Prime Minister Harper. Harper, PM, Canada's leader, Steven Harper. Steven Harper, leader of government…
This is going to take a while to get used to - the TV news just wont be the same. I can barely remember the days when Canada did not have a Liberal government. I was 10 during the years of Kim Campbell and you can bet that I didn’t understand or care who was in power. How things change!
While any friend of mine knows full well how much I dislike Harper and the Conservatives, I am actually quite happy with the results. Harper ran a great campaign against the tired old horse of Paul Martin; 13 years in power, 4 election wins in a row and scandals to boot. If there was any reasonable option for change, the party should have won a landslide victory last night, yet the Liberals still have over 100 seats, a strong minority.
The inevitable change in government has occurred, but there is hope for those of us on the left. In fact, I don't think that the situation could have occurred much better:
- The Conservative's will be held at bay, as they do not have a majority coalition unless they work with the Bloc (which looks bad) or both the Liberals and NDP (which together will wring out concessions)
- Paul Martin has already resigned. The Liberals need a new fresh face if they are to regain popular support. Also, they will be haunted by charges of arrogance and corruption for as long as they stay in power. Spending some time in the penalty box is good for them. So far this situation is looking pretty good.
- The NDP has fared well, going from 19 seats to 29. This is a big gain for Layton, who consistently is rated as the must likeable and trusted leader. The one large caveat to the NDP's large gains is that they no longer hold the balance of power in parliament. This could mean that they will be less able to wring concessions such as the 4.6 billion in new social spending in the last budget.
All in all, I'm quite pleased the situation: having the Conservatives in for a while isn't looking that bad right now. Prime Minister Harper indeed.
Tags: CanadaElection, Election, Canada, Election2006, Liberals, NDP, Conservatives.
Comments
Hey brother dear Its been
Hey brother dear
Its been like a month and a half since you've had something to say....now I know you've got some things in your head worthy of putting onto paper (or computer screen). Let's hear 'em. Don't hold back now.
Rick- It's great that you
Rick- It's great that you found my blog- I look forward to reading up on what you've been up to now that I've got your blog. I have recently discovered many FV blogs as well and enjoy staying connected with people that way. Sorry it's taken me so long to respond- I was just out in SAfrica for a break and don't have my wireless access there as I do here at the orphanage. Greetings from Mozambique!!
hey rick, good to hear from
hey rick,
good to hear from you. that's cool that you go to ubc. i havent seen you around. ever go to the pit?
Change is good, usually, but
Change is good, usually, but already, I'm seeing the Conservative government put international development and peacebuilding low on their priority list and make my life difficult, so unless they smarten up about that, I'm losing respect....They have already made threats against the Colombia project, but we're making headway at convincing them otherwise, or so I hope....
call me sometime Rick!
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