Regardless of who you voted for in Monday’s federal election, there’s one thing that every resident of Souris-Moose Mountain should be proud of: the voter turnout.
More than 77 per cent of eligible voters in the riding took the time to vote in the election, or in the advanced polls that were offered during the Thanksgiving long weekend. When you consider that voter turnout was nearly 66 per cent across the country, it makes our turnout even more impressive.
We’d like to say that the reason why so many people showed up to vote is because of an engaged electorate, or because of a deep field of candidates who offered voters some excellent options, or because the candidates worked hard to get their supporters to the polls, or because there is a greater awareness of the need to vote.
But the biggest reason for the higher voter turnout is due to the disdain that voters in Souris-Moose Mountain had for the Liberal government during this past term, and the widespread belief that the Liberals have done nothing for this constituency.
Sure, they’ve announced funding for projects such as the twinning and passing lanes on Highway 39, and the water intake project for the City of Estevan, but the reality is that we’ve heard little from the government as far as standing up for agriculture and the energy sector, and their actions have had a very detrimental impact on coal mining.
Voters in this riding turned out in droves on election night, and threw their support behind the Conservative candidate Robert Kitchen, believing him to be the candidate best-suited to fighting for our needs. Or they believed the Tories were the best fit for this consistuency.
He received 84 per cent of the vote, or 21 of every 25 votes cast – easily the most lopsided victory Souris-Moose Mountain has seen since it was formed in 1988.
I remember when former MP Ed Komarnicki finished with more than 75 per cent of the popular vote in 2011. It was stunning how convincing his victory was. But that was dwarfed by Kitchen’s romp on Monday.
Kitchen didn’t have a deep field of competition this time around, as the Liberals force-fed us a phantom candidate and the NDP had a candidate who no longer lives in the constituency (at least to Ashlee Hicks’ credit, she put some effort and expense into the campaign), but nobody could have predicted Kitchen would win to the degree that he did.
Hopefully the strong local voter turnouts carry over to the provincial and the municipal elections next fall.
It really is incredible just how much disdain exists for the Trudeau Liberals on the Prairies. He made one stop in Saskatoon during the campaign. He didn’t go to Regina. He couldn’t bother to show up to back long-time Regina-Wascana MP Ralph Goodale, although that might have been by design; an appearance by Trudeau might have done more to hurt Goodale than help.
It didn’t matter. Goodale was defeated, ending a 26-year career as a member of Parliament in his riding. He was also an MP for this region in the 1970s, back when this riding was known as Assiniboia.
At one time, Goodale was the most powerful cabinet minister in the country when he was the finance minister. His political career ended on Monday night, and not on his own terms. That’s what he gets for not standing up for the best interests of the province this past term.
Zero Liberal MPs in Saskatchewan. Zero Liberal MPs in Alberta. And none in western Manitoba or eastern B.C.
The Tories won the popular vote, which was expected by a lot of pundits. Conservatives win big in the west, the Liberals win close races in the east.
Don’t bet on this being a four-year government. That’s not to say it won’t happen, but the Tories under Stephen Harper hold the record for the longest minority government in Canadian history at about 2 1/2 years.
The Liberals minority is strong enough they shouldn’t need a coalition. That’s not to say they won’t form a coalition with the Bloc Quebecois or the New Democratic Party, but they don’t have to.
Just throw a few bones the NDP and the Bloc’s way over the next couple years to keep them happy. Eventually they’ll tire of the Liberals, and join with the Tories to topple the government and force an election.
It won’t be soon. Most Canadians don’t want to be back at the polls in a few months for an election that will just yield the same result.
There’s a lot of people in Souris-Moose Mountain who would like another chance to be at the polls tomorrow, to get another chance to vote Trudeau out, but MPs are wary of voter fatigue after a lengthy campaign that started Sept. 11 (and unofficially began early this year).
Expect to be back at the polls again in the fall of 2021 or the spring of 2022 at the latest.
Hopefully, the next time we’re at the polls, nearly 80 per cent of Souris-Moose Mountain residents will take the time to vote again.
