Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet

BQ - the satan of Canadian politics - crushed to bits, finally. The work Trudeau, Chrietien & Martin did finally paid off under Harper w/ Layton.

NDP - they were the hammer if the Cons were the anvil to crush the Bloc. MORAL VICTORY!

Libs - oh well, they should have broke Harper's government in November and got Christy Clark. oops.

Cons/free marketeers - party on! We won! SWEEEEEEETT!! PAYBACK! PAYBACK! PAYBACK! WE TOOK A LOT FROM THE LEFT, NOW WE'RE GONNA GIVE IT BACK!

Nice to see

you're such a gracious winner.

the hook? comments?

Looking for tweats and latest updates on the hook but all seems nearly done with the election and still nothing?

OMG!

OMG!

Valium anyone?

Shares of Hoffmann-La Roche are going to rise.

Well as Pee Wee always says

'Give me a majority and you won't recognize this country!'

Sad.

sz

The big news is in. We'll be publishing Hook items later this evening. Can't speak for for the twittersphere.

There will be much coverage posted late this evening, early this am.

Duceppe just stepped down

Declaring his belief, still, that Quebec will become its own country.

Christy Fan

I hope you have no children. No person in a right mind would vote for a liar and a fascist like Harper and hope for a future for their kids. Unless of course you are a redneck which would make sense reading your comment.

Payback? To whom?

I cry for my country

We once laughed at the US Repug voter of which only 25% of them believe Obama was born in the USA.

Now we find Canadian voters are even more stupid reelecting a demonstrated fascist cabal which will change Canada to a horrid neofascist state - George Bushes dream.

What's worse Canada's dummest voters the BC electorate didn't learn a thing when they elected the fascist Campbell. They did again supporting the Harp in huge numbers.

I cry for my country - now gone.

The Bloc

...loses official party status.

Good news for Canadian unity.

Payback to whom?

Try the people who smear our people.

The people who attack us out of spite.

The people who demand more and more tax.

The people who attack the BCLibs just becuz they can.

That is who will suffer under PMSH. Good.

sz

No fear! Tyee is tweeting contributor and reader reactions. Go
here.

Is Elizabeth May actually going to beat Lunn?

That will be some consolation.

And why doesn't the CBC have a Green icon for May instead of that lame Gray 'other'?

results

Glad to hear Harper won a majority - he'll keep the economy strong, lots of jobs, and our social programs intact with money from a strong economy

I sure hope May gets her seat. 50 years from now the best country to live in will be the country with the best environment. My disagreement of Harper is his environmental record.

Sad

Nothing else to say.

Maybe our press will start holding the government to account, now that the opposition can't be passed off as the default for doing so. But I doubt it.

Lies and secrecy were rewarded tonight. And Michael Ignatieff will be without his seat, so will be gone. It was just impossible to sell him, and that should have been recognized far earlier.

What could be more disgusting than John Ibbitson at the Globe saying this election should not be read as an endorsement of Stephen Harper's tendencies for secrecy and control? Maybe the Globe should have thought of that before they endorsed him.

I feel sick.

I foresee marching in the street

A sad day for Canada when 40% of the vote gets us a socially regressive, unabashedly pro Israeli, corporatist party. Let us hope that after four years the Conservatives will be so unpopular that they are reduced in size so that they no longer exist as a party.

Slurs like "Pee Wee" ...

...and all that fear-mongering clearly didn't work.

A VERY SAD day for Canada

I guess Canadians just told one of the most dangerous man in this country that it is ok to be in contempt of parliament. We will elect you again and this time you can have a majority. Please, go ahead and destroy everything in this country that you did not build, lie to us anytime you like and build prisons so we can lock up all who does not agree with the conservatives. And I guess we can just call that a concentration camp.

I am so stunned of this stupidity that I can hardly say anything. I am sick to my stomach.

Sorry R/man

Just the opposite is true....the demise of the Bloc will herald an increase in the fortunes of separatism.

Pee Wee is incapable of understanding the province of Quebec.

Nice to see Lunn is going down...how many cabinet ministers has Pee Wee lost now?

GWest

I am hoping May gets her seat big time! At the same time I find her kind of whiny (always complaining about something not being right or fair - natural from a lawyer).

But... I totally agree - come on CBC - have a big bright proud Green spot for her that says Green ready! Sheesh!

Gray other - This is history - CBC get with it!

Pee Wee a slur?

Hardly, it's a label from a Le Devoir writer - perfectly encapsulates what Quebecers think of him.

The real problem was Ontario

The unpopularity of the McGinty government has bitten the liberal vote very badly - but, in fact, the CONMEN'S gain in popular vote there was small.

Majority?

Where it matters, yes, in popular vote, no.

On the upside, I'm looking forward to the next provincial election.

You clearly don't understand Quebec

Just watch what happens in the Quebec provincial election...then we'll talk.

Horse Poop...

The pivotal point to note however, making the case that what we have here is really a pretty much bullshit democracy, is that 40% of the popular vote... overlords it over 60% that voted against that Party, EVEN IF they formed a coalition. (So, there goes that notion now... out the window.)

This isn't democracy. Like I've always said. It's something quite, quite different.

Also, my case is made... that the Liberal Party is in reality, in large part, a "conservative light" grouping who chose, when push came to shove, to move to the Conservatives, rather than vote Liberal or NDP... making Loony Bin majority government a reality.

What? Proportional Representation, with its relatively minor "regional representation" issue, is "less democratic" a model than this load of FPTP crap system?

