Two polls happened here during the campaign, weeks apart. The results were close. The election outcome last night mirrored both.
Despite the caterwauling in the comments section by the maple MAGAs, the anti-vaxxers, WEF conspiracy whackadoodles, the gender cops and the traitorous Wexiteers, Conservatives did not form government. With so much hair on their support base, that’s a good thing. This is not the old govern-from-the-centre-right PC party that I pine for. Stephen Harper, remember, kicked me out for being too reasonable. The new guy seems worse.
So, you were correct. It was Carney’s turn to take the torch and carry it into battle. Country over ideology. Hold your nose and vote for Dad. Father knows Best.
Mr. Poilievre lost his seat. After twenty years as a career politician, that’s a blow. But if you want to retain your support in Ottawa, best not to diss civil servants, pledge to shrink government, defund the public broadcaster or gut foreign aid. The anti-establishment stuff that resonates in Airdrie seems regressive elsewhere. That’s the problem with abandoning the middle – it’s where the bulk of the voting population lives.
In the end, it was about Trump. Canada has now rejected him in every way possible. Both Conservatives and Liberals opposed him. The narrowing of our political spectrum to a two-party race showed voters were seized with finding a strong anti-orange-guy voice for Canada and rejected the other agendas. Jagmeet and the Dippers were wiped out, despite their claim of dentalcare, pharmacare and child care success. The Bloc was seriously whacked along with their Je-me-souviens focus. The Greens were squished as climate change took a back seat.
Mark Carney’s road ahead is rocky. He’s got to work out something with the Americans while at the same time knocking down domestic trade barriers and forging new deals with other nations. He must stand in Parliament for the first time and face the hounds of opposition. If he fails to get a majority there’s deal-making with the Bloc to keep the government alive. And he surely knows the Libs were given a one-time deathbed resurrection because of the American president. He’d better not blow it. The voting mob will not accept failure, or it will demand revenge.
Poilievre may try to hang on, find a caucus member to suicide for him and run in a byelection. But when the House of Commons resumes, he’ll be in the visitors’ gallery for the first time since he was in his twenties and a Reform Party devotee.
This blog said Poilievre was the wrong guy. We told you why. We said it would be evident on Monday. It was.
The blog also warned for months about the second-coming of Trump. It will be destructive, economically punishing and chaotic, we said. And it is. Today marks his 100th sunrise in office. Every single one has come with disruption, shock, fear and pain for large numbers of people. He attacked, mocked and trolled our country. Even as we headed to voting stations he said Canada is not a viable country and we should surrender.
No politician sounded more like Trump, with sloganeering, demeaning nicknames for opponents, hard-right policies and a tireless message of negativity about the nation, than Mr. Poilievre. He did not call out Danielle Smith for supplicating at Mar-a-Lago nor Preston Manning for promoting the breakup of Canada unless people voted as he said. He supported the criminal anti-vaxxers in the Peterbilts. He said crime is raging in Canada, that our steets and children are unsafe and if Mark Carmey were elected people would soon be foraging for food.
So, the leader’s defeat in his own riding, the squishing of the socialists, the repudiation of Quebec sovereignty, the backseating of climate change, the emergence of a two-party system, the quick rejection of woke Trudeauism and the historic reversal of political fortunes in just 120 days mean something.
If we can find the centre again, we all win. Here’s hoping.
About the picture: “Hi Garth: Love your blog and love your dog/cat/lizard pics,” writes Mike. “Australian cattle dog Mojo in his muddy element enjoying the spring in Nelson BC.”