Liberals Lost BIG TIME in Canada

[marshabar1]

Canada election: four ways that history was made May 2

Monday's election in Canada kept Prime Minister Steven Harper in power, but the results revealed an earthquake in Canadian politics. The Liberals and Bloc Quebecois lost big time, and the leftist New Democrats are the official opposition.

1. For the first time in Canada’s history, the Liberals came in third place, with only 19 percent of the vote. The party of Pierre Trudeau, Lester Pearson, and Jean Chretien that so dominated politics for decades and defined Canadian identity fell from grace. The loss forced its leader, former Harvard academic Michael Ignatieff, to resign. (He even lost his own seat in Parliament).

2. Bloc Quebecois, the political party that long championed separation for Quebec province, also lost big time. Its seat count went from 47 seats to 4. This will alter one of Canada’s long-standing debates about its unity.

3. A party with socialist roots in the Great Recession, the New Democratic Party, essentially grabbed the left-of-center votes from the Liberals. It came in second with 31 percent. The NDP, long a small minority, is now the official opposition party for the first time in Canada’s history, with the charismatic Jack Layton at its helm. Many of its MPs are fresh faces, some of whom didn’t even campaign.

4. For Conservatives, their victory was sweet and historic. The party has not won a majority in Parliament in 23 years. Mr. Harper has had to rule over a minority government for the past five years, forming coalitions to get anything done.

The prime minister's popularity was largely due to his stewardship of the economy during the global recession. Canada did far better than its neighbor to the south in weathering the storm and in a recovery. Now, with majority rule and 40 percent of the vote, the Conservatives can pass many of their measures more easily.



www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Editorial-Board-Blog/2011/0503/Canada-election-four-ways-that-history-was-made-May-2


Liberals in the U.S. were watching this one.

[Deleted]

Are we having like a global NO to liberal policies now??

[billisonboard]

The far left Liberal Party got 19% of the vote. The left of center New Democratic Party got 31%. The Conservative Party got 40% of the vote. The rest of the vote was divided up by other small parties including, I read elsewhere, the first seat won by the Green Party.

So combined left of center vote was..... ;D

[marshabar1]

The election shows a real loss for liberals. The far left picked up what the middle left and the Quebecois lost. This means sharper lines are drawn and the liberals will have an extreme political face. In this country, liberals only do well if they can show a moderate face. I think its the same in Canada.

[hello fromWarsaw]

A. The Canadian Conservatives are MORE liberal than OUR Liberals.
B. Canada had much less of recession than us because they had regulations against bundled derivatives, like the ones we had, and Pubs did away with or didn't enforce.
C. The rest of the modern world will continue to think our RWers are ignorant arrogant haters.

[Virgil Showlion]

Billson, the NDP is further left than the Liberals, albeit not by much. The election reflects Canadian politics becoming more polarized.

[marshabar1]

May 3, 2011 17:53:08 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Billson, the NDP is further left than the Liberals, albeit not by much. The election reflects Canadian politics becoming more polarized.

Exactly. And that is never good for the left. Exposure in sharp contrast never does the left any favors.

[deziloooooo]

actually the PM is a good looking guy..bet that's what did it.