If you find yourself in that 60+% majority grouping here, in this result, the victims of a 40% Conservative/fascist majority, you just might want to be motivating yourself to be raising a whole lot more shit on the streets... than you have been inclined to here. Or suck it up, kiss ass, knock me down and call me Susan.

This is horse poop.

And the 106 NDP seats, as swell as that is at a shallow level, still isn't worth jackshit. They's still, with the Liberal Liberals, the Bloc and maybe, at this point, a lone Green, along with me, voices just bleating in the wilderness. (Though no doubt, they get inside to warm their hands more often than I, at least. :-)

Vote Reform

Canada has just elected a fascist government. Welcome to the future - we just stepped back 100 years. And as for our environment. Well, you can kiss good bye to that. It will be exported to the US and China.

How did that happen?

Blame the voting system of this country.

WTF is vote splitting? And why? This should not be allowed. My vote should not be split because first I did not agree to that. Second my vote should count as one vote. Period.

This needs to be changed so a fascist can never be elected in this country ever again.

I guess the smart ones learn from others' mistake and the stupid ones -likes us - learn from their own.

What do you think about May's speech

I understand she had a lot of help from NDP organizers in this campaign.

Time for Prop. Rep.

Proportional Representation is long overdue. 60% of Canadians did not want a Conservative Government and yet that's what we get. How is that fair?

False majority

Harper failed to get a true majority, i.e. majority of popular vote. Will he be mindful of that? Bet on "hell, no."

Never say that!

"Canadian voters are even more stupid.."

Who're you working for? anyone who would speak to 'the people' shoots himself in the foot by calling them stupid! People do what they think they need to do. If you don't agree with their choice, it's up to you to convince them otherwise. That goes nowhere if you rant about what a bunch of untermenschen they are. Use argument, not derision, please...

Conservative Majority

I had to laugh seeing Jason Kenny on TV saying that they will work with all parties and will Govern with a mainstream platform. What a joke.

Anonymous pundit quote

Sorry I can't credit the person who said this tonight (heard it third-hand): "The Conservatives are like Nickelback. I don't know anybody who likes them, but they always seem to do well."

Lizzie May - All Hail, Stephen the First

Now the Green Party has a spokesperson in Parliament. The fascist MSM will be granting her more interviews than than the entire rest of the opposition combined. Result that 4% Green vote this time becomes 15% next time. 40 Con, 15 Green, 20 Lib, 20 NDP, 5 PQ in perpetuity.

All Hail, Stephen the First.

Exactly Steve

I'd say his strategy will be to totally ignore the fact that he's not popular and play hardball from the first inning.

He's going to bring back his budget (that promise he'll keep); dump the gun registry and begin to dismantle public financing of political parties...

And he'll have lots of goodies for the oil industry...

May has been declared winner

May has been declared winner in Saanich and the Islands. So the "Little man, Lunn will be getting a well paid position under Pee Wee. Senate, some useless commission.

Every once in awhile the Conservatives manage to form government, rack up a bid deficit, make a hash of the job and get booted out for a number of years. The countdown to the voters getting mad at Pee wee starts tomorrow

But maybe, just maybe

'Will he be mindful of that? Bet on "hell, no." '

He might realize, however, that from now on, whatever hash he makes out of anything, he can no longer excuse it by saying 'others' would not let him 'complete his program'. One of the ramifications of real uncontested power is that you're responsible for everything that happens, everything...it is indeed lonely on the top...

GWest

Not to mention Stevie will have lots of goodies for the military industrial complex, the prison industry (expect privatized prisons in the future), his religious extremist friends, and Bay Street in general. The average shmuck who voted Conservative has no idea what they've just done.

60/40

“Today we proved Canadians want change in politics,” opined Green party leader and new MP Elizabeth May. Good on the voters of Saanich and the Islands. Yet today as a 60/40 country, we proved we don’t know how to get a change in government.

Count down begins

1,580 days to go before next election.

Hope the country won't entirely be sold/destroyed and there will be something to vote for.

There were worse scenarios

An historic gain by the NDP, an historic victory for the Greens... it certainly could have been a lot worse.

At least with the social democrats firmly in opposition, the ideological choices will become much more apparent over the coming four years, and that will better expose the Cons for what they are.

I can also see the issue of electoral reform getting much more play than it has up to now in Ottawa, especially among Liberals, who now have a clear vested interest in joining the NDP and Greens in calling for such reform.

Les Québecois

My Montréal friends tell that young francophones are not these days interested in separation as they used to be. They appreciate the benefits of being in Canada. They've got their language and culture well established now.

Don't expect them to vote for Charest after the shenanigans that have been going on the Québec Liberal Party, although they might if Pauline Marois comes out swinging for another referendum.

Interesting to look at the map of Vancouver region, south VI

a cluster of orange comprising 7 adjoining ridings radiating east and south from the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver, more orange at south end of Vancouver Island, a lonely stipple of red where Joyce Murray pulled it out, and maybe a dot of red to come if Hedy Fry can hang on in Vancouver Centre. All around...deep blue.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/myelection/#/302

should note: two Surrey ridings have NDP in very close leads could go Liberal.

WITHOUT b.c. EVEN COUNTED

Democracy dies and we all eat worms, exept for the top ten and the reform coalition. The big and only question now is? How on earth can the party found by the majority of M.P.s in contempt of Parliament form a government without rectifyng their original contempt citaiton? Lets all ask the Governel General how our parlementary system can without predgidice allow a contemtuous party form a government without appropriate and concilliatory action. I would guess that democracy has died. BBCF will now dictate what our used to be country does in future. Big Business Christian Fundamentalist (ie: Reform Party ie: "Born again" take again.

