Thoughts on the upcoming Canadian federal election?

[Jim Lane]

5. Thanks for the summary! Question about the split on the left...

IIRC, the Conservatives "won" the last election, i.e. obtained a majority in Parliament, with a plurality in the popular vote that was well short of a majority. The split between the Liberals and the NDP enabled individual Conservative candidates in many ridings to win their seats through that dynamic.

It would be very unfortunate if the same thing happened again. I know there are polls predicting a Mulcair win, but if Harper gains some ground then he could again get into office with a minority of the popular vote.

Were there any efforts toward dealing with this? Something like: Incumbent NDP or Liberal MP, the other party stays out; NDP and Liberals can fight it out for second place in solidly Conservative ridings, or fight it out for the seat in ridings where the Conservatives have no chance; and divvy up the swing seats so that, where it matters, each Conservative has only one opponent from a major left party.

People can support proportional representation but still recognize that the current system is different, and you have to play the game by the rules now in place.