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Welcome to the Age of Minority

Election 2019 is over. Thankfully. And for the last time, we will dissect it, and then move on.
19088371_web1_10-23-19-Post-Election-Map-Of-Canada-

Election 2019 is over. Thankfully. And for the last time, we will dissect it, and then move on.

Firstly, for those people screaming about how unfair it is that the Conservatives got 6,150,177 total votes and the Liberals only 5,911,588, I have a number to throw at you.

11,295,465. That’s the total number of votes given to parties that can be called left-leaning. Aside from the 5,911,588 votes for the Liberal Party, there were 2,845,949 votes for the NDP, 1,150,694 for the Greens, and 1,377,234 for the Bloc Quebecois, which yes, is a left-leaning party.

That kind of indicates to me that Canada is home to a majority of left-leaning folks, although the regional divisions are definitely an issue, and a concern. 34.4 per cent of Canadians voted right-leaning Conservative. Add the People’s Party’s 1.6 per cent and you’ve got 36 per cent of Canadians who vote right.

That means 64 per cent of Canadians voted for the left. And that for the majority of Canadians, climate change is a concern.

The Conservative Party will go on without a solid climate action plan to their peril, I believe.

Something to think about.

And given all that information, it is indeed true that Prime Minister Trudeau may be ruing the day he declined to look deeper into a proportional representation system.

But now we have a minority government. For all those fearing another election is inevitable, and soon, that may not be the case.

Yes, Trudeau and the Liberals will have to work with the NDP and the Greens, and even the Bloc to pass legislation. . But as discussed, these are all progressive parties and therefore they may not be that far away on many issues — pipelines aside. But are the Conservatives going to vote against any Liberal action on the TransMountain pipeline? Highly unlikely.

And the Liberals absolutely must deal with the alientation felt by people in Alberta and Saskatchewan — not an easy task

But the NDP is broke. They have zero dollars to fight another election campaign in the immediate future, which gives them very little incentive to bring down the government.

Minority governments have held in the past. The most recent minorities are Conservative, led by Stephen Harper. One held from 2006 to 2008, and the other from 2008 to 2011. Prior to that the Liberals Paul Martin held a minority from 2004 to 2006. Lester Pearson held two minorities, from 1963 to 64 and from 1965 to 68. Pierre Trudeau held a minority from 1972 to 1974.

So this is hardly uncharted territory.

Worried that minorities are not effective?

The Pearson governments were among the most productive in Canadian history, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia. Pearson’s minority governments enacted universal health care, the Canada Pension Plan, the Canada Assistance Plan, and the Canada Student Loans Plan, as well as unifying the armed forces and creating a new national flag.

Now, I hold out no great hope that the Liberal minority will be anywhere near that groundbreaking, but I do hold out hope that it will hold for a while. Not very many want another bitter, divisive election campaign any time soon.



Carolyn Grant

About the Author: Carolyn Grant

I have been with the Kimberley Bulletin since 2001 and have enjoyed every moment of it.
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