Harper will now feel pressure to moderate his own caucus

As Warren Kinsella has written:

"In May of last year, Harper's government was alone among G8 nations in opposing abortion as part of family-planning projects in poor nations. He stuck to his decision, even when facing criticism from Barack Obama. If put to a vote - and Tory MPs periodically push for one - abortion would be gone. Since Harper assumed control of the party in 2004, more than 80% of his caucus favour banning abortion."

His caucus is equally fervent about ending gun control and gay marriage. And no longer can Harper quietly urge them to be patient while he inches the party towards majority power. That day has arrived. So will Harper give his caucus (and the religious right in his base) free reign or now feel the need to temper their expectations in order to occupy the centre/right sweet spot for majority status?

You know, listening to Jack Layton give his speech...

"Canadians voted for hope and change"... the sad thing is that the large majority of Canadians did do that, with the possibility of coalition known to all, but received a government promising regression.

Just sick...

60% didn't vote for a Cons Government?

That's mathematically correct, so 69% DIDN'T vote for an NDP government, 81% DIDN'T vote for a Liberal government, 94% DIDN'T vote for a BQ government and 96% DIDN'T vote for a Green government. So what?
In a multi-party system that has very little chance of changing in the relatively near future, it's what you get. Just because YOUR choice didn't win the 40%, stop whining about how the rules should change to suit YOU.

Cheer Up!

Jack seems very happy.

cb0044

I wouldn't be happy if the NDP formed a majority Government with less than 50% and that's who I voted for. No party should get a majority with a minority of the vote.

Your argument is completely empty.

Relax cboo44

Be gracious in victory. Take at least a corner of a page from the book Michael Ignatieff wrote tonight by being so gracious in defeat. It's a constant puzzle in Canadian politics that victory goes to the political outlook that doesn't split its vote.

David Beers

I will predict among the Harper government's first moves will be to rescind public funding for political parties - after all, it IS a "fragile recovery"........

I also predict......

....he will find a way to hobble question period and debate in The House.........

Forget about parliament!

We are in for some rough sledding folks! We need consider general strikes and street action against these psychopaths. They are only 40% of the population and largely old and ignorant. The youth do not support them. The Quebecois with their long history of struggle do not support them. And best of all the the psychos will be in power when the economic double dip happens, and of course, the people will blame them for it and their economic monomania of tax cutting and government cut backs will only enrage people all the more.

cboo44

Give it a rest. You know perfectly well that vote splitting is optimally beneficial for the Conservative party, while to the detriment of the others.

vote splitting

"You know perfectly well that vote splitting is optimally beneficial for the Conservative party, while to the detriment of the others."

And whose fault is that? The right got tired of losing the vote-splitting equation and joined together. That makes them smarter than the other guys, who haven't learned the lesson yet. So who do you want running the government; people who are smart or people who are stupid?

CB0044 has the right answer to all this whining. If the centre left doesn't ever get its act together it will remain in opposition.

Anybody taking odds on the NDP and Liberals merging?

How many Liberals/Red Tories are there left in Canada? Fiscal conservatives with liberal social views -- and a feeling of affinity towards corporate boardrooms?

There will be a lot of gloating.........

.......with cboo44 in the forefront it seems.

But now that Jack is official opposition, when the shite hits the fan because of Harper's policies, at least the right will have someone to blame........

Andrew MacLeod just posted a hook item from the May celebration

It's here

http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Election-Central/2011/05/02/MayWins/

Here's a taste:

"I will never shrink from speaking truth to power," said May. "Nor will I embrace the politics of spin. We need hope over fear. We need compassion over competition."

During a scrum with reporters she said she would push for electoral reform to move to a system of proportional representation [and] took shots at the pundits for saying she had no chance to win and at the media companies who kept her out of the national debate.

Glad my Newton North delta

Glad my Newton North delta riding looks to be going NDP. Glad Cadman and Lunn lost as well.

I guess women better get

I guess women better get their abortions very soon and gays better get married very soon and if you are sick best get to the doctor quick...

What to do now?

I'm with you Oh Canada - despondent and depressed. How long before abortion laws are rescinded (already hard to get so in New Brunswick) and women start dying? Before incarceration rates and the cost to do so skyrocket all while the general tone and tenor of this country gets meaner and meaner (thinking of Christy Fan et al). Very dispiriting all round.

You seem to assume I'm a Liberal?

You're correct, the vote splitting does need to be addressed. Just don't try to tell us that this is a huge endorsement of the Conservatives, because I'm sure you didn't do so for the Liberals a decade ago, when the situation was reversed.

Ujjal

I am devastated for Ujjal Dosanjh. He was a victim of vote splitting but ran a strong campaign and was a good and loyal representative in our Vancouver South riding. And he hands over to someone who won't go out in public and campaigns with accused terrorist Rapudaman Singh Malat - oh but she apparently doesn't know anything about the Air India bombing. Dosanjh did not deserve this and there is something deeply changing in the demographics of Vancouver to produce this outcome. Four years of a MP we will never see in this riding, and who won't be allowed to open her mouth in Ottawa, if she even bothers to go.

