Ruth Ellen Brosseau is a newly elected member of the Canadian parliament. Here is just one of many articles about her. She was a New Democratic Party nominee from a Quebec district, and she won, even though she never believed that she would win. She is 27 years old and has apparently never visited the district that elected her. However, she seems a capable and dedicated individual, and most of the comments attached to this particular article are supportive. Canadian voters tend to be much more likely to vote on the basis of party than U.S. voters. The New Democratic Party also elected enough members of the Ontario Parliament in 1990 to take control of the Ontario government. That 1990 election also featured many New Democratic Party members of the provincial parliament who had not expected to win.
Canada requires 100 signatures plus a filing fee for a candidate any candidate to get on the ballot for the federal parliament. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.
Actually it was the 1990 Ontario election where the NDP won government here. Five years later they went from 74 seats out of 130 in the Ontario legislature and government down to 17 seats and third-party status.
How many of the newbies have ANY idea about REAL Democracy via P.R. ???
How UN-stable is Canada with the gerrymander district switches on a 1 least to 10 most scale — due to the larger party gangs ???
How can you get elected to represent a district you’ve never visited?
Thanks, #1, I’ll fix the post.
@3 – Canadians are more inclined to vote by party than by politician. This is probably more true at a federal level.
In Canada and also in the UK, the national party will frequently parachute favored candidates with little familiarity of local issues into safe seats. This also works in upset elections, apparently.
Pingback: Ruth Ellen Brosseau Becomes One of Canadian Parliament’s Best-Known New Members | ThirdPartyPolitics.us
This is hilarious.
The Green Party MP you all love isn’t from her district either. She ran in 3 different provinces in the last 3 elections. She also visited them when she campaigned but still.
Ruth Brosseau was elected for several reasons. One is that many Canadian are fed up with the caustic tone of the historically dominant parties.In most of Canada this applies to the Liberals and Conservatives; in Quebec it applies to the separatist Bloc Quebecois. There for many a mood for change. Some chose to give the Conservatives a majority; many decided to vote against tradition and vote new. I voted Green but in Quebec the mood was go orange and vote NDP. A big factor was the NDP leader Jack Layton. In our neighbours to the south we hear about thr Tea Party which sounds angry and bitter. The Conservatives in canada seem to relish this spitefulness and anger. The people in Quebec took a new look at Layton in this election and they saw a man who instead being angry abd abusive, pleasant and attentive. He was addressing the issues of health, employment and families, instead of attacking this opponents. Added to that he was still recovering from prostate cancer and a hip operation; this impressed people more. A fact in Canada is that our Prime Minister has be able to spreak French to get votes in Quebec. Layton doesn’t speak the French learned in the classroom but they everyday, work a day, French that he learned in the streets and playgrounds as a kid. Layton lives and represents Ontario riding but he has managed something never done previously. The majority of seats in quebec has previously gone to a party lead by a resident of Quebec. It is rare that the Quebecios refer to their politians by first name but with Layton he is known as Jack. I am sure that many voters marking an X for Ruth Ellen were voting for Jack.