On January 23rd, 2006, we picked a new government. This includes 308 members of parliament. This time we chose to change our prime minister, and also a new political party. We didn't find it easy to make a choice, so our choice is not a clear-cut one. We picked 124 members of the Conservative party, 103 from the formerly governing Liberal party, 51 from the Bloc Quebecois, 29 from the New Democratic party, and one independent member. The new prime minister is Stephen Harper, but he has fallen far short of the 155 members needed for a majority government.
In consideration of recent events it is somewhat difficult to decipher the message of the electorate. The governing Liberal party has been fraught with corruption and misuse of public funds in recent years. As this became known there was a lot of anger in the country, so voters were looking for alternatives. It is surprising that the electorate has not been more forthright about choosing someone else! Obviously, there was no one else who really caught their fancy. A generation ago, the Conservative party got in trouble with the electorate over corruption, bad fiscal management and incompetence. The electorate reacted by reducing them from a majority to just two elected members! Why do the Liberals get 103?!
What the current situation shows is that the voters of Canada are somewhat left of centre politically. There was only one perceived alternative to the corrupt Liberal regime, but that alternative was right of centre. Thus, despite the anger and protest vote against the previous government, the voters could not accept electing a right of centre government. They wouldn't even punish the Liberals as they had punished the Conservatives a generation ago.
In consideration of recent events it is somewhat difficult to decipher the message of the electorate. The governing Liberal party has been fraught with corruption and misuse of public funds in recent years. As this became known there was a lot of anger in the country, so voters were looking for alternatives. It is surprising that the electorate has not been more forthright about choosing someone else! Obviously, there was no one else who really caught their fancy. A generation ago, the Conservative party got in trouble with the electorate over corruption, bad fiscal management and incompetence. The electorate reacted by reducing them from a majority to just two elected members! Why do the Liberals get 103?!
What the current situation shows is that the voters of Canada are somewhat left of centre politically. There was only one perceived alternative to the corrupt Liberal regime, but that alternative was right of centre. Thus, despite the anger and protest vote against the previous government, the voters could not accept electing a right of centre government. They wouldn't even punish the Liberals as they had punished the Conservatives a generation ago.
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