Dave

Merger? I don't see it. What's the NDP's motivation right now? And Liberals will not swallow a century and a half of pride so quickly.

i'm with anarcho

i heard somewhere that the majority isnt going to be relaxing for harper because now the power has shifted to his caucaus, who dont have to listen to him as much now. and with NDP as the oppostion, they'll be way more effective than the fake liberals were. and i think we still have atamenenko

it'd be a good idea to find out which con MPs can be educated on GMOs, net neutrality, etc.. and then talk to them, so they at least have doubt about the party lines on future CETAs and c-51s etc. if this is going to happen even more now, maybe some sort of state of permantent protest standby would be good too

there are a few bright spots...

Not only did Jack Layton look happy, he is happy. It does tend to make one ponder what politics might look like in Canada if only those happy people ran for office. As Stephen Harper said in his speech - tomorrow it is back to 'the business of government'. I guess there will always be those who think that the country ought to be run like a slightly larger-than-usual Wal-Mart.

Never mind, console yourself with the thought of all that industrial lighting and wide aisles with every sort of merchandise (except true quality) available. If there are no other consolations for being a Canadian in the next four years, we can take pride in never being undersold.

BC races that were targeted by strategic voting sites as close

Vancouver Island North goes to Conservative incumbent John Duncan

Equimalt-Juan De Fuca has NDP's Randall Garrison leading his Conservative rival Troy DeSouza by one point

Surrey North: NDP's Jasbir Sandhu defeats Conservative Dona Cadman

Burnaby Douglas: New candidate Kennedy Stewart keeps seat for NDP

Vancouver Centre: Hedy Fry retains the rding for the Liberals.

Vancouver Quadra: Liberal Joyce Murray hangs on for victory.

$%^&(*&

My despair is pretty much complete now.

Quebec

CBC's Chantal Hebert, as usual, had a smart observation on the psychology at other side of the country. She said Quebec decided to vote to defeat the Conservatives and will wake up tomorrow to find they've defeated the Bloc. The NDP may find it has a lot of work to do to hold its vote in that province. But if it does, the Liberals may be taking a long walk into a snowy wilderness.

To all of you in BC - Protect the coastlines

People in BC better get ready as we need to protect our coasts from oil invasion!

The conservative government has been the most anti-environmental party ever 'ruled' this country. Short sightedness to its fullest.

We MUST protect BC coastlines for the future generation and not allow further traffic of oil tankers on this beautiful coast. There has to be another solution!!!!

You can rest assured that this fascist will try anything to destroy what the BC Liberals could not (thanks God). I even go as far as the moratorium on BC coastlines may be in jeopardy already. And you all know what that means.

There will be nothing we can expect from this government when it comes to green technologies and reducing our C footprint - while the rest of Europe is leaping ahead 10-20 years - sadly Canada will be grossly left behind.

Welcome to 1900. That is a real change.

Still feel stick to my stomach.

VivianLea Doubt

I feel the same way !$#%&*@ - mildly translated as WTF?

RE: Quebec

Charles Campbell - that is an interesting observation.
How come the rest of the country didn't think like Quebec? If people would have used their tiny brain just a bit more constructively we may have had a different outcome - like NDP minority.

Did anyone else notice that Harper left Ignatieff out

Did anyone else notice that Harper left Ignatieff out of his little speech - or did I happen to leave the room while he was being gracious?

And the reference to the NDP's past achievements somehow pales because everyone with a memory and half a wit knows exactly what he thinks of the NDP.

Don't be fooled.

You underline Chantal's point well Charles - this may simply be a high-water mark for the NDP - and not the sign of real change for progressive politics in this country.

And Steve, you're right about merger too - I don't think that's on the horizon either.

On a brighter note...

Bon retour au Canada mes amis!!

The West is now In.

The Conservatives have now a majority with representation spread across the country. The west has been left out of too many decisions and power for too long, particularly with the growth of western population. This new government will almost certainly now create more seats in government for these larger populated western provinces, as well as more seats in Ontario, which has grown too.

The success of the Conservatives in the west and at the same time their success in Ontario, particularly close to Toronto, means that this is no longer a regional party.

BC is at last well represented in a strong national government and should be given the respect and attention that it deserves.

The fact that this new Conservative government is so widely spread also means that any fears of extreme conservative viewpoints becoming policy are considerably lessened. A party with this broad base will naturally gravitate to the centre.

As for a merger. I don't expect Jack and the NDP will feel they need one right now because they're on a roll. The next election will tell the tale. Is the NDP the new opposition or was it just an excellent performance by Jack and the wrong candidate in Ignatieff. (Ignatieff may well be an intellectual and a very interesting person but is that what the general populace want in their governing general manager? Perhaps not but they may well be interested in his writings.) The Liberal Party will probably not want to fold either. They have a long and strong tradition and it will probably take another big loss before they just give up.

Just because...

you know that 2+3=5 does not make you a voter.

As another post previously mentioned 'there are lot of stupid voters out there'.

Seriously - which country will vote in a majority previously in contempt of parliament?

Only stupid voters can do that - especially the blues.

Welcome to Tea Party North

Like many people, I don't know whether to be sad or scared. (Probably both.)

As for the comments on Ujjal,it is frightening when a Conservative who has no knowledge of terrorists gets elected. Kind of shows that the people who voted for her either are as clueless as she is, or just don't care. (Again, both would probably describe it.)

Jack is charming and all

but I can't see him being around for too much longer.

Who might be in the wings waiting?

Wish I could be philosophical about this...

But this is a huge loss for Canada. Huge loss for the environment, huge loss for social programs. Huge loss of public wealth to private banksters and fascist corps. Huge loss of international prestige. Of course it was the msm with their fear mongering and lies which swung it. Canwest by any other name... We stood on the cusp of real prosperity and had it snatched away. It will be neocon Canada for real now. Good luck everyone. Great post VivianLea.

