Canadians Choose a Minority Conservative Government

After 12 years, Canada has decided it has had enough of the Liberal Party. However, it hasn’t entirely embraced the Conservatives. And so the result of Monday’s election reflects that – the Conservatives have the most seats, but the electorate left them short of a majority. That’s democracy; when the people are unsure, the parliament gets fragmented.

The Liberals had a pretty tough hand to play. Paul Martin, the outgoing Prime Minister, had a funding scandal to deal with, and while he himself was not implicated in it, there was a patina of sleaze about this government. Throw into that the minority status of the Liberals, who relied on the left-wing New Democratic Party to stay in office, and Mr. Martin’s days were probably numbered. They finished with 103 seats, down from 135 won at the last election in 2004.

On the other hand, the Conservative Party in Canada, and especially its leader Stephen Harper, is very conservative, while Canada’s political center lies quite a ways to the libertarian left in social realms. For example, Canada has given gay citizens the right to marry, while the Conservatives oppose that right. Canada is not particularly pleased about the American war in Iraq, while Mr. Harper would have sent troops in with the Yanks. Moreover, he’s from Alberta (the place with all the oil sands and a bit of a secessionist attitude), and most Canadians reside in Ontario and Quebec. They haven’t taken him into their hearts yet. Mr. Harper’s party received 124 seats up from 99.

The New Democrats emerge from the poll with more seats, up to 29 from 19, and an enhanced role as the Kingmakers of Canadian politics. Since a majority in the 275 seat parliament is 138, their support can keep the Conservatives in power. The question will be whether there is sufficient common ground between the two camps to allow this. The NDP breakthrough didn’t happen in the Atlantic provinces, but 50+% more seats is a victory any way one slices it.

The Bloc Quebecois should have done better than the 51 seats it won (down from 54 in 2004). The Liberals are the other main party in the province, and they were in poor odor. Yet, the Conservatives managed to push through and win seats there for the first time in 5 years. Their share of the vote soared to almost 25%, markedly up from about 7%, while the Bloc and Liberals lost 7% and 14% of their vote compared with 2004. The emergence of a Conservative alternative in Quebec may be the biggest news out of this election.

The Kensington Review expected the Bloc to win 60 seats and set up the whole sovereignty question again. With the Conservative success in Quebec, La Belle Province will not have to go through that nonsense this parliament, and Canada may be spared the debate for another decade. Sometimes, it feels good to be wrong.


© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
Produced using Fedora Linux.

Home