Canada’s elections

In the U.S. the election season seems to last forever but in Canada it’s blink and you’ll miss it. the whole campaign season is only five weeks. Snap elections are common here, especially with minority governments like the current one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. But some say Harper’s decision to call elections was influenced by what he saw going on in the U.S. elections, and that big things happening in the U.S. might help his opponents in Canada. Harper has been a supporter of Bush and he didn’t want a possible Obama election to hurt his reelection chances. Canadians could still be affected by the American president campaign, and ads this year have been more negative than ever. This professor says the attacks on the opposition leader is reminiscent of the Republicans. The professor admits that the opposition leader is an easy target: he was a university professor before becoming a politician and he’s not seen as being the kind of guy you want to go to a beer with. But the geeky professor is fighting back and has launched its own attack campaign, blaming the prime minister for a weak Canadian economy. And that may be the biggest parallel between the U.S. and Canadian elections: how the economy could affect the election. At this point it looks like Harper is more trusted to lead Canadians through tougher economic times.