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January 24, 2006
Prime Minister Harper
As expected, the Conservative Party of Canada won a minority government. I'm proud that almost 65% of voters participated, up from 2004. I'll be really interested in following Canadian politics during this term, considering the Conservatives will have to make nice with the other, more leftist, parties. Also, the Conservatives didn't get a clear mandate from the people. In fact, according to this CBC poll, most Canadians who voted for the Conservatives did so for a change, not because they support a right-of-center agenda.
I was glad to hear how the NDP made big gains and glad that the Greens got over 4% of the popular vote (although no seats), although I am a little dismayed how skewed our riding system is. Le Bloc got about 10% of the popular vote and 17% of the House's seats, while the NDP got about 17% of the popular vote, and only 9% of the seats.
I am also glad to hear that Paul Martin is resigning as head of the Liberal Party. Not that I disliked him, in fact, I felt he get dealt a losing hand when he won the leadership after Chrétien's resignation. But I think the party needs to be cleansed before people (in particular, me) can trust it again.
Overall, I think it's going to be ok until the next election. I give it 2 years tops.
For those interested, full election results can be found here.
Comments
Imagine if the CPC manages to stick it out for 3 more years, or gets re-elected, and meanwhile the Democrats win in the US 2008 elections. Then we'd have a right-wing Canada living alongside a left-wing USA. Impossible, you say? Well, nothing's impossible.
Posted by: ryan at January 25, 2006 8:02 AM
Some suggestions from a lifetime conservative but only if corrections are made.
1. What opposition has ever corrected even one mistake.
2 Hold a by-election.
3 Announce new policy immediately before you lose the next election
I have complete faith in all our party members to make the right decisions. Keep up the good work.
Respectfully Doug Willmer
Posted by: Joe Hudson at February 10, 2006 4:01 PM