My view

A sad night for Canadians. In the years ahead we'll become more like America and leave behind the Canada we grew up in.

Mr Harper said we wouldn't recognize Canada after he took power and that's pretty much the only thing I believe from him.

He'll get rid of direct public financing of political parties but keep the tax breaks for donations. Which means our taxes will from now on subsidize the Conservatives but not the parties we vote for.

During this term healthcare will be renegotiated with the provinces and the result will be that we'll be paying to see our doctor. We'll give the Americans $30 billion for new jets while many of us won't be able to pay the new fees when we need to go to an Emergency.

There will be more tax cuts for the wealthy and tax increases on the poor. More people sleeping in the streets or in our new prisons.

As the rich pay less the rest of us will receive less from government. Inequality will increase and the 3.8% that controls 66.6% of Canada's wealth will see their finances improve.

The Conservatives refused to work with other parties, they always demanded that everything be done their way. Now that they are in a majority position they are no longer even obligated to listen, there will be no democracy in Canada for the next 4 years.

It's going to be tough on the majority but we brought this on ourselves. Voter turnout fell.

If people can't be motivated to show up when the stakes are this high then they deserve the consequences.

Well put Frank

I didn't ever think I'd see that day that the NDP broke a hundred and I wasn't cheering at the top of my lungs.

Goodbye Canada - hello Alberta - with shades of Kelowna and West Vancouver.

Bring on the Dutch disease - were in for a dismal decade.

even the stupid voters don't

even the stupid voters don't deserve the consequences. there's a saying that violence is to a dictatorship what propaganda is to a democracy. the voters that were tricked into voting against their own interests might never find out that they were had, even if they starve to death in a ditch. thats a problem. its information versus conspiracy, and it seems the MSM is there to aid the conspiracy. that means its up to us to spread information around, non adversarialy, and without that $2 a vote subsidy. it seems like an impossible task

Frank

Why so glum? Jack is happy. All the Dipers are still partying. Jinny Simms is beaming, you got your hundred-plus. Pinch yourself.

Didn't the relentless Tweeting and the Rick Mercer mobs work? Perhaps this is an example where the operation was a success but the patient died? You needed a strong Liberal Party to stop a majority. To go from 35 seats to over a hundred is a great achievement. Was not that your objective? Did you really think you could go to a hundred and fifty five? If you did then you have to eat it.

r'man

Why am I so glum? Canada's most right-wing party won the election. Their anti-democratic impulses and million dollar ad campaigns to demonize their opponents worked.

I find that disappointing, you don't. I'm not surprised.

Art the Green

"it seems like an impossible task"

It probably is.

"even the stupid voters don't deserve the consequences."

I disagree. If not them, then who?

Frank

If there was a knockout punch in the debates it was when Jack called Iggy on his parliamentary attendance record. He succeeded. Coupled with his Bon Jacque performance. It worked. The Libs were the majority buffer, the NDP trampled them.

Ah yes Mr realisticman

Just like your avatar Stephen, gracious in defeat, magnanimous in victory and deeply, truly shallow.

And that's why so few decent people ever go into politics - they can't stand the smell.

I'd remind you and everyone else, that the once proud and now no longer extant Progressive Conservative Party NEVER did recover from the licking it took after 8 years of Mulroney Government. It hasn't been reborn from that defeat (down to 2 seats as I recall) it was taken over by a parasite worm called Preston Manning and 'reform'...

Harper is NOT a conservative...and we still need a REAL conservative party in this country.

It wasn't the NDP or the West that gave Pee Wee the win - it was ONTARIO.

And Ontario is notoriously fickle.

As for being glum - an lot of Canadians are glum today and a great many of them are young people - folks you seem to take a great pleasure in kicking.

Why do you think Harper and his gang inspire so much hatred that they can't get more than 40% of the vote except in deeply fascist and fundamentalist parts of the country?

You know it's not a conservative party

You know it's not a conservative party and you know it's not a democratic institution when Pee Wee can't get the support of someone like Andrew Coyne.

This is a very bad night for Canada and a worse night for the young - once again it seems barely 60% of eligible voters are sufficiently hopeful about the prospects of improvement and progress that they come out to vote.

Of course the fat, the sleek and the rich come out - they want to keep the pedal down - and they couldn't care less who they crush in the process.

Say goodbye to the Athabasca River.

r'man

Are you saying the NDP got Harper his majority?

I'll go over the numbers in detail tomorrow but it looks like it was Liberals moving to the Conservatives that put the Cons over the top, especially in Ontario.

If the shoe had been on the other foot, as it was so recently when the NDP had less than 12 seats, Dippers would have voted for the Libs.

Sorry, but I don't think the spectacular rise of the NDP is the cause of Harper's majority.

GWest

"I didn't ever think I'd see that day that the NDP broke a hundred and I wasn't cheering at the top of my lungs."

That was a pretty good part of the night. I agree with you also that the Libs will go the way of the ProCons now. I doubt they can come back from this.

re the athabasca river: well

re the athabasca river: well we at least shouldnt make it any easier for them

what do you think about www.votepact.org? it seems to be a way to make even the USA's broken 2 party system work for people, and get politicians to do what they're supposed to. maybe

also stupid voters dont

also stupid voters dont deserve the consequences cause they werent given good information on which to base their decision. if its anyone's fault its the people that made sure the stupid voter didnt go anywhere near good information. it might be the stupid voter's fualt if it was their decisiosn, but he might not know it even exists, and what if the well was poisoned, etc..

