Canadian Election Results: A Conservative Minority
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 10.14.08
Live-blogging the Canadian election. Above: Stephane Dion
11:00 EDT: Stephen Harper called this election to get a majority and didn't get it. The Liberals, under Stephane Dion, were running a campaign based on very strong environmental positions that didn't resonate. Was it the market meltdowns of the last two weeks that made people afraid to take a risk? Was it his poor communication skills in English? Was it the shift of power in Canada from Ontario and Quebec, formerly Liberal strongholds, to the West, with its oil and population growth, which is solidly Conservative?
Nobody won this election; the Conservatives wanted a majority and didn't get it; the Liberals wanted back in as the Natural Governing Party and didn't get it; the NDP did extraordinarily well but didn't really change anything; the Green Party made no impact at all.
But in the end the real loser is the environment. We have a government that does not support strong measures to reduce carbon emissions, that is in thrall to its base in Alberta, the home of the tar sands. We have a government without a single seat in the largest city in the country- it is a suburban party. We have a splintered opposition. And I have run out of wine.
We are live-blogging the Canadian Election. Above: NDP Leader Jack Layton
10:30 EDT: Jack Layton is sinking all his shots but can't clear the table, and is taking most of his new votes from the Liberals. Why, oh why, are there four parties with strong environmental credentials challenging the Conservatives? This entire election looks like it will change nothing, but there are a lot of close races and it is still too early to call a minority or majority. Harper needed a breakthrough in Quebec but blew it a few weeks ago by cutting arts funding and making some very stupid right-wing statements. Jack Layton? He ran a great campaign and picked up a lot of seats. In honour of Jack, it's time for a beer.
Liveblogging the Canadian election...
10:00 EDT: Polls close in British Columbia, everyone has voted, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation declares that the Conservatives will form the next government. The question now is whether it will be a majority government or a minority, which puts some controls on how conservative they can actually be. Conservatives elected or leading in 115, to only 68 for the Liberals, 35 for the Bloc in Quebec and 25 for the NDP. The Greens leading in none. The knives are already out for Stephane Dion, losing seats in Manitoba, he is not doing well.
Conservatives running better in Ontario than expected in the 'burbs around Toronto. Traditionally liberal ethnic ridings have been targeted by the Conservatives and it may be working. In Alberta, the Conservatives are painting the province blue, wall to wall conservative and partying already. It may come down to British Columbia. I need a glass of Ontario cabernet.
We are live-blogging the election results as they roll across the country.
9:36 EDT: Television blackout in Ontario is over and we see the results from Atlantic Canada. Elizabeth May of the Green Party is conceding defeat in her riding after her crazy suicidal attempt to run against Defense Minister Peter Mackay, who between him and his father has owned it for decades. Conservatives wiped out in Newfoundland because of their fight with Danny Chavez over oil revenues. On the other hand, the Liberals did not manage to pick up much, even on the Rock. Still: Liberals leading with 30 seats, NDP doing very well, Conservatives doing better than expected. As predicted, the split vote among the left is helping them, with their popular vote down but their seat count up. Results from Quebec and Ontario beginning to dribble in. Time for a shot of Newfie Screech.
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Are you celebrating? Cabernet...this is terrible news. - I don't get this post's tone...
This means oil shale will be unstoppable - the resource curse hits Canada.
What a waste and a shame this has all been.
Why is it that Eastern Canadians paint Alberta as this big bad devil, eager to destroy the world, and the sooner the better? Like we in Alberta are responsible for all that is wrong with the environment. I've seen the NASTY pollution that comes out of your auto plants, steel smelters, and nuclear facilities (that spent fuel sits in giant indoor cooling ponds just waiting for the chance to escape). Not only that but Ontario and Quebec burn the biggest single percentage of the oil and gas we produce in Alberta... so if you didn't pollute, or drive big SUV's down the 401, we wouldn't have this problem.
Is the supply of Oil the cause of the problem, or is demand for that oil the problem?
How about talking about how Alberta leads Canada environmentally... a brief example:
1) Alberta produces 64% of Canada's total Wind power. ( see http://www41.statcan.ca/2007/1741/ceb1741_002-eng.htm )
2) Today, the Calgary-Train has the highest ridership (both in total and on a per capita basis) of any North American light-rail system. ( See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-Train#cite_note-0 )
3) The above train system is completely WIND POWERED.
Why you bigots in Ontario hate us so much I don't know. If you followed our lead, we wouldn't be in the Oil business.
Well, the election didn't go as well as it could have--Canada BADLY needed a Conservative majority. But it went okay, and the environment and the nation are in the hands of the adults.
Hopefully they won't be fooled by this nonsensical "global warming" hype.
Perhaps I am baiting attack by even posting here. I am an american and first of all our own president and conservative are idiots and I didn't vote for them thank god.
Unlike many Americans, I am well aware that MOST of our oil comes from Canada and not from Saudi Arabia or the middle east. It is unfortunate that Alberta and oil shale of the west is now made more easily accessible for consumption. Environmental destruction at its worst.
To me at least, it sounds like someone in the west was thinking more about $$$ made on oil than thanking about the environmental good of your nation. Leave it to big business or particularly big oil industry to muck everything up.
SOMEDAY the federal government will turn over a new leaf and include the THOUSANDS of eligable voters that are NEVER contacted about election listings and/or the date of said election.
Sure they nag the crap out of you on the TV commercials but what they DON'T say is WHEN it is! (Do we actually have to watch that extremely biased and very misleading program commonly known as the 6 o'clock news to find this crap out??
Also... WHO THE HECK was that NEW Dion guy??? He has
a lower public profile than Joe Clark did in the 70's!!
I like Stephane Dion, he is a really nice guy, and very good at administration.
Trouble is, he couldn't sell umbrellas in a rainstorm.
What the Liberals need is a young, personable, knowledgeable leader. One who shows up on the right side of most every issue. One who touches Canadian hearts. A leader with a great vision of what Canada's future should be.