Small silver clouds with a thick dark lining
Canadian elections yesterday. I got up at 3am to watch the live results.
Some amazing things happened.
The Greens won their first elected seat. Not only in Canada. In North America. Elizabeth May, the leader of the Canadian Green Party, took the riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands from a Conservative cabinet minister.
The Bloc Quebecois were decimated. They went from 47 to 4 seats. The leader, Gilles Duceppe, has resigned. This actually saddens me. I had personal respect for him. But Canadian politics have undergone an earthquake and a tidal wave if left-leaning Quebec is now to play for, without the involvement of the Bloc Quebecois.
The Bloc support, this time around, collapsed primarily into the "orange wave" as the NDP leap-frogged the Liberals and became the official opposition for the first time in party history. Jack Layton gave his usual proficient bilingual performance in his celebratory speech.
Sadly though, I have to agree with one CBC pundit who said that even in opposition, the NDP now have less influence than they did in the last parliament, because the Conservatives now have a majority of 167 of the 308 seats in the House. This, which Harper calls "a strong, stable, national, majority Conservative rule" freaks the bejeebies out of me. Harper's long-term goal is to shift Canada entirely to the right. And step by step, he's succeeding. He now has four years of absolute rule to carry on with that project. I am very worried and afraid.
And the rise and rise of both the Conservatives and the NDP means the decimation of the Liberals, once Canada's "natural ruling party" -- they won a mere 34 seats. This saddens me. I would like Ignatieff to resign. I want Dion back! He was an earnest, occasionally stammering, bespectacled, environmentalist academic, and worth ten of Ignatieff and a hundred of Harper. And, this result makes me wonder if Dion should really have been blamed for the fall to 50 seats at the last election. The Liberals have been falling and falling, as their continued descent this time around shows. That said, the Progressive Conservatives were reduced to 3 seats back in 1993 and, well, now look. (I suppose the same might be said about the Bloc. Aiyiyi.)
So there were some exciting things happening last night and some real rays of light for the future, but oh, the next four years. What will happen in the next four years? With the Arctic? With the tar sands? With legislation for environmental protection? With First Nations rights? For Canadian women? For the arts? With our health care system? With corporate tax cuts? With our social safety net? Even, with GLBT rights and women's freedom to choose? What will happen? What will Harper do? I am very, very afraid.
Some amazing things happened.
The Greens won their first elected seat. Not only in Canada. In North America. Elizabeth May, the leader of the Canadian Green Party, took the riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands from a Conservative cabinet minister.
The Bloc Quebecois were decimated. They went from 47 to 4 seats. The leader, Gilles Duceppe, has resigned. This actually saddens me. I had personal respect for him. But Canadian politics have undergone an earthquake and a tidal wave if left-leaning Quebec is now to play for, without the involvement of the Bloc Quebecois.
The Bloc support, this time around, collapsed primarily into the "orange wave" as the NDP leap-frogged the Liberals and became the official opposition for the first time in party history. Jack Layton gave his usual proficient bilingual performance in his celebratory speech.
Sadly though, I have to agree with one CBC pundit who said that even in opposition, the NDP now have less influence than they did in the last parliament, because the Conservatives now have a majority of 167 of the 308 seats in the House. This, which Harper calls "a strong, stable, national, majority Conservative rule" freaks the bejeebies out of me. Harper's long-term goal is to shift Canada entirely to the right. And step by step, he's succeeding. He now has four years of absolute rule to carry on with that project. I am very worried and afraid.
And the rise and rise of both the Conservatives and the NDP means the decimation of the Liberals, once Canada's "natural ruling party" -- they won a mere 34 seats. This saddens me. I would like Ignatieff to resign. I want Dion back! He was an earnest, occasionally stammering, bespectacled, environmentalist academic, and worth ten of Ignatieff and a hundred of Harper. And, this result makes me wonder if Dion should really have been blamed for the fall to 50 seats at the last election. The Liberals have been falling and falling, as their continued descent this time around shows. That said, the Progressive Conservatives were reduced to 3 seats back in 1993 and, well, now look. (I suppose the same might be said about the Bloc. Aiyiyi.)
So there were some exciting things happening last night and some real rays of light for the future, but oh, the next four years. What will happen in the next four years? With the Arctic? With the tar sands? With legislation for environmental protection? With First Nations rights? For Canadian women? For the arts? With our health care system? With corporate tax cuts? With our social safety net? Even, with GLBT rights and women's freedom to choose? What will happen? What will Harper do? I am very, very afraid.