Parallels between current Canadian and UK Political situation

Why is it that no one in the press has draw the parallel between the current Canadian political situation and the new political situation in the UK.

The equivalent of the Labour party of Canada, the Liberals, ruled Canada for an extended period of time. They also ruled through a crisis triggered by a Moody’s possible downgrade.

Paul Martin was an acclaimed Treasurer who took over for Jean Cretien but was never elected as Prime Minister.

After scandals, the Liberals (Lab equivalent), were dropped, but the conservative party in Canada could only manage a minority election success.

The conservative party of Canada is only strong in the West, as the Tories are only strong in England.

Quebec has a strong nationalist party, the Bloc Quebecois which is equivalent the the SNP, although more successful.

Only the Liberals have a trans Canadian presence- ala Labour.

Canada has a strong “3rd” party which is always pushing for PR, the NDP- National Democratic Party- akin to the Liberal Democratic party in the UK.

Canada has a first past the post system which usually means a minority government doesn’t last.

But this one has, because none of the parties can gain any traction in any of the elections they have called.

The great thing is that their status as a minority government has meant the conservatives in Canada couldn’t be as brutal and right wing as they wanted to be, which Canadians are happy with, but they still had a conservative agenda, which Canadians wanted a bit of.

I’d argue the UK is in a similar position, wanting the toughness and cuts and market orientation of the Tories without letting them get too extreme and theoretical….

So a hung parliament can work (see Canada), and it’s not unprecedented, and in fact the overlap is incredibly similar.

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