Canada – Planet Laurel

Election Night in Canada

I am posting this final “Preliminary Election Result” table posted on the Elections Canada website on Election Night (April 28th, 2025) because they always remove the easily understandable table at some point after the election. The numbers will change/have changed as some polls are challenged and/or recounted, but this is what the data looked like at that point in time.

Registered Political Party	Seats	%	Votes	%
Animal Protection Party	0	0.0 %	1,299	0.0 %
Bloc Québécois	22	6.4 %	1,232,853	6.3 %
Centrist	0	0.0 %	4,147	0.0 %
Canada First Party	0	0.0 %	3,198	0.0 %
Christian Heritage Party	0	0.0 %	10,165	0.0 %
Communist	0	0.0 %	5,462	0.0 %
Conservative	144	42.0 %	8,086,051	41.3 %
Green Party	1	0.3 %	244,952	1.2 %
Independent	0	0.0 %	36,166	0.2 %
`Liberal`	169	49.3 %	8,564,200	43.7 %
Libertarian	0	0.0 %	6,001	0.0 %
Marijuana Party	0	0.0 %	133	0.0 %
Marxist-Leninist	0	0.0 %	5,648	0.0 %
NDP (New Democratic Party)	7	2.0 %	1,237,263	6.3 %
No Affiliation	0	0.0 %	5,225	0.0 %
Rhinocéros	0	0.0 %	7,457	0.0 %
People’s Party	0	0.0 %	141,212	0.7 %
United Party of Canada (UP)	0	0.0 %	6,242	0.0 %
Total	343		19,597,674
Polls Reporting:	75,425 of 75,479	99.93 %
Voter Turnout:			19,597,674 of 28,525,638 registered electors	68.7 %

Source: Elections Canada April 28, 2025 General ElectionElection Results https://enr.elections.ca/National.aspx?lang=e

What’s good about it?

Canadians are lucky that all the frenzied strategic voting didn’t crush us under a majority government. This is always the best outcome, because no minority government has a blank cheque to do whatever they want.

And not so good?

For more than a century, despite the powerful disincentives of our First-Past-the-Post voting system, Canadians have worked very hard to make sure we retained our multi-party democracy.

Just watching what’s been going on south of the border should have driven home exactly why it is so important to keep it.

What’s bad?

But yet again, far too many Canadians were frightened into voting “strategically” for what we don’t want. And the result has been the decimation of our smaller parties. The NDP plummeted from 24 seats to 7, and the Greens lost 2 of their 3 seats. Even the Bloc Québécois lost ten— a third— of their seats, despite the party’s regional advantage. And Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada plummeted from an 840,993 vote high in the last election to a mere 141,212 votes in this.

2025 Canadian Federal Election result map — NDP : Courtenay—Alberni, Vancouver Kingsway, and Vancouver East (BC), Edmonton Strathcona (Alberta), Nunavut, Winnipeg Centre (Manitoba), Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie (Montreal, PQ) | Green: Saanich—Gulf Islands

There isn’t a single NDP seat in Ontario, for the first time in I don’t know how many elections. In recent months I’ve heard folks on both sides of the spectrum complain about the NDP for one reason or another.

Yet we have Mr Singh to thank for the fledgling National Universal Pharmacare and the Canadian Dental Care Plan. This was a gift of epic proportions, much like the gift of Universal Healthcare— for which we can thank an earlier NDP led by Tommy Douglas.

That same Universal Healthcare may be the only thing Canadians agree on across the political spectrum, and we’ve all grumbled as we watched it erode, thanks to successive Liberal and Conservative funding cuts and privatization. But just think; if instead of voting “lesser evil,” we had just voted for what we want, like, say, for Green or NDP candidates, by now we could have had a world class Universal Healthcare system to rival those in countries advanced enough to elect their governments with Proportional Representation.

I was very happy to learn Heather McPherson had retained her seat in Alberta, but sad that the riding off Hamilton Centre lost Matthew Green’s strong voice.

But for me, personally, the biggest loss in this election was that of Ontario’s only Green Party MP, Mike Morrice, in Kitchener Centre.

I can’t imagine any MP working harder than Mike Morrice has. He led the fight for the Canadian Disability Benefit, as well as being a strong advocate for needed improvements to our Universal Health Care system, access to affordable housing, giving voice to marginalized communities, standing up for Indigenous rights, reminding the Canadian government of its legal obligations not to be complicit in genocide and Israel’s other war crimes, working for Electoral Reform, and of course meaningful climate action. I certainly hope Mike will win back his seat in the next election.

