Oh Canada...Oh Canada Part 4
Oh Canada...Oh Canada Part 4
It is official. The new Prime Minister of Canada is Stephen Harper of the Conservative Party. But before I say anything, I wanted to take the time to congratulate the 64.9 percent of Canadian voters who took the time to vote.
More than a decade has passed since the last time there was a Conservative PM. Paul Martin, the former PM was fairly gratious in defeat, having become a new member of the opposition party by a margin of some 21 seats in the House of Commons. It was a brutal fight according to most accounts. Harper was able to out point the Liberal Party's Martin in the end.
I rather enjoyed watching the CSPAN coverage of the election results. I had previously posted about the pre-election poll results which showed the Conservative Party leading comfortably. Well, just like in the states, the pundits took to heart the poll numbers only to be disappointed (or elated depending upon their political affiliation).
The Conservative party will lead a new minority government with 124 seats, followed by the Liberal Party with 103 seats, followed by Bloc Quebecios with 51, the New Democrat party (NDP) with 29. Or if you prefer, you can find a colorful graph revealing the results here.
There was also an Independent candidate that won a seat in Parliment. I heard on CBC that this was "historic." I haven't found any articles to help expand upon this line of commentary. (If any Canadian visitors have any information I'd appreciate the correction and/or update.)
It must be somewhat disheartening to be Stephen Harper and a member of the Conservative Party to know that the reason that you won was because the Canadian voters wanted to send a message to Paul Martin and the Liberal Party. (This according to those citizens that I watched on CBC in response to questions about who they voted for and why.) Maybe next time the Liberal Party will avoid future scandals.
From my perspective, it appears that Harper will not be sending troops to Iraq, despite his support for the invasion of Iraq. What of those taxcuts...which party plan will win a majority of votes in the new coalition government? The NDP just might have a role to play. I will have to pay attention to see what becomes of Medicare and for-profit-coverage.
One last question. Will there be another election in the next 24 months?
Oh Canada...Oh Canada Part 3
Oh Canada...Oh Canada Part 2
Oh Canada...Oh Canada
posted by M A F at 12:46 AM
4 Comments:
Hey Mac,
Great post! Dunno about the independent thing... I was quite sure we'd had other independents sitting. What might be historic is that there was only one? Might need someone's educated opinion on that one.
The Conservatives used to go by PC (for Progressive Conservative), instead of CP (which here usually refers to a railway). But who knows... maybe they dropped the progressive part of their platform. Hee hee!
And yes... my guess would be that there will almost certainly be another election in the next 24 months.
It's "what we do" when there's a minority government.
Anyway, Mac, I'm just delighted with all your coverage of our election! Well done!
Sarah, I want to thank you for directing my attention north. I waited all day to hear the returns. I learned that I still have more to learn about the process including the language of Canadian politics. Heard somethings that made go hmmm.
Yes, Mac, thanks for keeping us informed.
Well, I think "going hhhmmmm" is a wonderful thing in and of itself. Most people don't even get that far.
I'm learning more about US politics through your blog, so the "hhhmmm-ing" is mutual.
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