Art the Green

The problem in Canada is getting the financing in place - American politics with its PACs can manage to drum up enough cash to start something 'independent' which may allow them to move on certain individual issues because of the nature of their government system.

As long as we have a parliamentary democracy where parties have sway (and especially once Pee Wee has gotten rid of public financing for political parties) I can't see how independents will get very far.

Real progress will only be made when we have a leader with enough balls to accept that the current FPTP system rewards failures - just like it has just rewarded Harper with a majority he doesn't have the popular support to deserve.

We definitely have to oppose the direction he's going to go in. I'm just not sure how - he just ran a 5 week election campaign without answering more than 5 questions and never once leaving his bubble.

I can't see how you're going to get his attention now he's got that coveted majority.

Suggestions?

I take it you're talking about the media

On that point I couldn't agree more.

Harper wins

Canadians lose.

Gloating from the right shows them up for what they really are: mean, vindictive, and petty.

Seems to be infectious in the Tory party.

i think my suggestions

i think my suggestions depend on how bad this majority really is. If c-51 (a major health canada over reach from 2008 that had tony clement almost fired) was proposed again next week, and an even bigger mass protest movement materialized, and had MP's phones ringing off the hook.. could the cons now safely ignore that? and are there cons that can be scienced on how disastrous their party line is.. on a case by case basis.. in a way that wont make them defensive. this requires getting to know your 166 conservative MPs. also i think project democracy should take its momentum and become an organization that demands electoral reform. or some sort of other thing, whatever it is i hope they do it fast and dont dry up

Art the Green

Why would the Cons or the NDP care about electoral reform now?

We're about to get real left vs right politics and everyone else will have to pick a side or stay home. The Bloc and Liberals learned that tonight, the Greens will learn it next time around I guess.

Snigger

"BC is at last well represented in a strong national government and should be given the respect and attention that it deserves."

Oh, I'm game. Wai Young for ... mmmmppphhh... Minister of Immigration!!!

GUFFFAAAAWWWWWWW!!!!

Candace Hoeppner for Minister of Public Safety!

BWAAAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!

John Baird as Minister for Civilization and Decency (chortle)

Peter MacKay as minister for Iraq, with added responsibility for Libya.

Luvya babe, keep up the good work. Canadians aren't tired of paying in blood for your aggrandizement yet, ya know.

And just wait for Canada's official state religion to become.... Churchianity! All you immigrants better watch out!

The Chinese curse has scome true - we truly live in interesting times.

well the electoroal reform,

well the electoroal reform, or maybe the media bias, the two things that screw the country over every time. some way to do something about that would help. NDP's motivation seems obvious, this is the first time they've benefitted from this system and it could very well have been a fluke. plus the media's going to be complaining about their opposition status the whole time

i think that, especially with a con majority, adversarial partisan politics isn't going to work for us. and how to make it different.. seems like a lot of work

One has to look at the bright side

Most of what Harper will set out to do has to come through provincial spheres of influence.

For instance, Harper and the neo-Cons may want to make abortion illegal, but health care being a provincial responsibility, he will have to figure out how to criminalize what provincial governments and local health authorities consider not only legal, but appropriate care in some circumstances. Even a Conservative Supreme Court can't undo what a hundred years of more liberal jurisprudence has made.

He can change health care spending any way he likes, but it still has to come through provincial legislatures first. You'll see more private clinics, granted, and there still won't be enough doctors by a long shot, but we may finally start to see the end of the behemoth hospitals in BC that waste so much money, in favour of smaller, closer-to-home, more targeted facilities delivering appropriate care at far lower cost.

Even natural resources are provincial responsibilities, so nothing Harper can do or say about the Tar Sands makes a spittle's worth of difference. Although I now predict any Alberta government, to say nothing of some of its people, will now find out what it's like to be truly demonized.

Oh, there's going to be a tremendous counterreaction in the provinces - left-of-centre governments will become the norm in provincial capitals for the next four years. And NGOs world-wide will be gearing up to begin the process - isolate Harper and concentrate on the provinces instead. What Mayor Moonbeam did for (to?) the City of Vancouver will be a walk in the park by comparison.

Christy Clark has to be quaking in her 'Nucks shirt - three up, three down, back to the showers.

Chin up, Frank

"It's going to be tough on the majority but we brought this on ourselves. Voter turnout fell."

Not so sure about that - voter turnout went up to 61.4%. Hopefully there are a lot of other things that don't proceed according to plan either....

G West

Ontario couldn't stand the thought that it might, just might, no longer be the centre of the universe.........

Frank

No so fast.

The NDP now has 58 Quebec seats making it the new NDPBQ party - a Quebec-centric party pandering to Quebec's interests.

For starters, the contemplated redistribution/new seats added to the House of Commons due to growing population numbers in BC and AB.

The NDP has promised to retain Québec's 25% "proportion" of seats in the House of Commons so the NDP will have to vote against any bill that gives BC and AB more seats shrinking Quebec's portion.

The 1970's Trudeau Liberal and the 1980's Mulroney Tory "Quebec-centric" parties were ultimately decimated in western Canada due to their pandering to Quebec's interests.

The NDP has now usurped the role of the BQ.

If history is any indication, the NDP will suffer the same fate in western Canada during the next election.

Vote Splitting

"You know perfectly well that vote splitting is optimally beneficial for the Conservative party, while to the detriment of the others."