Thank you, Mike.

Image Credits:
2025 Canadian Federal Election Map By Eric0892 – Own work, CC BY 4.0, Link

Screencap: Mike Morrice delivering petition e-4082 in Parliament [fair dealing – ParlVU ]

Instagram post excerpt by Mike Morrice

CKMS Meet The Candidate

Cambridge Greens: Vote Lux Burgess

“I’m running because my family’s future—and the future of all families—means everything to me. I want my loved ones to grow up in a world that’s safe, healthy, and full of opportunity. But with rising costs, and growing inequality, that future is at risk.

“I can’t just sit back and hope things get better—I want to be part of the solution. That’s why I’m fighting for real climate action, a fair economy, and stronger support for families.

“This isn’t just politics — it’s personal. It’s about protecting the people and places we love for generations to come.”
— Lux Burgess, 2025 Cambridge Green Party candidate

Even though time constraints prevented Lux from making it onto CKMS this time around, you can still catch his appearance in the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce Debate below. I especially like the fact that we’re *still* talking about #Electoral Reform. And that the lack of it inspires excellent candidates like Lux Burgess to seriously challenge complacent incumbents like MP Bryan May. https://luxburgess.ca/campaign/index.php/blog/

Hey Kitchener Centre: don’t forget to ReElect Mike Morrice!

If you haven’t already voted at one of the Advance Polls, do not forget Monday, April 28th, 2025 is ELECTION DAY 2025. Just because you know Mike Morrice is the best Member of Parliament Kitchener Centre has ever had, it is no reason to be complacent.

Not so long ago, an incumbent city councillor in this very community lost an election by a single vote. It wasn’t even that people felt it was tie for a change. It was that everyone expected her to be re-elected by a landslide, that her voters felt no real sense of urgency to get out and vote.

One vote is really the difference between winning and losing representation in countries still using terrible winner-take-all voting systems like ours. Don’t let your opportunity to vote slip away!

It took a very long time to get a local Green MP elected locally. Help make sure he is re-elected!

Like any Green MP, Mike doesn’t just represent the constituents in his own riding, he provides a vouce to otherwise disfranchised Greens across the country. I’m in Kitchener—Conestoga, yet he supported and presented my Petition e-4802 in Parliament. So even if you’re not exactly in Mike’e riding, there is still time to help out by volunteering or donating. Mike’s team will keep working as hard to re-elect Mike as Mike works for us in Ottawa until the very last minute. If getting to the polling station is a problem, you can even call the office and they’ll arrange transportation for you… no matter who you ‘re planning on voting for. And if you haven’t already, you can listen to Mike on CKMS radio:

Kitchener—Conestoga Greens

Unfortunately there was a hitch in our candidate’s registration, so we were unable to secure a Green candidate in Kitchener—Conestoga for this 2025 election.

Kitchener South—Hespeler: Vote Ethan Russell

Kitchener South—Hespeler candidate Ethan Russell will make another excellent Green MP for Waterloo Region. The photo above was taken just after Ethan’s CKMS “Meet The Candidate” spot, with show producer (and former Green Party candidate) Bob Jonkman. The air time time was made available to all Waterloo Region candidates, and it is interesting to see which did (or didn’t) show up.

Check out Ethan’s Green Party Page and, of course, listen to his CKMS broadcast here:

Waterloo Greens: Vote Simon Guthrie

We have yet another great Green Party candidate running in Waterloo.

And of course, check out Simon’s CKMS spot!

Find out more about Simon at https://www.simonguthrie.ca/

REMEMBER: Monday April 28th, 2025 is Election Day in Canada

While I would obviously like to see you cast your ballot for the Green Candidate in your riding, I sincerely hope you choose to vote for the candidate who will best represent you. Since my own riding is without a Green Candidate, after checking out the available candidates, I have decided my vote will go to for Bozorgzad, the excellent NDP candidate running in Kitchener—Conestoga.

Overall the opinion polls seem to indicate the Liberals are on track for another majority government. As far as I’m concerned, that would be an most unfortunate outcome. One of the many things wrong with what we call “strategic voting” these days (ie voting for a candidate you don’t want instead of the one you do), is that it helps prop up the First Past The Post two party Liberal/Conservative status quo.

We’re at a point where neither Liberal or Conservative governments can win a faux First Past The Post Majority Governments without all the vote suppression inspired by our Single Member Plurality voting system (which means a party doesn’t need to win a simple majority of the vote to win 100% of the power) and now also propped up by the pressure we unrepresented voters feel to vote “Strategically” for the least worst candidate. That’s not how representative democracy is supposed to work.

