A surprising sea of red! The most interesting Canadian election results I have seen. It all started when the Atlantic results started coming in. Sure there was an expected Liberal majority in those provinces, but this was a landslide victory.
As the night progressed, it was more and more evident that it was going to be a Liberal Majority, but I don’t think even the Liberals expected the result to turn out the way it did. Lot of surprising defeats. The Orange crush, crashed in Quebec. The Conservatives and the NDP’s will now try to figure out what went wrong, but there was one thing that was evident and it was that Canadians wanted change and it was all rooted in a resounding “NO” to the Conservatives.
There are so many things about the Conservative policies that I can talk about from numerous scandals to complete disregard for the environment and minorities, politics of fear and division not to mention the untimely political suicide attempt by bringing in the niqab to the table, tax policies that did not benefit the working class, to their stance on anti-terrorism with the introduction of bill C-51 and unilateral foreign policies, that only damaged Canada’s reputation internationally. I can go on. One thing to note is that when the Conservatives came into power as a majority in 2011, on one side the Liberals had a weak leader and an even weaker platform, and on the other side was the NDP which were inexperienced.
But instead of focussing on what was, I want to focus on what IS, and what does this mean for Canada?
These are interesting times and these are scary times too. But regardless of what has happened, or what will happen, this is a very different Liberal Party compared to that of 2011. This Liberal Party is more like a “Liberal-NDP” party especially if you look at their stance on income-splitting, higher tax on high income earners and tax reduction for low income and middle class families. The whole Robbin Hood/ Socialist approach is inherently a NDP signature.
Regardless of how the Party did, I can honestly say that Justin Trudeau, although as many have believed not fit to be the Prime Mister of Canada, gave the most uplifting, positive and inspirational Prime-Minister-Like speech I have ever heard from a Canadian leader. There is something to be said about the psychology of a ‘newbie’, of a ‘rookie’, of an ‘underdog’. Maybe Trudeau will need to work extra hard to prove himself worthy to lead a nation, and he has to because the people have put their trust in him and his party.
Tom Mulcair ran a safe, steady, well composed campaign, but sometimes that is not all that is needed. Having Justin Trudeau as a Party leader was a risk, to promise to increase spending, cut taxes and run a deficit was a risk and it paid of. Also, Justin Trudeau is charismatic and the liberals have a story to tell, from 3rd to 1st. Although you may not think that holds much value, but it does. The biggest changes happen when you have a story to tell, when you sell hope and not numbers and figures and policies.
But I am also scared of what is to come. Increasing spending and decreasing taxes and running a deficit until 2020? We might end up worse than now. Letting in 25,000 Syrian refugees instead of 10,000? Is this a calculated number or did he just throw these numbers up to win votes? How will the increase in corporate tax play out into job loss/gain scenarios, foreign investment etc…?But the biggest scare is still that proposed deficit.
I was afraid of what the election results would be, but looking at the surprising sea of red, topped with Justin Trudeau’s very uplifting, very Canadian speech, I was inspired. Sometimes when people are sick and tired of what is, what is needed is something or someone they can look up to, something that inspires them.
There is a certain charm about Trudeau that other political party leaders just do not have. It causes a movement to take place. Take for example, the movement that took place in India when its people elected Narendra Modi as their Prime Minister. Of course you cannot compare Indian and Canadian politics because there are very different dynamics at play.
What I really want to say is that if the Liberals can maintain a steady economy and keep its promises of inclusion, diversity and its commitments while inspiring Canadians, I think we’re in for a very interesting era.
I think every Canadian should listen to their new leader’s victory speech
