Much has been said and written about the federal election results, but we felt it was still imperative not to let these results be posted without adding to the commentary.
As well noted by columnist Murray Mandryk, rural Canada, with a couple of exceptions, stayed true to Tory blue and that included a good chunk of Saskatchewan.
Now, with the Liberal team in control, Souris-Moose Mountain and other rural Saskatchewan constituencies find themselves outside looking in.
While local candidate Dr. Robert Kitchen made quick work of the opposition and retained the high level of support his predecessor, Ed Komarnicki enjoyed, his will be a different world once he gets down to the political brass tacks in Ottawa.
While Komarnicki was able to work within the minority and later a majority Stephen Harper operated power base, Kitchen will more often find himself looking and working from the outside.
As one political pundit put it, once again Ralph Goodale, the province’s only elected Liberal, will suddenly become everybody’s new best friend.
This is just one factor with this new regime change, but it’s a big factor. Saskatchewan’s MPs, with the exception of one, will now be working from a disadvantaged position. Experience and past cabinet or caucus positions won’t matter much.
Change was obviously desired by the majority of Canadians who had become tired of Harper’ insular culture of exclusivity and his government’s near cynical style of governance.
What will register in the former PM’s favour is the fact he will be leaving the leadership of the Conservative Party with a strong segment of it still intact, serving as the official Opposition with 99 members. This is a much stronger legacy than what the party was left with once Brian Mulroney decided to sabotage and then pack it up. He left a devastated party with no hope of survival until the western-based Reform and Alliance parties came along to save the day for the right wing faction. In fact, the new Conservatives emboldened with the best that Reform and Alliance had to offer, roared back to collect 56 per cent of the votes in Saskatchewan in 2011. A good portion of that fan base stayed true to the party this time, too.
But the red wave was just too overwhelming beginning with a clean sweep of 32 Atlantic Canada seats en route to a 184 seat majority.
Advance polling stations saw a 71 per cent increase, signalling a huge interest in this year’s election that began with one of the longest campaigns ever in Canadian history.
That interest was maintained on election day as voter turnout moved upward.
It became 1968’s Trudeaumania all over again. All Western Canada is now hoping that Justin Trudeau is not his father’s son when it comes to dealing with issues west of Thunder Bay.
We left an era of fear and division, which was the Harper autocratic style, and we now must gird ourselves to prepare for what may come, but from this vantage point, it doesn’t look promising with only a sprinkling of Liberal representatives in the three Prairie provinces and a couple of pockets of support in British Columbia. We will just have to wait and see if Trudeau is prepared to deliver an all inclusive government, or whether it will turn out to be a need to pander to the power base, which now is central and southern Ontario, a sector or two in Quebec and B.C., and all of the Maritimes. The political pressure will be intense and it will certainly test the fairness mettle of the new prime minister.
