Canada election 2015 — a guide to the parties, polls and electoral system

CANADA heads to the polls on Oct 19 to elect members to the 42nd Canadian parliament.

At 78 days, it will be the longest campaign since 1872. Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper will attempt to become the first prime minister since 1908 to win four consecutive elections.

The voting system

The next Canadian parliament will be composed of 338 seats (expanded from the current 308) following the results of the latest census. The number of districts is reviewed every 10 years.

Members of parliament are elected through a first-past-the-post system — the candidate that comes first in each electoral district, called a riding, wins that seat.

The 338 ridings are distributed among Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories according to the country’s population.

Canada has elected 11 minority governments in its history, and there have also been two minority administrations after governments were replaced during elections.

Turnout has dropped to below 70pc in more recent votes.

Canada’s parliament has an upper and a lower house. Although legislation needs to pass through both houses, and can originate in both houses, the House of Commons is by far the dominant chamber. The Senate rarely rejects bills, and the government only needs to retain the confidence of the lower house.

The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister. Senate seats are assigned on a regional basis.

The political parties

Conservative Party of Canada: Centre-right party led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper has led the Canadian government since 2006.

Liberal Party of Canada: Centre-left party led by Justin Trudeau, son of former prime minister Pierre. The Liberals became known as Canada’s “natural governing party”, holding power for nearly 70 years in the 20th century, more than any other party in a developed and democratic country.

However, support for the party has declined over the past decade. Its result in the previous election in 2011 was its worst ever — and the first time the Liberals came in third.

The Conservatives (under the party’s different historic guises and names) and the Liberals have dominated Canadian politics and are the only two parties to have formed a government.

New Democratic Party (NDP): A social-democratic party to the left of the Liberals. Its leader is Thomas Mulcair. The party was founded in 1961, and in the 2011 election it became the official opposition for the first time in its history. Earlier this year the NDP won a surprise majority in Alberta and the party has surged in federal polls since.

Bloc Quebecois: A party focused on promoting Quebec’s interests and sovereignty in the Commons. In the Quebec election of 2014, the Bloc suffered its worst ever defeat after the party, which was in government at the time, called a snap election on the back of strong polls that projected a possible majority. Instead, the Liberals won a majority and Premier Pauline Marois lost her own riding.

The Green Party: Led by Elizabeth May, who in 2011 became the first elected Green MP in the party’s history.

Strength in Democracy: A new party founded in 2014. It currently has two MPs following defections from the Bloc and from an NDP member (also from Quebec).

The 2011 result

In May 2011, the Conservatives won an outright majority following two minority administrations (in 2006 and 2008).

According to Inter-Parliamentary Union data, only 25 per cent of Canada’s MPs are women — which is higher than the proportion in the US (20 per cent).

Turnout was 61.1 per cent.

What do the polls say?

Support for the Conservatives has trended upwards lately and Harper’s party is now virtually tied with the NDP. Meanwhile the Liberals continue to lag in third place.

However, because of Canada’s voting system, it’s all about the contest in each individual riding.

And with the risk of the vote on the left splitting, this will favour the Tories.

A minority Conservative or NDP government appears to be the most likely outcome, though a Liberal-NDP coalition shouldn’t be ruled out.

A note of caution — the polling looks quite similar to May’s UK election, which saw surveys expecting a neck-and-neck race between the Conservatives and the Labour party. In the event, the Tories won a small majority.

The UK, in fact, has a similar voting system to Canada’s, and a long campaign could favour the better-resourced Tories.

The first of the leaders’ debates is expected to take place in August.

On election day, polls are open for 12 hours across the country. The voting hours are staggered across the country’s different time zones so that the majority of results are available at approximately the same time on election night. Polls in the eastern provinces close at 9:30pm.

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24 dead after two trains derail in India

NEW DELHI: Twenty four people have been killed after two packed trains derailed while crossing a bridge hit by floods in central India overnight Wednesday, authorities said, highlighting again safety problems with India’s crumbling railway network.

At least 24 bodies have been recovered so far and one person was seriously injured, said Bijendra Kumar, a railway official in Bhopal, the main city in Madhya Pradesh state.

