As the dust settles from Canada's 41st Election Campaign last night, political pundits ponder the strange events, and how it all happened.
The big prize went to Conservative leader Stephen Harper, who finally got his long-coveted Majority Government. The Conservatives took 167 seats of the 308 available in the House of Commons.
The NDP's Jack Layton, however, celebrated a huge victory of his own last night. The NDP went into the election with a mere 38 seats (quite respectable, considering the party's highest seat count prior to 2011 was 43). By the end of the vote counting, the NDP had decimated the Bloc Quebecois and the Liberal party to end up as the official opposition with 102 seats under their belt. Jack is reportedly already measuring curtains for his move into the Official Opposition leader's new home at Stornoway.
It is likely today that (former) Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff is packing his things, as he has been given an eviction notice to vacate Stornoway as soon as possible. Both Ignatieff and Bloc Quebecois leaders Gilles Duceppe were defeated in their own ridings last night, and will be in the unemployment office this morning.
All of this occurred as a small ray of hope beamed down onto the Vancouver Island riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands, where Elizabeth May triumphed in becoming the first Green Party member ever elected to Parliament.
Stay tuned for an in-depth analysis of how these events unfolded, and how this drastically new Parliament will or will not change Canada for the next 4 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment