A blog about the mechanics of elections and political parties in Canada. Insights about votes, dollars, polls, and more.
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Lewis to win NDP Leadership with 56% in First Round
(Disclosure: I’m not an NDP member, and I’m not working for or supporting any campaign in the leadership race.) The NDP leadership race doesn’t end until March 29th, but the result is already clear: Avi Lewis will win the contest with more than double the… (read more)
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The NDP Leadership Vote Will Not Be Democratic
(Disclosure: I am not an NDP member, nor am I supporting any candidate in the leadership race.) One of the responsibilities we have, if we want to live in a real democracy, is to avoid being fooled by quasi-democracy: political systems that provide an illusion… (read more)
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The Green Party of Canada is Dead—And That’s Okay
It’s been a tough few years for the Green Party of Canada, and the 2025 election was no exception: after being kicked out of the leader’s debates, the Greens fell to 1.2% popular support and lost MP Mike Morrice by a heart-breaking 375 votes, leaving… (read more)
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Is Canada Moving to a Two-Party System?
Canada’s most recent election had a result we haven’t seen in almost a century: the top two parties both got more than 40% of the popular vote. Smaller parties fared very poorly, with the NDP and Greens losing half their support from the previous election,… (read more)
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2025 Election: What to Expect in the Final Week
The debates are over, advance voting has closed after a record turnout, and we’re into the final week before election day on April 28. Polling shows the gap between the Liberal and Conservative parties has narrowed slightly since the debate, with about 5% now separating… (read more)
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Who Really Chose Mark Carney?
On March 14, Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada’s 24th Prime Minister. As many commentators have observed, Carney is an “unelected” Prime Minister, in the sense that he doesn’t have a seat in Parliament. Instead, he won the top job by being elected leader… (read more)
Saul Bottcher 