If there is no clear cut winner, we get a minority government. That minority winner can then form a coalition with another party to create a majority govt. We have 4 main parties:
Liberal
Conservative
NDP
Bloc Quebecois
The main parties are the Conservative party and Liberal party. They are the only 2 that have ever been elected to power. They are fairly similar parties in their domestic policies, with a few noteable exceptions like the national gun registry.
The Liberal party has been in power for the previous 3 elections, with the same leader, who stepped down about 1 year ago. They have won large majorites, due to previous Conservative party debacles, and the inability to allign the right wing vote to the same party (more on that later). These large majorities have led to their ability to pass law with little opposition. When a party assumes control in Canada, and does it with a large majority, it can rule with little to keep it in check. We do not have the same checks and balances as the American system.
The Conservative party is traditionally more US friendly. They tend to support our neihbours policies more. As Pongo said, if they were our current government, we would be in Iraq. Untill very recently the right wing vote was separated into the Alliance and Conservative parties. The Alliance was a "grass roots" conservative party which grew out of western Canada, about 15 or so years ago, but was never taken seriously in the east, which is where the majority of the population resides. These two parties have now merged under the traditional Conservative banner, and now pose a threat to the current Liberal government
The NDP are a socialist party, far more left wing than any major party in the US. They usually get around 10-20% of the popular vote; today I think they will be on the higher end of that number. They are friends of unions, universal health care, and tax. While they have never won a federal election, they have taken many provincial elections. Provincially, they have had a habit of spending money they didnt have. They currently hold power in a few of the provinces.
The Bloc Quebecois are a federal party with an agenda of seperating Quebec from Canada. How they are allowed to function as a federal party is beyond me, since they basically a mutinous party. If they had representatives out here (also another strange thing about this party, they are only represented in Quebec, as far as I know) I would vote for them and encourage them to leave. I have been trying to create an impartial image of the electoral state in Canada, but the existence of this 'federal' party is a joke to me. This is not a knock against the province of Quebec. I have lived there before (Montreal) and have found it to be a beautiful provice. I just think this seperating business is stupid. Regardless of my opinions on them, they hold a lot of power due to the fact that 25% percent of Canada lives in Quebec, and the the Bloc is very popular there.
Whatever happens it will be close. The Liberals should be concentrating on Quebec, trying to hold or get back votes from the Bloc, who have apparently been surging. The Conservatives will likely win the west, but have to try to get into the Liberal stronghold of Ontario. I see a Liberal minority government, possibly forming a coalition with the NDP. I hope I am wrong, but if the Conservatives win, it will be a minority, and they have no one to form a coalition with. This would be detrimental to them in parliment, and make it difficult to govern with the the threat of losing a parlimentary vote.
Just in case you wanted a break from the US gong show. I realise your elections are important, but man, do they go on for a long time
