Canada election prospects

Canada is on the verge of a federal election, with the three opposition parties uniting around a non-confidence motion to be tabled next week on November 24th. The government could be defeated on November 28th with an election due sometime in January. What is likely to happen here?

In an earlier post, I had thought that the Liberal govt was in trouble but would probably last until March when Jupiter stationed against Canada's natal Saturn in the 8th house. Now, I see that I may have misinterpreted things somewhat. There is no doubt that the early March period will be difficult for whatever government is in power, but looking at the planetary influences on November 28th, one can see a lot of hostile energy there (the Sun Mars square for example).

I think the government is likely to be defeated at that time. This is what most pundits are saying so the astrological angle isn't that helpful for enhancing our understanding. According to my reading of the stars, the most likely dates for an election are January 9 and January 22. The January 9th date has been widely mentioned as a likely date. In this election, I think the Liberals will lose seats in the House and will likely lose power as well.

What is interesting is that based on the NDP chart under the Layton leadership, December and January are going to be favourable months. An election held in January will likely see a rise in the NDP fortunes including the possibility of gaining of the balance of power in the formation of the next government (although I concede this is unlikely in the event of a Conservative minority win). The NDP fortunes start to wane around that time too however, suggesting that the new government, if elected in January, will have its hands full getting anything accomplished. A more difficult time for NDP lies down the road, as March and April look very challenging indeed.

Canadian politics are a real challenge for an astrologer because there are no fixed election dates, four political parties, and the current levels of popularity has no one far enough in front to win a majority. This means that there are no clear winners as there are in the US.

December's cold comforts

I think the current highly stress planetary pattern should peak in December with a major world event. Certainly , Dick Cheney hopes this cosmic version of spin the bottle doesn't finish it's merry-go-round staring straight at him. And yet, we know that his chart is very afflicted at this time. I still believe there will be further embarrassment to come for the VP, above and beyond what he have been publically told within the context of the Plame affair.

One other possible area of volatility may be Saudi Arabia. If the Jan 15 1902 chart is correct, the Mars at 17 Capricorn will be coming underthe influence of Saturn and Ketu around this time. This will be an excellent test of the chart's continued usefulness. If its still good, look for some major violence in Saudi in the December time frame.

French Riots

One can easily see the source of France's current problems in the midnight October 4th chart, the time when the constitution of the 5th Republic went into legal effect.

From a Vedic perspective, the close Sun-Mercury conjunction is being closely sextiled by Saturn. This third house sextile (forward clockwise direction only) is one of the three full strength aspects allotted to Saturn. Saturn is near its station so that makes it that much more powerful, and of course Saturn rules an evil dussthana houses -- the 8th house (death-like situations) in the midnight chart.

In the midnight chart, the 2L Sun and 3L/6L Mercury pairing falls in the 3rd house in Virgo. This is perhaps one clue as the relative young age of the rioters. The chart is running Saturn Ketu dasha now, and Ketu is involved in a close trine with natal Saturn, foreshadowing the possiblity of some breakdown (Ketu) of civil order (Saturn). To add to the gravity of the situation, transit Ketu is close by Sun and Mercury and is acting against leaders (Sun).

As long as Saturn is near the 16 or 17 degree point of Cancer (Lahiri, bien sur!), France will remain a dangerous and inflamed situation. I don't think things to really quiet down until December. After the Nov 17th Lunar Return, look for a major govt shakeup, the result of internal questioning that will follow this Arab uprising. Transit Ketu is also conjoining the Sun Mercury pair around this same time. This ups the ante overall, and having two slow moving malefics afflict the country simultaneously makes this much more significant and of potentially historic importance.

With 2L Sun afflicted, look for economic consequences to kick in shortly.