“Because it’s 2015”

There is no shortage of interest in the outcome of the 2015 Canadian federal election.  The election saw the defeat of the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, long touted as not representing Canadians adequately and Harper himself being controlling and secretive, by the Liberals led by Justin Trudeau.

Percentage of the Vote  courtesy of Wikipedia

Overall voter turnout was 69.1%

                                                                          

Justin Trudeau	Stephen Harper	Tom Mulcair
Liberal	Conservative	New Democratic

 

	36	159	95
	184	99	44
	148	60	51
	6,930,136	5,600,496	3,461,262
	39.47%	31.89%	19.71%

                                                      

Gilles Duceppe	Elizabeth May
Bloc Québécois	Green

 

	2	2
	10	1
	8	1
	818,652	605,864
	4.66%	3.45%

The individual lines represent blue – seats before the election, green – seats after the election, pink – number of seats increase/decrease, gray – number of votes, orange – popular vote.

This is what the national map looks like.  Interesting to note is that in the Alberta provincial election earlier this year,  the conservatives were soundly defeated by the NDP.  But in the federal election, it went almost exclusively Tory.  And Saskatchewan, home to Tommy Douglas' CCF, the forerunner of the NDP, went predominently Tory.  These are farm and energy centres.  — courtesy of Wikipedia

But what accounts for such a big change?

• electors fed up with Harper's watch which I heard one person refer to as "a reign of terror" — controlling, secretive, acrimonious relations with the civil service, lack of respect for First Nations (think Attawapiskat, Idle No More, Murdered and Missing Aboriginal Women);
• the Senate scandal;
• Bill C – 51 which broadened the authority of Canadian government agencies to share information about individuals and expanded the mandate of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS);
• Bill C – 24 Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act which created a two tier citizenship system (this the one that the Coultergeist references below) which the Liberals plan to scrap because it does not add to the safety of Canada;
• Harper's dictatorial approach to oil pipelines etc (he didn't care who he stepped on to get his way);
• Harper's lack of participation in election debates and less than satisfactory interface with the media;
• Harper's snubbing of the United Nations;
• Harper's very hawkish approach in joining in the bombing in Syria;
• Harper's perceived anti-Muslim pro-Israel stance.

​This certainly is not a complete list, but it is more than enough to send Harper and his harlots packing!.

So where is Canada going from here?

I had to laugh at the inanity of US Republican Ann Coulter.  This from the Huffington Post

"It could never have happened without immigration," Coulter said matter-of-factly. She admitted she thought for years she'd have to move north of the border, but has since discovered Canada has been "wrecking" its country with immigration, as well.

Please USA, you keep the Coultergeist!  Canada does NOT want her!  Although the Coultergeist seems to attribute the Conservative defeat to "rampant immigration", she couldn't be further from the truth . . . a position she knows too well.  In this election,

• Indigenous peoples were mobilised more than ever before. This resulted in the election of 10 (8 Liberals, 2 NDP) with 2 indigenous persons named to the Cabinet . . . the Minister of Justice and Attorney General and Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard;  
• There were a lot of first time voters, some of which would be immigrants, but most, as I understand, were young people. In my polling station, when a first time voter cast their ballot, it was announced and everybody applauded.  That did not happen everywhere, but it is a sign that every ballot counts.

The swearing in ceremony (one of several videos here) was long as the Prime Minister and each Cabinet Minister is sworn in individually.  You might notice that as each Minister approaches, they bow.  This is in deference to HRM Queen Elizabeth II in the person of the Governor General, His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston. However, there are some notable accomplishments in the formation of the new Cabinet:

• gender equality with 15 women and 15 men in Cabinet "because it is 2015";
• 21 new comers and 10 experienced political veterans;
• a wide scope of ages;
• diversity with 2 indigenous persons, a refugee, 2 Sikhs, disabled minister, and more;
• many fluent in both French and English, with additional languages spoken;
• many very educated persons with PhDs and a lot of involvement in communities and the world.

​What is very noticable in the swearing in ceremony is the participation of First Nations.  A young drummer lead the procession into Rideau Hall, two Inuit throat singers demonstrated their skills, and Métis jiggers lead everybody from Rideau Hall.   

In a change, there is no one designated Deputy Prime Minister but rather a group of the Cabinet Ministers who will make decisions if Trudeau is unable to for some reason.  Likewise, Trudeau has stated that running the country is a team effort which is a complete dichotomy to Harper's rule.

The Cabinet will get down to work right away as Parliament reconvenes on 03/12/15.

As Trudeau remarked, he thinks of his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the 15th Prime Minister, but his focus is in looking forward for his children and all children.

I hope I have been able to give you a sense of the changes afoot here in Canada.  I am very excited and watching these videos again brings tears to my eyes.