Biggest shocker of the Canadian election

[CatNamedManny]

One of the political blogs I read placed a lot of emphasis on the NDP surge and the coincident collapse of Bloc and the Liberals. Given the Conservatives still won an outright majority, it's hard to say what it all means, except perhaps that Canada is experiencing the same polarization the U.S. has, with some striking differences of course (for one, the Conservative Party wholeheartedly endorses universal government-provided health insurance, as opposed to the conservatives in the U.S., who denounce as socialism a market-based universal health-insurance system).

[Dan]

One of the political blogs I read placed a lot of emphasis on the NDP surge and the coincident collapse of Bloc and the Liberals. Given the Conservatives still won an outright majority, it's hard to say what it all means, except perhaps that Canada is experiencing the same polarization the U.S. has, with some striking differences of course (for one, the Conservative Party wholeheartedly endorses universal government-provided health insurance, as opposed to the conservatives in the U.S., who denounce as socialism a market-based universal health-insurance system).

<Citation needed>

[CatNamedManny]

I'm not sure what you're needing citation for.

The blog I mentioned is fivethirtyeight.com. They talked about the New Democrat wave being significant and surprising.

If you need a citation for the Canadian conservatives strongly supporting government-funded universal health insurance, there's this from the party's own website, setting out the party's four key priorities:

Our low-tax plan for families that focuses on supporting Canadian seniors by enhancing the Guaranteed Income Supplement and cracking down on elder abuse.
Our low-tax plan to eliminate the deficit while protecting Canada’s universal health-care system by maintaining 6 per cent annual increases in federal transfers to the provinces and territories.

If you're looking for citation about American conservatives mislabeling a fairly conservative, market-based universal health insurance plan as socialism, the nonpartisan fact-checking website Politifact is a good place to start; they labeled "government takeover" as the Lie of the Year for 2010.

Here's what they said specifically:

"Government takeover" conjures a European approach where the government owns the hospitals and the doctors are public employees. But the law Congress passed, parts of which have already gone into effect, relies largely on the free market:

• Employers will continue to provide health insurance to the majority of Americans through private insurance companies.

• Contrary to the claim, more people will get private health coverage. The law sets up "exchanges" where private insurers will compete to provide coverage to people who don't have it.

• The government will not seize control of hospitals or nationalize doctors.

• The law does not include the public option, a government-run insurance plan that would have competed with private insurers.

• The law gives tax credits to people who have difficulty affording insurance, so they can buy their coverage from private providers on the exchange. But here too, the approach relies on a free market with regulations, not socialized medicine.

PolitiFact reporters have studied the 906-page bill and interviewed independent health care experts. We have concluded it is inaccurate to call the plan a government takeover because it relies largely on the existing system of health coverage provided by employers.

It's true that the law does significantly increase government regulation of health insurers. But it is, at its heart, a system that relies on private companies and the free market.

[Dan]

You don't need citation mate I was just pullin' your leg.