Hmm, I kind of think it helped the NDP ALSO.
Of course, that's the problem with myopic politics, one only gets to see one perspective through a jaundiced eye and confusing one's own opinion's as facts.

Cool Hand

You're dreaming if you think people like me in Western Canada are going to turn their backs on the NDP because Quebec has joined us.

But if that is what federal Liberals are telling each other right now to console yourselves you've got a nasty shock coming.

Meanwhile, in reality world the NDP just got a lot stronger.

looking the beast in the face...

Well, thanks for saying that out loud, zalm. There are a few bright spots...only a few mind, but we should keep the provinces in front of mind.
Voter turnout went up only very slightly, and it is still something we need to focus on directly. Harper has always been willing to bet on apathy, but in the long run I am not sure it is a 'winning' strategy in the fullest sense of the word. I mean, if your majority relies on people who don't show up to vote, it is only a four-year license for destruction.
I weep for the Athabaska, though. I do not know if it can survive another 4 years....

The planet needed Canadians

The planet needed Canadians to wake up, instead i think our species will be fossil fueled for the next 20 yrs. We already have the technology to move forward with renewable energy our species lacks the necessary coordination to pull it off however. Did all Canadians benefit from the tremendous wealth produced by Canadas natural resource, say, in the last 40 yrs? I think the oil and gas companies fared so well that the cascading social economic effects eventually overwhealmed this Canadian democracy. So, contempt of parliament is ok now? If I was in contempt of authority i bet I would be spending some time out in one of the new prisons? But free speech comes at an even greater cost to Canadians now. Stay in line or someone will put you in a food line.

Mayday! Mayday!

Mayday! Mayday! WTF just happened?

What a bunch of crybabies!

It was the media's fault, it was because of first past the post, the voters are stupid - wah, wah, wah!

I did not vote conservative and the candidate I voted for lost. However, I accept the will of the voters and hope the majority government will do a good job running this great country of ours. I am certain it is in better hands than it would be in the grip of the NDP or the Greens.

Maybe all you whiners should consider that perhaps you are the ones who do not know what is good for Canada.

Now we find Canadian voters

Now we find Canadian voters are even more stupid reelecting a demonstrated fascist cabal which will change Canada to a horrid neofascist state - George Bushes dream.

What's worse Canada's dummest voters the BC electorate didn't learn a thing when they elected the fascist Campbell. They did again supporting the Harp in huge numbers.

I cry for my country - now gone.

After reading that, I can't imagine why progressives didn't fare better. Obviously they only want what is best for their country and it's people. *Snicker* Here's a clue. If you want to bring more Canadians around to your point of view, you first need to stop calling them stupid. Dismissing 40% of the country as stupid does little for your cause, and nothing for your current mental state, which is obviously quite fragile at this moment. Go see your doctor. Or at least lie down with a cool cloth on your head. Your country will always be there. You are confusing country with government. If you think they are one and the same, then you are doomed to a lifetime of misery. My Canada is bigger than any government. Having said that, I particularly like the government we've just elected, and I've quite enjoyed reading some of the anguished comments from distraught progressives. Anguish really does look good on you. But it's not good for you. Now go take your meds and calm down a little.

Reallife

Thank you for that post. You are so correct. The whining and blaming I've seen today is beyond disgraceful. Liberals blaming the NDP seems to be very common, yet they forget that the NDP has vanquished the Bloc. Does that not count for something? Apparently not. If it's bad for the Liberals, it's bad period. Progressives of all stripes blaming the media, vote splitting, Harper's attack ads, and my personal favourite - "stupid" voters. Yup, the voters are stupid. Keep telling 'em that. They'll come around. Seriously, if that's the attitude held by progressives, it is no wonder they couldn't get their act together behind a single party. You win some and you lose some. Last night you lost. Take reallife's advice and accept the results of this great democracy of ours, and better luck next time. The Conservatives won't be in power forever. You'll get your chance. But you can't win every single time. I'm sorry. You just can't.

Zalm

"NGOs world-wide will be gearing up to begin the process - isolate Harper and concentrate on the provinces instead. What Mayor Moonbeam did for (to?) the City of Vancouver will be a walk in the park by comparison."

And this is a good thing? You welcome foreign influence in Canadian politics I see, as long as it is "progressive".

Frank

Haha. You would vote for the NDP if their leader was a fencepost with hair. Harken back to post-1988 when Broadbent wanted to expand the NDP into Quebec and supported the Charlottetown Accord.

The NDP in BC lost over 50% of its BC vote and was reduced to two seats in BC during the 1993 election.

Over the past two years good ol' Jack has been saying alot of things in Quebec (along with his Quebec lieutenant Mukcair), which hasn't been reported out here.

BQ sovreignists liked what they heard and voted en masse for the NDP. And now the NDP needs to deliver for Quebec and their highly self-interested demands or there is going to be hell to pay and the NDP will become a one term Quebec wonder with their 58 Quebec seats.

Have no doubt. The NDP is now a Quebec-centric party and Quebec will be the NDP's new master, which takes priority over BC's interests such as BC's fair and equitable representaion in the HoC.

And I'll wager that the federal NDP will suffer at the ballot box in the next election here in BC akin to the Quebec-centric Trudeau Liberals in 1979 and the Quebec-centric Mulroney Tories in 1988/93.

That's BC politics for ya.

ranter

It's never a good thing when outside agencies influence our government. It should be of the people, by the people and for the people, always. So, perhaps you could ask Harper why Republican strategist Arthur Finkelstein and Republican pollster John McLaughlin worked on his campaigns, if that doesn't rock your moral boat too much.... or perhaps ask Harper about all those phony invoices to get around campaign financing laws in the last election, if that's not beneath you...