Junior Home Minister Kiren Rijiju said more than 300 people have been rescued.

Rescuers had been searching in darkness for passengers feared trapped on the trains that were travelling in opposite directions when some of their carriages derailed in Madhya Pradesh state, officials said.

West Central Railway spokesman Piyush Mathur said the trains derailed within minutes of each other near the town of Harda at about 11:30 pm on Tuesday.

One of the trains travelling from the financial city of Mumbai appeared to have been hit by a sudden surge of water on the swollen Machak river, derailing the last four to five carriages, railway ministry spokesman Anil Saxena said.

The other passenger train, travelling to Mumbai from the eastern city of Patna, was also hit by water, with the engine and the first two to three carriages derailing, he said.

"There is some suggestion of flash floods on the tracks that caved the tracks. Most of the coaches had passed but the last few carriages were derailed," Saxena told the network of the first train.

Monsoon rains have hit large swathes of the country in recent weeks, flooding rivers and roads and claiming some 180 lives in mainly western and eastern India.

Read more: At least 180 dead, a million displaced in India floods

Police and doctors have been deployed to the accident site, with television footage showing medical supplies being piled on a nearby station platform and rescuers combing through tilted carriages.

But rescuers said operations were hampered by flooding in the area and officers had to work through the night mostly in darkness.

"The entire area has been reeling under heavy rainfall for the last few days. The roads are badly damaged, even the access road," Saxena said.

"Rushing emergency medical and other relief personnel to spot, darkness, water creating hurdles but ordered all possible help. Trying our best," Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had said on Twitter.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: "The two train accidents in Madhya Pradesh are deeply distressing. Deeply pained over the loss of lives."

India's railway network, one of the world's largest, is still the main form of long-distance travel in the vast country, but it is poorly funded and deadly accidents are frequent.

In 2012, a government report said almost 15,000 people were killed every year on India's railways, describing the deaths as an annual "massacre" due mainly to poor safety standards.

India's government has pledged to invest $137 billion to modernise its crumbling railways, making them safer, faster and more efficient.

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Military courts get Supreme Court nod

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday in a majority ruling upheld the establishment of military courts in Pakistan.

Petitions challenging the 21st amendment were dismissed in a majority 11-6 vote of the 17-member SC bench. Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Dost Muhammad announced the verdict.

In a 14-3 majority vote, petitions challenging the 18th amendment were also dismissed by the bench. Judges provided seven opinions and two additional notes on the ruling.

The judgement was to be announced by the full court bench headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk in Courtroom No 1 of the SC building. The SC office had issued a supplementary cause list heralding the announcement of the judgement.

"Disappointing verdict"
Former Supreme Court Bar Association President Kamran Murtaza said "It's a very disappointing verdict by the apex court. The court just upheld the doctrine of necessity. We are going to file a review petition against this judgement."

Kamran Murtaza and Asma Jehangir had earlier this year petitioned against the establishment of military courts on behalf of the SCBA.

"Success for the nation"
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Special Assistant for Law Ashtar Ausaf Ali called the decision "another strike against terror", adding, "it's a success for the nation."

He said that the apex court stated that amendments which can change the country for the better can be made to the Constitution and added that military courts have been set up in order to "crush terrorists".

Ausaf said that within the next two years of operation of military courts, remaining institutions will be strengthened. "Prosecution will be improved, evidence collection will be better ... Circumstances will have improved."

He also said it is possible these circumstances have not arisen before and do not exist in any other country. "The European Union, the United States and other democracies need to understand that we need to make decisions according to our circumstances ... And we know best how to rid ourselves of terrorists."

The Parliament passed the 21st Amendment and the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, to establish the special courts after the massacre in the Army Public School, Peshawar, last year.

On April 16 the apex court had suspended executions of six militants who were awarded death sentence by these military courts.

The stay order was issued on an application filed by rights activist Asma Jehangir on behalf of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) after army chief Gen Raheel Sharif had ratified the death sentence to six militants and life imprisonment to one by the military courts.

The judgement on the 21st Amendment as well as the 18th Amendment will be the last major verdict by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk as he will attain superannuation on Aug 16.

