Well we had a great winter storm that lasted 3 days with very high winds (70km), white outs and about 40cm of snow. The storm came from Toronto and Montreal area and moved towards the Atlantic. Montreal got about 70cm of snow which paralyzed the city. Toronto had high winds and snow plus that Delta regional jet flipping on the runway on touchdown which closed the airport until tomorrow Thursday. Luckily the passengers all got out alive with some injuries. In PEI it was a long weekend so everyone was told to stay home, the bridge was closed to all traffic because of the high winds, meaning shortages in the stores until today when deliveries from the mainland resumed. This is why we all stock up in winter just in case. Some people on the west side of the Island, Summerside area about 19,000 lost power for a few hours, problems with a 50 year old transformer in a sub-station that is currently being replaced was the cause of the failure. The snow was falling horizontally instead of vertically and it had lots of ice in it. It was around minus 30 C. so yes stay in and don’t go anywhere.

Because some bloggers are talking about the price of Eggs in the USA, I have paid attention to what I am paying here in PEI. Now we can get eggs from the local farmers here, so we are not dealing with grocery stores. But at the store a Grade A large dozen white eggs is currently running today at $3.99 CDN that is higher than the mainland at $3.49 a dozen. If you convert into USD $2.80 for a dozen eggs. Now I also saw at the store 30 eggs for $10.80 CDN which is great for baking, this is in USD $7.58, So the moral of this story America, you should have voted for little me instead of the Donald.

In other news, Mark Carney is clearly the front runner in the race to become leader of the Liberal Party on 9 March. He has raised 5 times more money than any other candidate and he has also signed on more people to support him than anyone else. So the calendar for the succession of Prime Minister Trudeau is as follows, based on how in Canada we do this exercise. It is important to remember that our system is based on the Westminster Parliamentary example and that Canada is a Kingdom (Constitutional Monarchy).

So for the sake of those of you who may be unfamiliar with our political system in Canada, here goes;

On Sunday 9 March the new party leader will be elected by delegates to the Liberal Convention. On Monday 10 March, Prime Minister Trudeau will visit the Governor General to inform her that he is resigning his position of Prime Minister. She in turn will inform the King. Then the Governor General will meet with the new Leader and offer him the job of Prime Minister and administer the Oath of Office at Rideau Hall. He will also be invited to form a new government and asked if he thinks he can govern. If not the Governor General will choose some other Member of Parliament.

At that point the new Prime Minister will have to present to the Governor General his chosen Cabinet so that he can govern. Obviously there is already a lot of talk behind the scenes now between Mark Carney with prospective Liberal Members of Parliament who support him. Several current Members have indicated that they support Carney, so some may find themselves in his new Cabinet. Then in the days to come this new cabinet will return to see the Governor General to be sworn in, so this could happen at anytime between 12 to 15 March. Parliament is still prorogue until 24 March, would a new Prime Minister want to return to Parliament or not? Mark Carney has never had a seat in Parliament and he has no advantage to resume parliamentary work now. Parliament has not been working for months because the Conservatives used various methods to block any action by the Government of PM Trudeau. Another important point Carney as the new PM needs a seat in the House of Commons if he is to govern. So it has been speculated that he would launch an election immediately and would ask the Governor General to dissolve Parliament. Another decision has to be communicated to the Chief Electoral Officer who manages all aspects of Elections in Canada, from places where people will vote, to who is hired to work at polling stations, check registration to vote and then count all the ballots and declare a winner. All the people involved in this exercise must be absolutely neutral and in no way show partisan leanings. The political parties are not at all involved in the management of elections. It is also forbidden to put any political signs anywhere near a polling station. The Chief Electoral Officer will consult with all party leaders about the lenght of the campaign, will it be the minimum of 36 days or the maximum of 51 days. It gets interesting because Easter in 2025 is on 20 April and the 4 day weekend starts on Good Friday and ends on Easter Monday, by Law you cannot vote during this holiday period. So by counting carefully the election has to be held no sooner than 17 April or the following 24 April. During the Easter weekend every politician stays home. It would be preferable if the new Cabinet by sworn in on 13 April and we go immediately into election mode. The Office of the Governor General can issue the necessary documents and the Chief Electoral Officer can drop the Writs so the campaign can start in earnest. A writ is a formal written order instructing the returning officer in each 343 electoral district to hold an election to elect a member of Parliament. In Canada we do not elect our Prime Minister who is the Head of Government, he/she must be elected like all other Members of Parliament in his/her riding. The position of Prime Minister usually goes to the Leader of the party who won the election but that convention can be changed if the Governor General feels someone else would be better suited to govern, in reality this has never happened. It is up to the Governor General in the name of the King to offer the job of Prime Minister to the winner. The King is the Head of State in Canada and the Governor General represents him.

Spending limits in Canada do apply and are carefully recorded by the Chief Electoral Officer. Spending limits aim to level the playing field between competitors and to moderate the influence of third parties. Limits apply to a broad range of expenses that promote or oppose a political entity—from advertising and surveys to transportation and office space—during the election or contest period. 

During the 44th general election (2021), candidate spending limits ranged from $88,991.90 in Charlottetown, PEI to $152,723.52 in Kootenay, British Columbia. The spending limit for a party that endorsed candidates in all electoral districts was $30,127,504.71. So it does set limits and avoids the craziness of trying by any means to raise hundreds of millions for a campaign. Most political entities do not spend up to the limits. Registered parties and candidates are eligible to receive a partial reimbursement of their paid expenses if they reach certain vote thresholds (subject to several other conditions and limits). For parties, election expenses are reimbursed at 50%. For candidates, election expenses are reimbursed at 60%. So in Canada a person like Elon Musk would not be able to donate millions to one candidate. Anyone trying would face stiff penalties and jail term.

Hope this is not too difficult to understand for my foreign readers. You can see how very different our Canadian election system is compared to a republican system of government. The same system applies to Provincial elections.