Meet the new bosses, same as the old bosses. Canadians were not asking for a federal election, which they have made abundantly clear by returning a Parliament that looks much the same as the previous one. And all it cost us was $600 million that could have been better spent on other national priorities (or not spent at all).
All three of our local Liberal incumbents are back. It certainly looks like Burnaby North-Seymour and North Vancouver are now safe ridings for the Liberals. Because of its sprawling and disparate nature, West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country will remain a battleground.
How long our new government will last is anyone’s guess – suffice to say, only until one or more of the parties wants to take their chances in another first-past-the-post election. We’d like to think Trudeau having gambled on a majority and lost will mean at least some stability for a couple years. The parties need time to pay their debts, decide whether to keep or ditch their leaders, and actually take a stab at providing governance for Canadians. We expect the other parties will keep Trudeau on a much shorter leash now, as well they should.
But we aren’t so cynical that we can’t find a silver lining or, if you prefer, sunny ways.
What we can glean from the vote is that despite being a sharply divided country politically, there is consensus on issues we find important and the general direction we must now go.
The new minority government has a mandate to pursue a progressive agenda on climate, housing affordability, reconciliation and COVID-19, which is good – because every one of those problems are as urgent now as they were before the election.
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