Over a five-month long hearing on the challenges to the 18th and 21st amendments was wrapped up by the Supreme Court on June 26.

Also read: SC reserves verdict on petitions challenging 18th, 21st amendments

A total of 31 constitutional petitions were taken up by the court, of which 16 petitions were regarding 18th Amendment the rest were about 21st amendment.

The 18th Amendment was passed by the Parliament during the last PPP government which introduced a new procedure for the appointment of superior court judges. The final judgement in the 18th Amendment case is still pending with the Supreme Court for the last four years though a full-court bench headed by then Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had issued an order on Oct 21, 2010, suggesting that guidelines in the mode of appointment of superior court judges under Article 175-A of the constitution.

Later the Parliament brought the 19th Amendment by accepting almost all the proposals and incorporating in the Constitution as suggested by the Supreme Court.

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Analysis: Afghan Taliban face challenge of surviving as cohesive force

PESHAWAR: Fourteen years after they were driven out of power, the Afghan Taliban are facing their biggest challenge. With its supreme leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, now confirmed dead, the biggest question now being asked is whether the movement would survive as a cohesive force, disintegrate into various splinter groups or drift towards the more radical Islamic State.

The leak by Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security coming immediately after President Ashraf Ghani’s meeting on the state of national security took both Pakistan as well as the Afghan Taliban by surprise, who were all poised for the second round of nascent peace talks in Murree.

Those involved in the leak are now privately saying that the bombshell of a disclosure had from no less a person than the Afghan President himself, who, while quoting Pakistan, told the participants that the one-eyed cleric, who had galvanised his once vanquished fighters to take on the might of the US led coalition, was long dead and buried.

It is now confirmed that the 55-something Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid died of multiple organ failure following a protracted illness a year and a half ago and was quietly buried in Afghanistan – a secret very few within the Taliban hierarchy, including his trusted lieutenant deputy Akhtar Muhammad Mansoor, knew.

So closely guarded was the secret that even Omar’s eldest son, the 26-year-old Muhammad Yaqoob, was kept in the dark, till he began agitating and demanding to see his father, sources familiar with the background told Dawn.

That’s when Yaqoob, and his principal backer, Zakir, a senior Taliban military commander, sacked by Akhtar Mansoor in April 2014, began whispering about the likelihood of Omar’s possible death.

Zakir, who is opposed to peace talks and wants Yaqoob to succeed his father, is now openly challenging Akhtar Mansoor. To make matters worse, a little-known Fidae Mahaz posted a statement on Facebook on July 23, accusing Mansoor and Taliban money-bagsman, Gul Agha Ishaqzai of having killed Omar to wrestle control of the Taliban movement.

Whether Pakistan had indeed shared the highly classified information with President Ghani, whom it began to trust after more than a decade of misgivings with the Afghan leadership, chiefly Hamid Karzai, is not known, or probably may never be known.

But what is evident now is that Pakistan is certainly not pleased. The peace process, the second round of which was due to begin today at Golf Club Murree, has been put on hold, on the request of the Afghan Taliban, our Foreign Office told us.

The Pakistan-sponsored Murree Peace Initiative has become the first casualty of the leak from Kabul. But that may just be a small casualty. What may happen next on the Afghan Taliban scene is not only unpredictable and uncertain, it may as well make matters far more complicated than anyone can possibly imagine, officials worry.

In an apparent damage-control measure, the Taliban leadership shura was hurriedly convened to nominate the Taliban’s once-upon-a-time civil aviation minister and Omar’s deputy, Akhar Muhammad Mansoor, as the new ameer – also a tacit acknowledgement that the supreme leader is no more.

Mansoor’s credibility is already in question over his continued silence over the death of his supreme leader and putting out false statements on his behalf, (mis)leading the fighters to believe that not only was their leader alive and supervising their “holy war against foreign occupation forces”, but was also endorsing the Islamabad-sponsored peace talks.

The new leader is having a lot of explanations to give to his commanders and colleagues in the Rahbari shura, according to a senior Taliban figure. His argument that he kept quiet about Omar’s death in order to avoid demoralisation within the Taliban ranks and file and stop it from falling apart, is not being bought by many.

