There wasn’t a winner in the US election declared before this blog post was put to bed, but I will make a couple of points about why elections in this country are not such a gong show. Number one is that we have an arm’s length federal elections agency that administers elections, whereas the Americans let each state run their federal elections, resulting in an inconsistency in rules and even methods – some states using only electronic voting machines, others using paper ballots, and there being a confusion around mail-in ballots, not to mention that the fact that we have more than enough polling stations so that lines are rarely more than ten minutes, if that. In Canada, we have arm’s length quasi-judicial processes to draw riding boundaries that have virtually eliminated gerrymandering, whereas political considerations have created such skewed, gerrymandered districts in the US, and their Supreme Court refuses to do anything about them. Attempts to disqualify voters in Canada have been struck down or punished electorally, whereas it’s a voter suppression tactic in the US with hugely racial overtones. And more than anything, we have a monarch and a governor general who act as a constitutional fire extinguisher if everything goes awry in the results. We’re pretty damn lucky to live here, in a functional democracy.

#Election2020 pic.twitter.com/aDiyTVw79w

— Oliver Cooper (@OliverCooper) November 3, 2020

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau spent Question Period reiterating that yes, he does unequivocally support freedom of expression, somewhat undoing his waffling last week.
• Chrystia Freeland says the government is ready to help any Canadians who may be stranded in the US should there be any post-election chaos.
• Business groups are calling the new commercial rent subsidy unfair because it can’t be used retroactively to cover those who couldn’t get the former version.
• The government tabled legislation to update the Broadcast Act, and it proposes to have streaming services contributed to CanCon funds as other broadcasters do.
• The immunity task force delivered their initial guidelines on vaccine prioritisation, and unsurprisingly it’s recommending that the elderly and vulnerable to go first.
• After complaining about pandemic benefit cheats, the Conservatives now oppose compliance audits as part of the new round of small business benefits. (Pick a lane).
• The Conservative caucus is split on the assisted dying bill, and their critic thinks the government should have appealed the Quebec court decision that led to it.
• François Legault – who is trying to clamp down on religious expression in his province – is trying to pick a fight with Trudeau over freedom of expression.
• Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column updates the status on the various attempts to continue WE Imbroglio investigations at various committees.
• Kevin Carmichael notes how Chrystia Freeland’s choice of policy speech on the same day as Tiff Macklem stepped on his toes and sent some mixed messages.
• Heather Scoffield is confident that Canada will persevere through any post-election chaos south of the border.
• Max Fawcett offers a corrective about what actually happened under the National Energy Program, as opposed to the myth that permeates in Alberta to this day.
• Leonid Sirota explains why the stunt lawsuit launched by “children” around climate change was thrown out of court, and why we should get judges to set climate policy.
• Matt Gurney makes the case that regardless of the outcome of the US election, Canada needs to be more serious about its role in the Western military alliance.
• Colby Cosh demonstrates the flaws in the logic employed by the prime minister on his cautions around unlimited free speech last week (which he has since recanted).
• My column calls on the prime minister to strike a new vice-regal appointments committee and start the search for Julie Payette’s replacement.

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