[lbo-talk] Canada lurches to the right

[Marvin Gandall]

The AP writer below is stretching for an interesting lead when she writes
that the election is "expected to move Canada rightward on social and
economic issues..."  Not likely. It was more a matter of the Liberal party -
in power for 13 years and mired in scandal for the past two of them -
dropping like a piece of rotten fruit, rather than the country "lurching to
the right." Exit polls showed many voters conceding they normally identified
with the party but wanting to punish it. Even so, the Liberals were consoled
by the results, holding onto more than 100 seats in Canada's 300 plus seat
Parliament, making them by far the largest of the opposition parties.
Everyone thought they'd be whacked much harder, some even predicting they'd
fall to third place in the party standings. Outgoing PM Paul Martin
announced his intention to step down as party leader. Michael Ignatieff, who
apparently has larger ambitions in the Liberal party, won his initial bid
for a seat in Toronto.

NDP'ers were also in a pretty good mood; they improved to 29 seats, gaining
in Ontario and British Columbia. The party held onto Ottawa Centre in a
tight race. Party leader Jack Layton's wife, Olivia Chow, a well-known
Toronto political figure in her own right, was also elected. The NDP
effectively doesn't exist in Quebec; its constituency there is mostly
sovereignist.

The election fell well short of the expectations of the Conservatives and
the Bloc Quebecois.

The Conservatives only won 36% of the popular vote (the Liberals won 30% and
the NDP 18%) and will form one of the most fragile minority governments in
Canadian history. They did well only in the rural areas. Amazingly, they
still don't have a single seat in Canada's three largest cities: Toronto,
Montreal, and Vancouver, and only a very thin scattering of seats in all of
the other major urban areas outside their Alberta base. They gained in the
Ontario countryside and suburbs and unexpectedly picked up some seats in
Quebec, including one in Quebec City. Their results were disappointing in
Nova Scotia and the other Eastern provinces.

The BQ, the federalist extension of the sovereignist Parti Quebecois, won
two-thirds of Quebec's seats, but they were hoping to do even better to give
momentum to the push for sovereignty. Instead, they dropped four seats.
Federalists inside Quebec and across Canada are buoyed by the result, but,
when it comes to Quebec, they are always looking for the smallest straws in
the wind to persuade themselves that the country won't fall apart.

The new Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, will be held hostage on social and
foreign policy by the three urban-based "liberal" parties, who have more
than 180 seats between them to the Conservatives 124. It's difficult to see
how he will placate the demands of his base who are calling, among other
things, for repeal of Canada's same-sex marriage laws.
------------------------------------
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "B." <docile_body at yahoo.com>
To: "LBO Talk" <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 6:02 AM
Subject: [lbo-talk] Canada lurches to the right


> Conservative Party Wins in Canada Election
>
> By BETH DUFF-BROWN, Associated Press Writer
> 1 hour, 26 minutes ago
>
> Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party won national
> elections Monday and ended 13 years of Liberal rule, a
> victory expected to move Canada rightward on social
> and economic issues and lead to improved ties with the
> United States.
>
> -------
>
>
> Haha, "improved ties with the United States." I'm
> already feeling friendlier! -B.
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