But it is the system Justin Trudeau chose over his own ERRE Committee’s recommendation to adopt a solidly Proportional Representation voting system. Because “fear voting” has made it possible for Liberal Governments to dominate our politics for so much of Canada’s history.

Strategic voting doesn’t do what they advertise. If it did, we only would have had to do it once. Giving one party a mandate it can’t earn from a majority of voters a majority of the power doesn’t result in a strong democratic government, the “strength” it produces is autocratic rule that polarizes us all. Even with our inadequate unrepresentative First Past The Post voting system, Canadians can get a lot closer to a representative Representative Democracy by voting for the independent candidates and small parties we actually want to vote for.

If we vote for what we want— regardless of the Opinion Polls, Op Eds and big money with which which defenders of the status quo successfully dominate our political discourse— the diverse Canadian electorate actually has the power to elect nothing but minority governments.

That means electing governments that will actually represent a majority of the voters. It will make governing a lot harder for our elected politicians because they will have to learn to work together instead of painting each other as the boogeyman, but it is the only way (short of Proportional Representation) we can achieve truly strong government supported by most Canadians.

I truly believe in democracy. I trust Canadians to do the right thing. And that starts with voting. And even better, voting for what we want.

Regards,
Laurel Russwurm
Kitchener—Conestoga Greens

Laurel L Russwurm 2024-08-15 12:43:01

I grew up washing dishes with #Sunlight Dish Soap, but Sunlight laundry soap? Never heard of it.

Wikipedia tells us, #Sunlight was "the world's first packaged, branded laundry soap" in 1884, but was was eventually supplanted by modern products made from synthetically produced detergents rather than naturally derived soaps."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunlight_(cleaning_product)

But if #Sunlight Laundry soap was available in #Canada, it was invisible.

But Sunlight dish soap was indispensible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxkJbC2-EuY

Laurel L Russwurm 2024-07-08 12:57:20

#CDNpoli Whatever happened to Canada's devotion to the Rule of Law?
No one should be above the law, whether domestic or International Law.

Please share Khaled Mouammar's important article about the direction of the Canadian Govt's Middle East policy that will impact #Canada at home, especially on our lovely #Charter protections of Canadian free expression, peaceful protests, and #freespeech

https://onedemocraticstateca.wordpress.com/2024/07/07/appointment-of-anthony-housefather-as-special-advisor/

#FreePalestine #Ceasefire
#2stateSolution #peace #justice #sayNOtoGenocide

e-4802: Government Response

Dateline: May 22nd, 2024 – Hot off the Canadian House of Commons digital presses:

Response by the Minister of International Development

Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): Aniita Vandenbeld

“Canada is deeply concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and its impact on the civilian population, which has been internally displaced multiple times and is unable to meet its most basic survival needs.

“Officials are following reports of imminent famine in Northern Gaza and food insecurity across the Strip. Canada continues to advocate for more trucks to be allowed into Gaza and for more entry points to be opened. Canada was the first G7 country to provide support to Gaza after October 7, 2023, and is one of the world’s largest donors of assistance to address the current crisis. Canada has announced $100 million in humanitarian assistance to address the urgent needs of vulnerable civilians in this crisis, including a matching fund of $13,7 million that leveraged the generosity of Canadians.

“Canada also has a firm and consistent track record when it comes to advocating for the protection of civilians in armed conflict, promoting and protecting international humanitarian law, and reinforcing refugee protection, including for Palestinian refugees via UNRWA. Canada has strongly called all parties to the conflict to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law. The Government of Canada will continue to support civilians with life-saving humanitarian aid, while ensuring that Canadian funds do not go into the hands of Hamas.

“On March 8, 2024, Canada has resumed its funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), given the urgent humanitarian situation in Gaza and the significant processes taken to address allegations and reinforce zero tolerance against terrorism within the United Nations (UN) and UNRWA. The decision was based on confidence in the ongoing investigation and review processes; a satisfactory briefing by the UN Secretary General on the interim report of the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), and the rigour of the independent review led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. UNRWA had already taken immediate steps to strengthen oversight, accountability, and transparency.

“Recognizing UNRWA’s critical role and the reliance of other aid organizations on UNRWA’s experience, infrastructure, and logistical capabilities, and also recognizing the critical and worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, Canada judged that the lifting its pause on UNRWA was well-advised and opportune. As the first country to re-instate funding to UNRWA after having paused, Canada was able to demonstrate leadership in the sphere of humanitarian assistance; several other donors who had paused followed suit. Canada continues to take action to respond to the crisis, including by being a vocal advocate for UNRWA.

