The neverending election campaign finally is drawing to a close.
Stephen Harper was too clever by half. Calling such a long campaign was his undoing.
Eleven weeks. Everyone is tired, sick and tired.
A quick campaign and Harper might be heading back to 24 Sussex but Monday night will likely bring an end to the Harper era.
Their campaign started badly with the Duffy trial and went downhill from there.
Even if the Tories manage to eke out a minority they will be dead in the water, unable to gain the confidence of the House.
All the opposition parties vow to sink them the first chance they get.
It would then be up to the Governor General to ask the second party to form a government.
Canadians certainly would not welcome another election.
When the Conservatives brought out the Ford brothers to boost their sagging fortunes you could hear the Harper swan song and its sounded a lot like Send in the Clowns.
More than anything this has been a campaign about change and voters seem to be saying the best chance for that will be with Liberals.
It has been quite a turnaround.
The Conservatives figured they could dismiss Trudeau from the get-go with the attack ads saying he wasn’t ready.
That strategy backfired.
In the first debate, one Conservative quipped that Trudeau would exceed expectations if he showed up with his pants on.
For the NDP, the path to victory runs through Quebec but it seems the Orange Crush may turn into an Orange Crash.
For federalist Quebecers, the NDP’s stand that one vote could break up the country is a non-starter.
And in that very first debate, in a tussle with Mulcair, Trudeau definitely had his pants on, telling the NDP leader how many people were needed to break up Canada.
“You want a number? I’ll give you a number. Nine. My number is nine. Nine Supreme Court justices said one vote is not enough to break up this country and yet that is Mr Mulcair’s position. He wants to be prime minister of this country and yet he’s choosing to side with the separatist movement of Quebec and not with the Supreme Court of Canada.”
That’s when something changed.
The NDP, by the way, also proposes to extend Bill 101 to all federally-regulated companies in Quebec. Companies like banks and television stations.
The NDP started bleeding early in the campaign for a number of reasons, namely the niqab, trust issues, and some bad policy choices, and they seem poised to assume their traditional place as Canada’s third party.
This is an important election. One for the history books.
Voting Reform
It really is about the kind of society we want. The choices are clear.
At least three of the main parties are offering significant proposals on electoral reform to finally get rid of the archaic first past the post system, so that in future elections each vote could make more of a difference.
Reform is essential but still, now, it is important to vote. It is an obligation.
Last time a third of Canadians didn’t bother to vote.
It is something we should never take for granted, never ignore, because when we do, it will already be too late.