So the question being asked now is: will he be able to hold the movement together and command the same level of obedience and trust his predecessor had over the rank and file?

If he does that would be good news for Pakistan which enjoys considerable leverage and influence with Mansoor and his two newly-appointed deputies, including head of the so-called Haqqani Network, Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani, someone it sees it can nudge to continue to talk peace with Afghanistan.

Whether he would be able to deliver is another matter. There are indications that he already was under tremendous pressure from those opposed to the talks, including the Doha-based Political Office, which on July 8, the day the first round of peace talks ended in the cool climes of Murree, posted a statement on the official website of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

In the statement it declared in no uncertain words that only it had “full capacity and agency powers to conduct or postpone, in light of Islamic principles and national interests, negotiations with internal and foreign parties wherever and whenever it deems suitable.”

Clearly, the Doha Political Office and Akhar Mansoor-led Taliban faction do not see eye to eye on the question of pursuing peace process through Pakistan. And this is one indication Akhtar Mansoor has no total control over the movement and its policies.

And, therefore, if he fails to keep the Taliban united there is a possibility of the nearly two-decade old movement breaking into several splinter groups with some wanting to pursue peace and others wanting to adhere to its ideology and keep on fighting till the re-establishment of Islamic Emirate, which some within the rank and file believe, is a matter of a time, till the complete withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.

This may complicate things for Mansoor and by extension for Pakistan. Not many within the Taliban commanders and leaders are happy-takers of the peace initiative. And this opens the door for some of the disgruntled ones to cross over to the more radical Islamic State – as has already been seen in eastern Nangrahar and Kunar provinces or join the dissident Taliban groups that have already emerged on the scene.

In the weeks and perhaps months ahead, the Taliban leadership would be mulling this and other equally perplexing issues. At stake is the future of the Afghan Taliban movement and perhaps the future of a negotiated political settlement in Afghanistan.

In the weeks and perhaps months ahead, the Taliban leadership would be mulling over this and other equally perplexing issues. At stake is the future of the Afghan Taliban movement and perhaps the future of a negotiated political settlement in Afghanistan.

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India, Pakistan spar over Gurdaspur attack

NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan were locked in a furious verbal duel on Thursday over Monday’s Gurdaspur attack, which Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh told parliament, was carried out by cross-border terrorists who forded the swollen Ravi River where it enters Pakistan’s Punjab. Pakistan called the Indian claim a threat to peace and security in the region.

“Any effort by the enemies of our nation to undermine India’s territorial integrity and security or imperil the safety and security of our citizens will meet an effective and forceful response from our security forces,” Mr Singh told the Rajya Sabha.

Persistent jeering from Congress deputies mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s refrain of having a 56-inch chest, muffled his tough words. Monday’s incident claimed 10 lives, including the Gurdaspur police chief.

Also read-Editorial: Gurdaspur attack

“Preliminary analyses of GPS data indicates that the terrorists had infiltrated from Pakistan through the area near Tash in Gurdaspur district, where the Ravi river enters Pakistan,” the home minister said.

Mr Singh also assured the house that “the government will do everything possible to prevent cross-border terrorism aimed against India”.

Pakistan saw in the statement ominous portends. “The Government of Pakistan categorically rejects the baseless allegations made by Mr Rajnath Singh…Pakistan regrets the unsubstantiated and unwarranted assertion that those involved in the Gurdaspur incident of 27 July, had entered India from Pakistan. Pakistan believes that home minister’s provocative comments are a threat to peace and security of the region,” a foreign ministry press statement said.

“We have noted with concern a continuing tendency of India to cast blame on Pakistan for any terrorist incident in India. In the Gurdaspur incident, blames were apportioned to Pakistan in the Indian media, even when the encounter with terrorists was still going on.”

The statement from the foreign ministry spokesperson’s office recalled that immediately after the Gurdaspur incident, the Government of Pakistan had issued a statement expressing condemnation “in the strongest terms” of the attack.

“Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Terrorism is a common enemy of both Pakistan and India. To tackle terrorism, a cooperative approach is required. Blame game and finger-pointing would be unhelpful.”