And I bet you've never wondered how much money the National Citizens Coalition received from Exxon, Texaco/Chevron or any foreign oil sands player, have you? I'm sure you've written to the NCC to insist they make their list of donors public, haven't you? No?

I see our political system as having been massively corrupted in the last hundred or so years - perhaps even longer - by a corporate agenda, and I see outside NGOs believing they have a role to play in restoring a balance that has tilted too far toward that agenda of profits before environment, employment, quality of life or social stability.

Now if you want to argue that, we'll have to move over to another thread. On this one, we're just talking about what's going to happen - bad, good or indifferent. I'm not saying I favour any of it except the leftward tilt of provincial legislatures.

But if you feel smarter putting words in other peoples' mouths, go right ahead. It's a harmless pasttime.

RagingRanter and realife

"If you want to bring more Canadians around to your point of view, you first need to stop calling them stupid."

My party increased its share of the vote by leaps and bounds. Yours didn't. My party is poised to grow even more. Yours obviously isn't, its still stuck at pretty much the same level.

The thing is my party understands that "stupid voters" already have a home in the Conservative party and will never leave it.

Cool Hand

"Over the past two years good ol' Jack has been saying alot of things in Quebec (along with his Quebec lieutenant Mukcair), which hasn't been reported out here."

Everything Jack says in any language that could possibly hurt him is reported "out here". What you're hoping is there's something that's been missed. Go back a half-decade and dig up the Sherbrooke Declaration, the NDP has been pretty clear.

"BQ sovreignists liked what they heard and voted en masse for the NDP."

Nope, they didn't. They voted for the Bloc. What the NDP gained were those who agreed with the Bloc's social and fiscal policies and many pro-Quebec policies but not with actual separation.

"And now the NDP needs to deliver for Quebec and their highly self-interested demands or there is going to be hell to pay and the NDP will become a one term Quebec wonder with their 58 Quebec seats."

I know the Liberals on tv and radio are saying that and that's what they tell each other in order to keep their confidence up but that dog won't hunt.

"Have no doubt. The NDP is now a Quebec-centric party and Quebec will be the NDP's new master"

I think its great we have lots of MPs from Quebec and lots of strength in the province. I look forward to hearing their points of view as we build a bigger and stronger base.

As for you Liberals, you have to seriously think about how you survive as a party considering you're almost bankrupt and have no income.

"More to the country than government"...let's hope so

Because Harper doesn't seem to think so...he'd be perfectly happy running the country like a corporation - remember?

This is the guy who follows Grover Norquist's lead and basically wants to reduce the influence of the federal government to virtually nothing as regards domestic activities.

Guess reallife and 'ranter' have forgotten this little Stevie gem:
'America, and particularly your conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world' and that Canadians “wouldn’t even recognize the kind of country that I want to lead."

Despite all their rhetoric, Harper and his gang will reduce public spending in every essential areas and reduce the role of the federal government in order to provide more opportunities for their corporate friends to profit from privatizing health care, private child care, private education and public private partnerships for municipal infrastructure and services.

As for Harper voters being stupid - some of them obviously aren't - because they're in that top 3% demographic that gets its income from the corporations who profit from Harper's tax cutting and program destruction.

The stupid ones are those who apparently believe Flaherty's bullshit about the economy being strong.

So let's hope there's more to the country than government all right - because were going to need something to keep us together after 4 more years of this guy.

Corporate election spin

In the two days following the election the Canadian
stock market has dropped more than 3%,which is a pretty dramatic sign that investors worried about an unconstrained Harper. But here's how this gets reported in the financial media:

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — The return of a conservative majority to the Canadian parliament, the first in nearly two decades, could benefit the country’s financial markets as certainty over fiscal policy returns, economists said following Monday night’s election results in Canada.

Canadians re-elected Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as the conservative Tory Party secured a 167-seat win in parliament, paving the way for Harper’s first term with a majority mandate.

“The return to a majority government situation following seven years of minorities can be seen as supportive for CAD,” wrote Toronto-based market analyst Colin Cieszynski, referring to the Canadian dollar. “It may enhance political stability at the federal level for the next several years.”

GWest and Frank

Pay attention: my post said that I did not vote for the Conservatives. I was concerned that they are drifting too close to American republican politics. However, I do not believe that people who voted for the Conservatives are stupid. They are likely entrepreneurial types who believe in looking after themselves with as little government involvement as possible. Not sure what drives people to vote for the NDP but I doubt it makes them any smarter especially considering that the NDP will never have any real power.

reallife

Pay attention: I do think they are stupid and I believe they put their selfish needs before the good of both the country and their neighbours.

I think the common factor among Harper acolytes is not their business acumen or their intelligence - I would hope that people vote for a social democratic alternative because they actually believe in equality of opportunity and equity.

I think that DOES make them smarter and it certainly, in my experience, makes them nicer people and far more pleasant to be with.

The one thing about people who care about compassion and equality and fairness that does set them apart is the fact they don't quit - AND THEY DON'T GIVE UP ON PEOPLE.

If social democrats handle power as poorly and the Liberals and Conservatives in this country do I'd be very surprised and the record of NDP governments in provinces in this country proves to me they won't.

reallife

Perhaps, we'll have to wait and see. But I'm willing to bet your small government types will continue to demand subsidies, prisons, fighter jets and so on and will want to see movement on social issues because the last thing they want is for people to live any way they want.