Canadian election

[The Grave Maurice]

Given all that has happened in the last few days, I imagine only a few of us care about the Canadian election. But this could be a very interesting evening.

[Magpie]

That was one of the most gripping elections we've had in a long time.

Can't say I'm crazy about the result, but it made for an interesting evening.

[Wolf Vanderlinden]

Yeah, I'm still in shock. Jack and Olivia in Stornoway? Liberals crushed? The Bloc virtually wiped out? Bev-lies to Parliament-Oda regains her seat? Dryden out? What with Mayor McCheese here in T.O. and the Provincial election coming up this could be the end of life as we know it. Or it's all another turn of the wheel and life goes on.

Wolf.

[The Grave Maurice]

I'll be interested to see what Jack does with some of the newly-elected members from Quebec. Some of them don't seem quite ready for prime time.

[Magpie]

I'm in the only Liberal riding in the whole of southern Ontario. Could be interesting

I can't believe Bev Oda got re-elected! That's just nuts.

[The Grave Maurice]

How Canadians could give Harper a majority, given his government's history of duplicity, is completely beyond me. It's time we looked at some sort of new electoral method. Sixty percent of Canadians voted against the Conservatives, but, still, we're stuck with them for the next four years. Cripes.

[Magpie]

How Canadians could give Harper a majority, given his government's history of duplicity, is completely beyond me. It's time we looked at some sort of new electoral method. Sixty percent of Canadians voted against the Conservatives, but, still, we're stuck with them for the next four years. Cripes.

Do you know there were people where I work who didn't know that Harper was the leader of the Conservatives? And they swallowed the whole bullpuck about coalition governments being undemocratic, and that the Liberals regularly force unnecessary elections.

I'm beginning to dispair, I really am.


Btw, if I'd had the option, I would have voted for the Pirate Party--they may be a single issue party, but it's an important issue.

[Mayerling]

I have been really interested in the history of Canadian politics since the 1960s, and I keep thinking that Harper's victory (no other way of looking at it) is like that 1958 election that was called by John Diefenbacker that trounced the Liberals under Lester Pearson. Pearson thought he would be replacing the Tories, but for the first time in decades the Tories came out really ahead in seats in Parliament. It did no last though. By 1962 Diefenbacker was defeated by Pearson.

Jef

[The Grave Maurice]

That's very perceptive of you, Mayerling. There are certainly similarities with the 1958 Diefenbaker Conservative sweep. The major differences are that the Conservatives then had a majority of the popular vote, and the Liberals (the traditional centre ground for the Canadian electorate) were not decimated. This defeat could last for some time unless the Liberals completely rethink their position in the political spectrum.

[Mayerling]

That's very perceptive of you, Mayerling. There are certainly similarities with the 1958 Diefenbaker Conservative sweep. The major differences are that the Conservatives then had a majority of the popular vote, and the Liberals (the traditional centre ground for the Canadian electorate) were not decimated. This defeat could last for some time unless the Liberals completely rethink their position in the political spectrum.

Hi Maurice,

Actually you are right. Only two decades ago it seemed that the Kim Campbell debacle spelled the end of the Tories - actually they too had to rebuild and they did it pretty well. And in the middle of the 1980s, John Turner managed to help his Liberal Party get seriously trounced by Mulroney. There are temporary factors in Canadian elections that lead to massive swings back and forth. The Liberals may be back in four years...............

Jeff

[The Grave Maurice]

I was looking at information about the 1958 election this afternoon and, much to my surprise, the Liberals were decimated then. They got knocked down to 48 seats...not, in fact, that much different from today. I'd forgotten that. Of course, they were then led by the great Lester Pearson whose minority governments beginning in '63, gave us some of our best social legislation.

Can the Liberals come back this time? Probably. Although, with the Conservatives now occupying the centre-right, and the NDP occupying the centre-left, it's going to be a tight squeeze.