Pakistan urged India to refrain from “casting baseless allegations” and work with Pakistan to eliminate terrorism from the region and create an environment of peace and amity in South Asia.

“If Government of India has any concrete evidence in this case, same may be shared with Government of Pakistan.”

Mr Singh said that the same terrorists were suspected to have planted five IEDs on the railway track near Talwandi village between Dinanagar and Jhakoladi which were subsequently defused by the bomb disposal squad. A night vision device was also recovered from the spot.

“The security forces in the border are alert but the difficult terrain coupled with recent heavy rains, resulting in excess flow in the rivers and canals along the border could have been a factor, in this particular group sneaking into Punjab,” he said.

He said that during the last one month, there were five attempts at cross-border infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir sector, out of which four were interdicted and eight terrorists neutralised.

In the remaining one instance, the terrorists went back after effective retaliation by the Indian forces.

While he spoke, the Congress members, carrying placards, were shouting slogans in the Well against the prime minister and his government over the terror attack.

The slogans included: “56 inch ki chhati hai hai (down with the 56-inch chest) and Narendra Modi hai hai (down with Narendra Modi) and NDA government hai hai (down with the NDA government).”

In his statement, the home minister narrated the sequence of events of July 27 when three heavily-armed terrorists dressed in army uniforms struck in Gurdaspur at around 5.30am and stormed the police station, leading to a 12-hour gun-battle.

The Punjab police have recovered a number of “incriminating material” including three AK rifles, 19 magazines and two GPS devices from the dead terrorists, which are being analysed for further necessary action, he said.

Earlier in the day, soon after the Rajya Sabha assembled, it condemned the Gurdaspur terrorist attack.

Chairman Hamid Ansari referred to the Gurdaspur terror strike and said “this dastardly attack is deplorable“.

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Digital/Online Marketing in 2015

Marketing simply means promoting something, it might be online or offline. Marketing exists since centuries when people used to do trading in the ancient age. However, the modern traditional marketing approach took place in the early 19th century, and it existed for a long period of time until the 21st century knocked the doors and the new era of marketing started, which is now called “Digital Marketing” and this is what we are going to discuss in this post as well as in the video tutorial I have created in Urdu/Hindi, in fact, I’ve created a complete course on this topic in Urdu/Hindi. All the marketing which is done through the technology today is called “Digital Marketing” and I’ll teach you most of its components in my video course in Urdu.

What Digital Marketing topics we’ll cover?

There are hundreds of topics in Digital Marketing, but I’ve selected the most popular and effective ones which are enough to understand this modern way of marketing. After you understand these topics, you’ll come to know about other components automatically. Below is the exact list of topics we’ll cover in this course:

1. Display Advertising
2. Banner Advertising
3. Email Marketing
4. Pay Per Click (PPC)
5. Cost Per Mile (CPM)
6. Cost Per Action (CPA)
7. Cost Per View (CPV)
8. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
9. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
10. Social Media Optimization (SMO)
11. Social Media Marketing (SMM)
12. Affiliate Marketing
13. Video Marketing
14. Mobile Marketing
15. Online Webinars
16. Blogging
17. Forums
18. Giveaways

We’ll discuss all of the above topics in this course – each with details.

What are the benefits of using Digital Marketing?

There are many benefits of using digital marketing. If you have a business, company, website/blog or just a product then you’ll definitely need to promote it, and for that you’ll have to use marketing which has now become digital or online. You can also outsource your marketing to some other company or freelancer.

The reason we use “Digital Marketing” as promotion channel is that we want to reach our targeted customers and audience which might be located in some other parts of the world, and we’ve to find them using different available tools such as Facebook, Alexa,Google Keyword tool etc. After we find our targeted users who might be interested in our product or service, it’s time to use the marketing channels such as PPC, Social Media, Search Engines, Banner Ads or any other channel to reach those customers who are interested in our product.

Some of the channels are free, However, most of the channels we use in Digital Marketing are paid. Therefore, we must have a budget to promote our services to the global customers. The budget may be higher or lower according to your own financial situation, but the important thing is to understand the process.

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