Segacs’s World I Know

So by now everyone pretty much knows that today’s provincial election has resulted in a minority Liberal government.

Final results: 48 seats for the Liberals, 41 for the ADQ, and 36 for the PQ.

There’s no doubt that Mario Dumont’s ADQ is the big winner tonight, going from 5 seats to a whopping 41, and capturing the balance of power. Charest’s Liberals were reduced to minority status, and Charest himself only narrowly won his own seat. As for Boisclair’s PQ, after widely being expected to achieve sweeping victory only a few months ago, they were just plain embarrassed. Boisclair’s days in provincial politics are surely numbered – most likely in the single-digits.

Then again, in the popular vote, the Liberals lost 13 percentage points, compared to the PQ who only lost 5. Arguably, it’s the Liberals who lost out in terms of mandate – if not in terms of seats. A lot of people in “safe” Liberal ridings were casting protest votes this time around, which may have accounted for this seeming discrepancy.

And my own riding? As expected, Liberal incumbent Lawrence Bergman sailed to victory with over 84% of the vote, but second place went not to one of the other major parties but to the Greens, with just over 6.5%. Not much of a contest here, but I voted anyway, ever the dutiful citizen. I still maintain that if you don’t vote, you can’t bitch about it later.

What will this mean for Quebec? In the immediate term, it means no referendum, anyway. It also means that the Liberals have lost their mandate to govern. The ADQ is going to get a lot more of a say in how things are run in the province. And we’re probably looking at another election in about 18 months. And the PQ may be down right now, but don’t count them out; under new leadership, they could still come back to threaten for victory the next time around. Let’s just hope that support for sovereignty continues to ebb in the interim, because I’d kinda like my country to stay together for a while.

All in all, though, a minority government might not be the worst thing in the world. It’s not as though the Liberals were doing a whole lot with their hands untied, before.

As a self-described chocolate junkie, I feel it my civic duty to share this news. Now we can all feel better about our addiction.

Thousands of crazy English football fans descended on Israel this week to watch… a whole lot of nothing. It sometimes baffles me how a sport where teams can kick around a ball without scoring for 90 minutes has become the world’s most popular. But anyway.

Oh well, at least the fans seemed to be enjoying their stay – that is, once they managed to get there. From a tourism point of view, this was probably win-win… though this guy probably didn’t do much to beautify the Tel Aviv boardwalk. (Hat tip: Allison).

It’s the only thing… keeping us in the playoff race, that is.

But even the Habs’ winning streak – 6 out of the last 7 – may not be enough. So far, we’ve kept pace but we haven’t advanced into the magic Top 8. Even a perfect record won’t get us a playoff spot if the Rangers, Isles, ‘Canes, Bolts and Leafs (especially the Leafs) don’t start choking, soon.

It’s the home stretch now, Les Boys. Every game’s a must-win. Can we pull it off? Stay tuned.

After Monday, if the polls hold, we could have a newly-minted minority government here in Quebec, alongside the existing federal minority government.

As far as I’m concerned, minority governments are a good thing. The less a government is able to do while in power, the better.

And, memo to Jean Charest: I’m voting for you, but I’m still waiting for my tax cut.

Another day at the U.N., another toothless move to try to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions:

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose new sanctions on Iran for its nuclear ambitions by targeting Tehran’s arms exports, state-owned bank and elite Revolutionary Guards.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki immediately rejected the council’s demand to suspend uranium enrichment, which can be used for making bombs and to general electricity. He maintained Iran’s program was for peaceful purposes.

It’s almost like watching paint dry, seeing the predictable moves play out. This is a game the U.N. has no desire to play, and Ahmadinejad knows it full well. He’s already concluded that there is nothing the world can do to stop him from going nuclear, and that by pressing the U.N.’s buttons like this, he’s only exposing its weaknesses further.

And with the United States tied up in Iraq, Israel facing an existential threat if it attempts to thwart Iran, and the rest of the world casually indifferent, the outcome of this game has been determined months ago. And even the best-case endgame scenario here is pretty damn frightening.

Bribery money for Quebec, tokens to the environmentalists, money for families and small business incentives were some of the highlights of today’s spend-happy, tax-cuts-devoid federal budget, announced by Tory Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

The Bloc Quebecois banded together with the Tories to avoid a government collapse. But most people don’t believe this minority government will last more than a few months longer. A friend of mine was just hired by Elections Canada, so if you’re the betting type, you might want to put your money on spring or summer.

All that the Tories have managed to do with this budget is to legitimatize the Quebecois claim of a “fiscal imbalance” and to make an attempt at social engineering. The Tories seem to have forgotten their promises to balance the budget, cut taxes and grow the economy, preferring to tell people that they should drive greener cars, get married, have more babies, and own businesses that don’t grow too big. From a financial management perspective, based on initial impressions, I’d give it a D.

The key question is, will the extra $2.3 billion be enough to elect Jean Charest next week?

Especially in Montreal, where – irony of ironies – St. Paddy’s Day is such a beloved holiday precisely because it’s so inclusive and apolitical.

Yeah, you can laugh now. But it’s true. Unlike other parades, which devolve into red-versus-blue colour wars, the green of Saint Patrick’s Day includes everyone – young, old, French, English, white, black, and heck, even Irish Protestant Orange. Two hundred and fifty thousand people turned out yesterday to brave the not-so-cold and celebrate, wearing green hats, dingly-boppers, shamrocks and more than a little alcohol. After all, who can’t agree on a holiday where everyone gets together to drink beer?

It’s nice to be reminded that I live in one of the greatest cities on earth. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, everyone!

The Comedy Network is looking for Colbert lookalikes:

Finalists will compete in Oshawa, Ontario on March 20, which has been declared “Stephen Colbert Day” by Mayor John Gray. The winner will get a trip to New York City to attend a taping of The Colbert Report.

“There are two kinds of people in this world; those that are Stephen Colbert and those that wannabe Stephen Colbert. Most people fall into the second category. So here’s a chance for all the wannabe Colbert’s to step up,” said Brent Haynes of the Comedy Network, in a release.

March 20th is the mayor of Oshawa’s birthday; it was declared Stephen Colbert Day thanks to Colbert winning a hockey bet.