{"id":153462,"date":"2015-11-16T00:20:54","date_gmt":"2015-11-15T18:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=153462"},"modified":"2015-11-21T23:51:15","modified_gmt":"2015-11-21T18:21:15","slug":"canadians-change-the-pillow-to-ease-the-headache","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/canadians-change-the-pillow-to-ease-the-headache\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadians Change The Pillow To Ease The Headache!"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Veluppillai Thangavelu<\/span><\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Veluppillai<\/a>

Veluppillai Thangavelu<\/p><\/div>\n

The gruelling election campaign lasting 78 days came to an end\u00a0on October 19 when Canadians went to the polling stations in troves to exercise their franchise.\u00a0 The ruling Conservative Party deliberately prolonged the campaign in the hope a longer campaign will be to its advantage. Compared to the other two parties the Conservative had millions of dollars\u00a0in extra cash in the bank to spend on the elections.<\/p>\n

When the election results were flashed over the TV screens as soon as polled closed in Atlantic Canada at 7.30 pm, the Liberal party was painting the electoral\u00a0map pure red. The Liberal party took a commanding hold\u00a0in Atlantic Canada capturing all 32 ridings across the region\u00a0and it set the\u00a0stage early for a majority government.\u00a0 High profile Conservative cabinet ministers and veteran New Democratic MPs suffered defeat at the hands of\u00a0Liberal candidates.<\/p>\n

It was\u00a0a strong message; not only\u00a0across Atlantic Canada\u00a0but also the whole country coast to coast. The Liberals won seats after seats in record numbers as\u00a0results from other provinces poured in.\u00a0 Before mid-night, the Liberal party has won a convincing majority, taking 184\u00a0seats out of 338 seats. \u00a0Canadians in every province voted for Liberal candidates, who won in striking victories in greater Toronto and Quebec. In Ontario Liberals won\u00a079 of the province\u2019s 121 seats including all 25 Toronto City\u00a0ridings and 22 of 24 ridings in the Greater Toronto. The Liberals mostly took back the seats they lost in the 2011 elections. The larger turn out at 68.5 % compared with 61.1 % in 2011 boosted the total number of votes cast. Turnout this year was the highest since 1993, when it was 70.9 %. The following Table 1 shows how the parties fared compared to 2011 election at a glance.<\/p>\n

\"Table\"<\/a>The major difference was the high voter turnout, motivated by the anti Stephen Harper sentiment. There were 3.0 million more votes cast in 2015 over 2011. However, the\u00a0hardcore conservative base remained intact. Harper\u00a0only lost 231,905\u00a0votes from 2011 and Liberals got 4.1 million more than 2011. So they got all of the additional votes and the strategic swing from the NDP also.<\/p>\n

In 22 ridings, the margin of victory was 1.5 % or less. The narrowest margin was in Winnipeg’s Elmwood-Transcona, where the NDP’s Daniel Blaikie won by 51 votes, 0.1 %, over his Conservative opponent, Lawrence Toet, is the sitting MP since 2011.<\/p>\n

Canada has first-past-the-post system where the winners take them all. So second-place finishers may\u00a0feel bitter when they lose elections by a razor thin margin. Overall the Conservatives and Liberals came second most frequently, but\u00a0the NDP came second to the Liberals in 64 ridings.<\/p>\n

The NDP which took Quebec by storm in the 2011 elections fared badly this time. They won only 15 seats compared to 57 in 2011. It is obvious the Orange wave that swept Quebec in 2011 was a one day’s wonder.\u00a0 NDP, which won 59 out of 75 seats in 2011\u00a0 won in just 16 out of 78 this time around amid the negative publicity over the contentious niqab issue. The party was unable to convince voters in the province that it was best-placed to replace Conservative leader Stephen Harper.<\/p>\n

On the other hand relegated four years ago to seven seats around the island of Montreal, the Justin Trudeau-led Liberals roared through Quebec as\u00a0Liberal\u00a0candidates won 40 of the province’s 78 ridings and captured more than 35 % of the popular vote. Not since 1980 have the Liberals done this well in Quebec, when the elder Trudeau won 74 out of 75 seats. The following Table 2 shows the results province-wise elections result for 2015.<\/p>\n

\"Table\"<\/a>The election night showed the\u00a0first-ever MPs of Afghan, Somali and Iranian origin. There was a jump\u00a0in visible-minority representation in the 42nd Parliament \u2013 a measure of growing integration and active political participation among visible minority communities. At least 46 visible-minority MPs were elected on Monday, the vast majority of them being Liberal, 13.6 % of the total of 338 seats. In\u00a02011 election\u00a028 visible-minority MPs were elected, representing 9.1 % of the total number, but 2015\u00a0surpassed that total. Out of the total of 46 visible minorities 19 are from South Asian descent, 10 Chinese, 1 Afghan, 1 Somali and 1 Iranian. Ten MPs represent the aboriginal communities.<\/p>\n

Many reasons are offered for the defeat of the Conservative Party poised to win a 4th mandate according to early opinion polls. Among them are (1) incumbency fatigue by voters. (2) Alienation of visible minorities with stringent immigration and terrorism laws. (3) Nikab issue. (4) Prime Minister’s authoritarian style of governance. (5) Dislike of Harper even by Conservative supporters. (6) The negative personal attacks against Justin Trudeau that “He is not ready.” (7) The party talked about defending citizens\u2019 privacy rights, but in the name of fighting terrorism it handed intrusive powers to government via Bill C-51. (8) Through Bill 24, the government tightened Immigration laws\u00a0that imposed more stringent restrictions on sponsorship, time period before one can apply for citizenship etc. (9) Making voting a bit harder under the Fair Elections Act. (10) The gutting of the long census form despite opposition. (11) Opposition to Ontario\u00a0Canada Pension Plan\u00a0simultaneously ignoring compelling economic arguments. (12) Harper ignoring provincial premiers.<\/p>\n

Not one reason is responsible for the defeat of the Conservative party; it\u00a0is a combination\u00a0of two or more\u00a0of them.\u00a0\u00a0 An analysis of the election results show the Conservative party kept its base support\u00a0more or less intact. It, managed to win 99 seats and its voter support dropped\u00a0only 7.6%.<\/p>\n

The Liberal party leader Justin Trudeau campaigned on the following platform.<\/p>\n