Halloween In Canada - Festival Of The Very Stupid

The folks over at Humor Bloggers Dot Com are celebrating all things ghoulish and gobliny - with the odd zombie thrown in - all week during their Halloween Humor Carnival. In keeping with that theme, today I've decided to take a look at something that scares the bejeezus out of most Canadians...

Few people know of the Canadian connection to Halloween. Were you aware of the secret society in the Haunted House of Commons that worships at the feet of the electorate? Oh yes. According to that well-known and respected source of information - dufuspedia - Halloween has it's origins in the ancient political festival known as election which is derived from Lower Canada and means "sanity's end".

The celebration has some elements of a "festival of the very stupid". The ancient Lower Canadians believed the border between bad government, this world, and good government, or Otherworld, became thin at election, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The nation's ancestors were honoured and invited to form a government whilst harmful, sitting politicians were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the signing of cardboard ballots with Xs. Today this is known as "craps".

In Canada's last Halloween the following ghosts and goblins "crossed over".

Stephen "Kiss Me Quick" Harper - masquerading as a Prime Minister

Michael Enigmatieff - leader of the Official Nanny, Nanny, Boo-boos

Gilles "Boo" Duceppe - leader of the Bloc Heads

Jack O'Lantern Layton - NDP (National Demon Party) Leader

Of course the scariest aspect of this festival is the day after Halloween known as Save All Our Souls Day, otherwise known as the day after the election.