Quote:
Originally Posted by solomon
Dude, the surprising thing is the Bloc Quebecois got OWNED in the provincials. That to me as an outsider is VERY surprising.
|
I think the Converatives managing a majority rather than a minority and the sudden NDP surge in the final weeks of the campaign are bigger surprises to most Canadians. The Bloc's support in recent years came not just from separatists, but also from federalists who were left leaning and wanted a left leaning counterweight to the Conservative party, but were pissed at the Liberals. These people were going to jump ship once they were once a federalist alternative was sufficiently well established in Quebec, and the NDP established itself as such this campaign.
As for the results... ugh. What's the point of electing a strong leftist opposition with a Conservative majority? It's not like Harper respect the opposition parties much even when he had a minority government.
We really need to either get proportional representation of some sort in the country (not happening) or merge the leftist parties. The latter is possible but with the NDP being so strong now I'd worry about it being
too leftist - I prefer center-left politicians and I think they'd stand a better chance of siphoning votes from the Conservatives too.
Never had as much against the separatists as most Canadians, but still nice to see them go because it makes unifying the left easier. Kind of glad to see Ignatieff lose his seat - and likely, the Liberal leadership in the coming days - too, since while I identify as a Liberal, I'm a left leaning liberal, and he's too right leaning for my taste. Disappointed to see Ujjal Dosanjh lose in Vancouver South since he was always one of the strongest moderate voices in the Vancouver Sikh community.