“Since March 8, 2024, a number of donors that had previously suspended their funding have since lifted their pause. The list as of May 2, 2024, includes: Australia, Finland, Germany, Japan, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Sweden.

“Canada has welcomed the final report of the Independent Review Group. We will be closely reviewing the findings and recommendations and will work with fellow donors, the UN and UNRWA to ensure that all recommendations are fully implemented, and the principle of neutrality is fully respected in UNRWA activities.

“Canada is calling for a lasting and sustainable ceasefire. Humanitarian assistance must be able to reach civilians in need. The Government of Canada has reiterated that any ceasefire cannot be one-sided. Hamas must lay down its arms and all hostages must be released. Canada remains firmly committed to a two-state solution. Canada’s position is that there needs to be return to a framework that can best guarantee sustainable peace and dignity for both Israelis and Palestinians.”

Petition e-4802 goes to Parliament #RestoreUNWRA

My petition closed after its 30 day run with nearly 10k signatures. Here’s our sponsor, Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre MP) presenting it in the House of Commons. https://youtu.be/U2sN4MS96gY

The government has something like 45 days in which to reply.

Thoughts:

In a day or two, the countries that have been pledging financial support for UNWRA pulled their funding because Israel made unfounded…

View On WordPress

Petition e-4802 goes to Parliament #RestoreUNWRA

My petition closed after its 30 day run with nearly 10k signatures. Here’s our sponsor, Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre MP) presenting it in the House of Commons.
https://youtu.be/U2sN4MS96gY

The government has something like 45 days in which to reply.

Thoughts:

In a day or two, the countries that have been pledging financial support for UNWRA pulled their funding because Israel made unfounded accusations about a tiny percentage of UNWRA workers. Months later, many have still not restored funding, even though no evidence to support the allegations has come from Israel.

Why does everybody believe Israel?

If you’re friends with a pathological liar, you need to learn to get the evidence before you believe.

Hey Canadians…

Today’s your last chance to sign Petition e-4802 (at 2:03pm)

asking the Govt of #Canada to:

1. Reinstate Canada’s UNRWA funding; and

2. Advocate other countries do the same, preventing the collapse of UNRWA when needed most.

Our government has waffled on #1 already, and

#2 is still very much needed.

Please sign and share… the clock is ticking!

Keep Signing Petition e-4802

Keep on signing!

On Friday, the Government of Canada finally made an announcement about restoring its pledged UNWRA funding:

News release

March 8, 2024 – Mississauga, Ontario – Global Affairs Canada

Canada is deeply concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza that is worsening by the hour. Help must reach civilians as quickly as possible. Canada is working to overcome challenges related to…

View On WordPress

Keep Signing Petition e-4802

On Friday, the Government of Canada finally made an announcement about restoring its pledged UNWRA funding:

News release

March 8, 2024 – Mississauga, Ontario – Global Affairs Canada

Canada is deeply concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza that is worsening by the hour. Help must reach civilians as quickly as possible. Canada is working to overcome challenges related to humanitarian access and the delivery of life-saving relief so that more assistance can reach those in need.

Canada was the first G7 country to provide support to Gaza after October 7, 2023, and is one of the world’s largest donors of assistance to address the current crisis. Today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development, announced that Canada will be lifting its temporary pause on funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). UNRWA plays a vital role in Gaza, providing over 2 million people with humanitarian relief, in addition to its crucial operations supporting 4 million people elsewhere in the region. Other organizations also rely on UNRWA’s experience and infrastructure to deliver humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

Following allegations that some UNRWA staff were involved in Hamas’s heinous terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, the UN has put in place several significant processes to address the allegations and reinforce its zero tolerance for terror within the UN, including UNRWA. Canada has reviewed the interim report of the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) on this matter and looks forward to the final report. Canada commends the independent review of UNRWA currently underway, led by Catherine Colonna, and anticipates reviewing the report assessing UNRWA’s neutrality mechanisms. While these investigative processes continue, UNRWA has taken immediate measures to strengthen oversight, accountability and transparency.

Canada is committed to ensuring full accountability, decisive action and the implementation of necessary reforms within UNRWA. Canada will work with fellow donors, the UN and UNRWA to ensure that the recommendations stemming from both the OIOS investigation and the independent review are fully implemented. Canada expects UNRWA to meet its obligations and uphold the UN’s value of neutrality: this is an essential component of UNRWA’s mandate.

