The People Have Spoken
Well, I can't say that I agree with their choice, but according to Elections Canada, the people of Canada have decided that the Conservative Party of Canada shall have 143 seats in Parliament, with 37.6% of the popular vote, just 12 seats shy of a majority government. The people have also decided that Stéphane Dion will remain as their leader of the Official Opposition with 26.2% of the popular vote and 76 seats in Parliament. The NDP have surged to 37 seats, with 12% of the popular vote, and the BQ managed to grab 50 seats with 16.2%.
Sadly Elizabeth May and the Green Party were shut out of Parliament completely, even though they managed to get 6.8% of the popular vote. Nearly a million Canadians voted for the Green party, but they will have no voice in Ottawa.
Interestingly enough, two independent MPs were elected, including Nova Scotia MP Bill Casey! It appears that Prime Minister Harper did at least pay a price for breaking the Atlantic Accord, since he was also completely booted out of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Liberals also managed to hold our ground in Québec, by winning 13 seats!
The Liberals also managed to hold our ground in Québec, by winning 13 seats!
To all of my friends and fellow bloggers out there who belong to other parties, I would just like to say congratulations! You all worked very hard and the people of Canada have rewarded you. I look forward to seeing how well our respective leaders can work together.
As for us Liberals, we can take pride in having fought a hard fight to the bitter end, and most importantly to having held the Conservatives to a minority. I have heard a lot of panicky chatter about uniting the left, sacking Dion, etc. The bottom line is that we have lost an election. As much as we like to think that we have some control over our destiny, it is the voters who made their decision yesterday and we must respect it.
In particular, I think that a change in leadership at this point would be a sign of desperation more than anything else. Stéphane Dion is a solid leader, and I have every confidence that he will be a great prime minister. We would be unwise to abandon him over a single defeat. In all likelihood, another leadership race would simply divide the party even further, and Harper would easily pounce on us before we are ready for an election as Chrétien did on the newly elected Stockwell Day.
posted by Fish at
5:50 AM
3 Comments:
I don't think it's a bad thing at all the Greens didn't get in. If this election isn't a wake up call to those who split votes on the left I don't know what is.
By
Hishighness, at 7:42 AM
Fish, settle down. We Libs didn't "fight a hard fight to the bitter end." We barely laid a glove on Mr. Harper. Elizabeth May and Jack Layton were certainly effective, just not Mr. Dion. And, as for the Libs having held Harper to a minority, your appreciation ought to go to Gilles Duceppe for fighting back the Tory tide in Quebec. That's where Mr. Harper was stopped.
Fish, we accomplished nothing last night except to come through as the real loser of the evening. We lost on the right and on the left. We failed to hold the center.
The voting public has given its verdict on Mr. Dion and ignoring that risks irreparable harm to the LPC. You have to offer the public someone they can see as ready to lead the country and we know that's not how they see Mr. Dion.
Time to grow up and focus on what's best for the party, not what's best for Mr. Dion.
By
The Mound of Sound, at 8:52 AM
I'll concede that it was most deffinately a loss. We were fighting a war on two fronts and we lost ground on both. There's no escaping that.
Just the same, as I wrote on your blog, I still don't see how it would do anybody any good to the party or the nation if we allowed the Official Opposition to undergo yet another divisive leadership race, that could only weaken us and provide more sound bytes to the Conservative campaign team.
One single loss does not aloser make. Dalton McGuinty is probably the single biggest poster child for this lesson.
By
Fish, at 9:11 AM
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