Election #8 Winners and Losers

Of course, in every election there are winners and losers. In fact, there are always a lot more people who lose than those who win. But in this particular election, it seems to me that the number of losers is exceptionally high.

Ralph Goodale from Regina lost his seat after 26 years of serving his constituents. From all accounts - he was a good member of Parliament and he had served his country well. He lost not because he had done anything wrong, or the people running against him were better but because the people in his riding were convinced that another party could better protect their interest. Unfortunately, I think they were wrong and got sucked into the rhetoric of a party who had been in power for 8 years and did little to help the west.

Jane Philpott from the Markham area was a Liberal, was dismissed from cabinet and then from the party because she vocally supported a friend and colleague. She ran as an independent and lost - her friend won. It somehow feels wrong that she lost her job because she had enough integrity to support a friend. Perhaps she could have been more diplomatic about it - but she did not deserve to lose her job.

Elizabeth May - she won her seat and her party won one additional seat, but considering the Green's strength provincially in parts of the Maritimes and on Vancouver Island, I think most of us thought the party would do better. The Greens once again, are just a group of people - who do not have party status in the House and may have zero real influence in this session of Parliament. As much as I like her - the party needs to re-think its strategy for next time. A strategy that may not include her as leader.

Maxime Bernier - not only did not get elected, no one from his party did either. Proof that he should not have been at the leader's debate. With any luck that is the last we will see of him or his People's Party of Canada.

Justine Trudeau - while he won his seat and the party he leads will most likely form the next government, his star is significantly diminished. His party lost seats and more importantly, they have clearly lost the trust of some Canadians. I cannot imagine how he will keep the NDP (who I assume will form some sort of coalition with the Liberals) happy with his stance on climate control and pipelines while at the same time attempting to reach out to the people of Alberta and Saskatchewan. He is a bright man - he must know that in spite of the reins of power he holds, that he lost.

Andrew Sheer - the Conservatives won a slightly higher percentage of the public vote than did the Liberals. That could feel like a bit of win and it might be enough for him to withstand any sort of leadership review. But in spite of a rather nasty campaign with all sorts of misleading statements and sometimes intentional lies, Sheer is not going to be the Prime Minister anytime soon. He may have some leadership potential that is not obvious to me - but it was not obvious either to others in the East, central Canada or the west coast.

Jagmeet Singh - I am not sure if he is a winner or not. I suppose doing better than anyone thought you could do is sort of like winning - even if you lost seats. The NDP just didn't lose as many seats as people thought they might. However - he is the person who will decide if Trudeau gets to form a government and how long that government lasts. It may not be a total victory - but of all of the leaders of major Canadian parties - he perhaps came the closest to achieving what he needed.

It is going to be interesting in Ottawa during the next few weeks and months.