Women and children are bearing the heaviest toll as a result of the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. Over 1.7 million Gazans are displaced, with the majority living in crowded and unsanitary conditions in Rafah. Most of the population is severely food insecure and there is a growing risk of widespread famine. Access to life-saving medical services is heavily limited.

Every amount of assistance is critical, which is why Canada is pursuing all avenues to deliver assistance into Gaza. One way Canada is doing this is by supporting Jordan and the World Food Programme (WFP) to conduct airdrops in Gaza delivering essential items that Palestinian civilians desperately need.

Jordan has been playing a key role in delivering desperately needed supplies by both land and air to Gaza. To bolster these efforts, Canada is providing $100,000 in funding to the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation for the purchase of supplies such as food, blankets and winter clothing, which will be delivered to Gazans in need, including through Jordanian airdrops. Additionally, Canada has allocated substantial funding to the WFP, part of which will be used for airdrops.

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) will be providing approximately 300 cargo parachutes from the Canadian Army Advanced Warfare Centre in Trenton to the Royal Jordanian Air Force to assist them in conducting the airdrops of critical supplies into Gaza.

Airdrops are absolutely not a substitute for deliveries via land and sea routes. Canada continues to call for more entry points, expanded access, protection of humanitarian workers, and a humanitarian ceasefire.

Canada continues to call on all parties to respect their international humanitarian law obligations. This includes immediately releasing all hostages, ceasing to employ human shields, respecting and protecting medical and humanitarian personnel, and taking all feasible precautions to protect civilians in the conduct of hostilities. Furthermore, the parties must allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need.

Canada is committed to a two-state solution, with Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace and security, with dignity and without fear.

Quotes

“Since the horrific terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, Canada has centred its decisions on the protection of civilians. Both Israelis and Palestinians have the fundamental human right to live in peace, dignity and security, without fear. As a government, we have a responsibility to ensure that Canadians have confidence in the organizations we support, which is why we have taken prudent measures to allow for a necessary investigation to take place. In recognition of the robust investigative processes underway, UNRWA’s efforts to address serious allegations made against some of its staff, including the implementation of internal measures to improve oversight and accountability, as well as the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, Canada is resuming its funding to UNRWA so more can be done to respond to the urgent needs of Palestinian civilians. Canada will continue to take the allegations against some of UNRWA’s staff extremely seriously and we will remain closely engaged with UNRWA and the UN to pursue accountability and reforms.”

– Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development

“This donation of parachutes from the Canadian Armed Forces will help to replenish the Royal Jordanian Air Force’s supplies for humanitarian airdrops, supporting the delivery of life-saving assistance to the Palestinian people. Through this donation and our significant financial contributions to trusted partners, Canada will continue to provide the Palestinian people with access to critical humanitarian relief.”

– Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence

“Canada is resuming its funding to UNRWA, so more can be done to respond to the urgent needs of Palestinian civilians. We shall continue to be closely engaged with UNRWA on investigations, reviews and audits currently underway. All of these will require the full cooperation of the Government of Israel, as well as the determination of UNRWA itself to improve its own security systems. The United Nations Secretary-General has given member states and donors his personal assurance that these issues have his full attention.”

– Bob Rae, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York

Quick facts

No regularly scheduled payment that was intended to go to UNRWA was missed during the temporary pause. By providing certainty that Canada’s planned contribution will proceed, this will help prevent the imminent collapse of this essential organization.

The CAF is making available approximately 300 cargo parachutes for the purpose of dropping cargo.

https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2024/03/canada-announces-continued-assistance-for-people-in-gaza.html

While this is good news, it is not enough.

I’ve heard many people say Canada has no International political influence, but that just isn’t so. We still have the reputation of being nice, deserved or not. When Canada went along with Israel’s push to defund UNWRA in hopes of distracting the world from the compelling Genocide case before the International Court of Justice, other countries did too.

That’s why the second part of the “ask” in Petition e-4802 was:

2. Advocating other countries do the same to prevent the collapse of UNRWA when Gaza’s lifeline is needed most.
https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4802

Despite the fact Canada is restoring UNWRA funding (for today, anyway) Petition E-482 will remain Open for Signature until 2:02 p.m. on March 13, 2024. (EDT)

Because of this, I ask petition supporters to continue signing and sharing for the few days that remain.

SIGN Petition e-4802: Restore UNRWA Funding

This is so important because the more signatures e-Petition 4802 receives, the more seriously the Government of Canada will take it, so please keep signing and sharing!

Thank you for your support!

Many thanks to everyone who helps keep this terrible issue in the public eye.