Sure, I’m a little late to the party (pun intended), but as the smoke of last night’s federal election clears there are a number of issues cropping up.

Before I begin, allow me to address any confused time-travelers from the past or people waking up from 2 year long comas: no, this isn’t January 2006. Furthermore, to all our friends in other nations: no, Canadian television isn’t so bad that we’ve taken to repeating election coverage to fill our Tuesday night programming. It just so happens that the results of last night’s vote are just incredibly similar to our last one and, for all intents and purposes, we are right back where we started. I prefer to call it a recount…two years later…and costing millions of tax dollars…

Of course, arguably one of the biggest talking points regarding this election is voter turnout, or lack thereof. In fact, a record was set last night for weakest turnout in Canadian history, with less than %60 of people voting.  I know a few people who were on the fence about voting whom I tried to convince that sitting in their basement in lone protest does not a movement make. Looks like I could have been wrong, as it would appear that around 10 million Canadians did just that. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see if that sends a message…

The other issue that seems to be raising tempers everywhere is that Harper broke his own rules to call an election early (he had put it in place that there would be a fixed vote every four years) only to end up with the same minority government (albeit marginally stronger) that he had in the first place. People are wondering why the hassle (not to mention millions of tax dollars spent), especially as it’s already been predicted that this “new” minority government won’t last long at all.

Unfortunately, Harper was the last choice for artistically minded people and musicians all over the country made that known in songs of protest prior to the election. A prime example is the AVAAZ collective made up of the likes of K-OS, Jason Collett, Hawksley Workman, Sarah Harmer and others. The song (posted below) is pretty bad and, as is mentioned here and here, will likely never be listened to again now that the election is over, but the message was clear: Harper=bad. If you’re looking for a more tongue-in-cheek offering, then Hooded Fang’s “Arts Gala” is the tune for you (also posted below). It paints a lavish and decadent picture of the sort of artistic event that Harper wants to cut funding for, arguing that Canadian artists are all just rich caviar snorting elitists who don’t need the money (I don’t know about you, but I can’t even afford to look at a caviar…).

In any case, we’ll see how long Canada’s third minority government in a row lasts. Oh politics—you wily and unruly beast.

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Avaaz - You Have a Choice

Hooded Fang - Arts Gala