts about 45 seconds into the video.

I do support Liberal government, just not one run by this dude.

I really don’t like how elections are run in Canada. I’d much rather see it run on a two-party system. That would allow for a much more stable government for at least four years.

In the current electoral system, opposing parties are always clawing at each other in an attempt to gain more prominence while the citizens of the country suffer under an unproductive government. They do that in the States too, but in the U.S. there is no way three elections could happen in a little over four years.

Nothing gets accomplished if elections are held so close together.

UPDATE: Stephen Harper is elected Prime Minister of Canada and leader of another minority Conservative government.