Well, that’s not exactly what I envisioned happening.
This election generated some fear within me as it progressed. There were a number of possible outcomes which disturbed me. One was the NDP forming a minority government, the other was what we ended up with, the Conservative majority. What I was hoping for, as a best possible outcome would have been a Conservative minority with a strong Liberal and NDP presence to keep them accountable to all Canadians.
Instead, we saw a huge surge by the NDP in Quebec, and widespread vote-splitting on the left which gave the Conservatives their desired majority and a deflated Liberal party.
But what surprises me the most about this election is the fact Michael Ignatieff lost his own riding. This completely boggles my mind. Here we have an extremely intelligent, very well spoken and articulate leader who, in my opinion, is a fine leader and he lost in his own riding. I guess it goes to show attack ads do work, and this saddens me. As my wife said last night, “I’m not sure when ‘smart’ and ‘educated’ became a dirty word.”
I had hopes that we were above such petty campaigning, but I was wrong. As I looked over the platforms of the parties, I felt the Liberals had the overall strongest one for all Canadians. But somehow the platforms never really made it onto the national media stage. I guess the good news is they know they have 4 years to figure out how it all went wrong.
Locally, we had very good candidates and I congratulate them all on a well run, respectful campaign. We will continue to be well represented by Mark Eyking. I’m sure we all wish Cecil Clarke well as he mulls his future, and Kathy MacLeod as she returns to her work as well.
I’m not going to join the Conservative bashing this morning. They won, there’s nothing we can do about it. We may not be happy with our electoral system today, but it’s the one we’ve been using for a while now, and it’s not likely going to change any time soon.
The sun still rose this morning and Canada is still the best country in the world to live in. Let’s embrace our nation, let’s pray for all the MPs who are packing for a move to Ottawa. Let’s pray for our Prime Minister. Let’s pray that the words of Jesus ring loud and clear, “That which you do to the least of these who are my brothers and sisters, you do also to me.”
God still reigns, and let’s pray His will be done in Canada.
I was surprised in Moncton at the Liberal upset. It’s incredible to me that one of the founding parties has lost so much ground; however, they are still being taught lessons from mistakes by previous Liberal governments, and as much as I appreciated Ignatieff’s intellect, there was a disconnect. I still think he’s the smartest person in the room.
I hope the NDP, despite their lack of governing experience, and extremely rookie MP’s, can play ball with the C’s. They make their own rules from time to time, and they seem to do it in a way that doesn’t bother anyone besides other political parties. Until the NDP can play politics like that, I’m afraid this is a very strong majority with an all too new opposition.
My prayers are with them all.