Top YouTube Videos of Canada Election 2011

by Greg Jarboe • May 2, 2011

The General Election in Canada on Monday, May 2, 2001, could turn out to be a real nail biter, but Canadians who tweet or post local results from the national election online before polling stations close in all six time zones face fines. So, while waiting patiently to discover the outcome, there will be plenty of time to watch the "Top YouTube videos of Canada Election 2011."

First, check out "RMR: Rick's Rant - Vote" from the Rick Mercer Report.

Mercer is a Canadian comedian, television personality, political satirist, and blogger. He first came to national attention in 1990, when he premiered his one man show "Show Me the Button, I'll Push It." Mercer came to even greater attention for his role in the satirical news show "This Hour Has 22 Minutes," and his spinoff special "Talking To Americans" was the highest-rated comedy special in the history of CBC Television, with 2.7 million viewers. So, his rant could actually impact turnout by young, eligible voters.

Next, there are 19 registered federal political parties, according to Elections Canada. And as much as I might want to check out all of them, all of you know that Google is using site speed in web search ranking. So, embedding videos from all 19 parties isn't an option.

Still, preliminary election results won't be available at www.elections.ca until 10 p.m. (Eastern Time) on May 2. So, let's start with one of the "other" political parties: The Pirate Party of Canada.

There are only two videos uploaded to PriatePartyCanada's channel on YouTube. The one with the most views -- 1,000 as of Saturday -- is "TV AD: Democracy & The Internet."

Now, I'll bet you were expecting a funny video of candidates reciting the Pirate's alphabet. But the Pirate Party of Canada strives to reform Canadian information laws to meet the needs of the new century.

Next, let's check out the Rhinoceros Party. The Parti Rhinocéros website explains, "We don't speak English very much, but we French very well!"

There are 28 videos on sanzalure's Channel on YouTube. The most viewed -- with 6,340 views on Saturday -- is "Parti Rhinocéros - Élections 2011 - CBC."

According to the video's description, "Publicité électorale préparée par Tommy Gaudet pour être diffusée lundi le 18 avril sur les ondes de CBC en anglais." The party's website promises to translate this some day.

Next, let's look at the five major parties: Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, Bloc Québécois, and the Green Party. If this seems about three parties too many, then you live South of the border between the United States and Canada. But North of the border, this is as normal as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Gendarmerie royale du Canada).

Let's begin with the Green Party of Canada. The canadiangreenparty's Channel on YouTube has 945 subscribers and 233,660 total upload views as of Saturday. The most viewed video -- with 59,205 views -- was "Change the Channel on Attack Ads."

According to the video's description, "Attack ads are spiraling out of control. If you're disgusted with negative politics and the state of Canadian democracy, it's time to change the channel! The Green Party of Canada is sending a message to the other political parties: Canadians are sick and tired of attack ads. We're sending the message with an attack ad of our own -- an attack ad on attack ads!"

Next, let's check out Bloc Québécois. The BlocQuebecois's Channel on YouTube had 482 subscribers and
270,596 total upload views as of Saturday. The most viewed video -- with 40,394 views -- was "Pour qu'on nous entende parler Québec!"

According to the video's description, ""Imaginez tout le chemin que pourraient faire 8 millions de personnes ensemble! Le 2 mai prochain, ne laissez pas les autres prendre toute la place, ne laissez pas les autres décider à votre place."

I wasn't sure which party to look at next. Polls showing party voting intention by decided voters have shifted over the past several days. So, let's check out the Liberal Party of Canada.

The liberalvideo's Channel on YouTube doesn't disclose its number of subscribers, but it had 1,907,537 total upload views as of Saturday. The most viewed video -- with 186,560 views -- is "Stephen Harper copies John Howard."

According to the video's description, "In 2003, Stephen Harper and Australian Prime Minister John Howard deliver largely identical speeches urging their nations to join George W. Bush's Coalition of the Willing to go to war with Iraq."

Next, is the New Democratic Party. The NDPCanada's Channel on YouTube doesn't disclose its number of subscribers, either. But it had 775,208 total upload views as of Saturday. The most viewed video -- with 46,981 views -- is "Jack Layton A New Kind of Strong - New Democrats TV Ad."

The video's description says, "A New Kind of Strong - New Democrats TV Ad."

Last but not least is the Conservative Party of Canada. The cpcpcc's Channel on YouTube had 1,406 subscribers and 1,153,431 total upload views as of Saturday. The most viewed video -- with 106,661 views -- is "Our Country."

The video's description says, "Want this ad seen everywhere? "Like" it and "Share" it on Facebook!"

There you have it: The top YouTube videos of Canada Election 2011.

If this helps you decide who to vote for before you head to your riding or it just gives you something to do while you are waiting for the preliminary results to be posted on the Elections Canada Web site, then I didn't waste my weekend writing it.

According to the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, 31% of adult internet users went online to watch political videos in the months leading up to the 2010 elections.

Now, I know that's what happened last year south of the border between the United States and Canada. But I wouldn't be surprised if Canadian voters top that in 2011.