The Adults May Be Back in the Room
An election post-mortem, a bit of optimism, and a call for maturity in Canadian politics.
I’ve taken a few days to digest the election results and to process what’s happened. After all, this was the first election where I’d publicly taken a partisan position, both here and on other social media — including places where I use my real persona.
Frankly, given my perspective, I’m happy with the result. I’d hoped that the Liberals would have secured a majority, given the need for a firm base from which to counter an existential threat to Canada, but the electorate decided not to go that route. Instead, what we have is a functional majority — majority in all but name. This should allow the Liberals the freedom to govern, but may keep some egos in check. I hope so; there have been far too many egos at play over the last four years — on both sides of the aisle.
Thus far, I’ve been encouraged by what I’ve seen from the Prime Minister. The tone has been measured, serious, and refreshingly without partisan rancour. This reflects this moment in history, and I hope the Conservatives can rise to the occasion as well. The American media sees the Liberal win as a massive repudiation of Trump. While this may be true, I suspect that many voters — and I am one — decided their vote in part based on other issues, including the move to the right by the Conservatives, their appeal to a base whose members didn’t represent mainstream Canadians, and their constant name-calling and lack of decorum.
I do think that the massive turnout for the Conservatives reflected a sense of fatigue with the Liberals and a belief that under Carney, Canada is in for more of the Trudeau years. While I think this view is wrong, I certainly understand it, and it will be incumbent on the Liberals to prove that this government will be different from Trudeau’s. While I’m optimistic, others may not be.
I do hope, though, that the Conservatives are humbled and take a hard look at the type of politics they’ve brought to Canada. After all, they blew a massive lead in the polls and their leader lost his seat decisively — the defeat of Poilievre could easily be linked to his lack of decorum and the Conservative support for the Convoy.
I also hope that the next few years are different in a fundamental way. What I’d like to see is:
A tough, decisive approach to meeting the threat from the U.S. with a single national voice.
Very rapid movement to diversify Canada’s trading and defence partners and to disentangle from the U.S.
A mature, thoughtful, and educated approach to national security and defence. This includes a completely non-partisan approach to these issues.
An end to the need to politicize decisions and to create “gotcha” moments to embarrass the opposition.
An end to culture wars and the distraction that comes with them.
A move further towards the centre for the Conservative Party and their disassociation from some of the far-right elements that have penetrated their ranks.
An agreement from all parties to bring some decorum back to the political arena. Alas, the presence of Pierre Poilievre will make this much more difficult, although I’m heartened by Carney’s recent attempts to tone down the partisan rhetoric.
So, I’m leaving this election somewhat optimistic. The Liberals seem to desire to maintain the tone that Carney first articulated when he was selected as their leader. He’s saying the right things thus far, but the proof will be in the concrete actions that follow. We will get an indication next week when the Prime Minister meets with Trump. Canadians have given him a mandate to be tough and brook no nonsense from the U.S. president. I hope he rises to the occasion.
An administrative note: My next article will be a continuation of my series “If I Were in Charge of Canadian Defence Policy,” this time focusing on NORAD. Barring any major developments, I intend to return my focus to hard defence issues, largely because I feel that focus will be extremely pertinent over the next few months.
Thanks for your patience, and thanks for reading.
Elbows Up!
I to am optimistic and hope that under Carney’s guidance we can weather the storm created by the Trump administration. Prior to Mark Carney arriving on the scene I intended on voting conservative, not because I like Poilievre, I hate him, but because I was tired of PJT and felt Canada needed a change. Listening to Andrew Scheer’s interview with David Cochrane has me wondering if the conservatives learned anything from their election loss, his inability to answer 1 question, his mistruths and bluster have me wondering if anything has changed. Will they work with the liberals or are we in for much the same, bullying, name calling and bogging down government until they see an opportunity to bring the government down- all for 1 reason, not to benefit Canadians but to divide and conquer.
As usual, a fine piece of writing. I agree whole heartedly with your sentiments. I also hope that the CPC will ditch their horrible trump-style way of doing politics.