Editorials
A stunning denunciation of Harper
JEFF MCINTOSH / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Conservative leader Stephen Harper along with his wife Laureen wave to supporters in Monday, Oct. 19, 2015 in Calgary.
He was ready — and so was Canada.
Justin Trudeau made history Monday night, the first time the son of a prime minister has become prime minister, in an election that was bound to be momentous, however Canadians voted.
PAUL CHIASSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Liberal supporters celebrate at the campaign headquarters in Montreal on Monday, Oct. 19, 2015.
There was to be no fourth mandate for the Conservatives (which would have been a first since the days of John A. Macdonald) and, to torture the phrase one more time, Canada was "just not ready" for an NDP government.
Instead, Canadians found the young, charismatic and personable son of Pierre Elliot worthy of leadership. That was thanks largely to an extraordinarily long campaign that gave voters a lot of time to get to know the man who became Liberal leader two years ago. Mr. Trudeau’s star rose steadily through much of the 78-day campaign, eventually trumping the Tories even on their hallmark issue of economic management: he said a Liberal government would run repeat deficits.
And Canadians, still nursing wounds from the Great Recession, voted Liberal anyway. They pushed a third-place party to a majority government in stunning numbers. In Manitoba, the Liberal steamroller even flattened Winnipeg Centre’s Pat Martin (NDP) and Tory Steven Fletcher in Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia.
But don’t kid yourself. This was not an electorate caught up in Trudeaumania, P.E.T. redux. It was a vote to throw the Tories out. Despite the Conservatives’ able hand on fiscal matters, Canadians turfed a party that grew increasingly arrogant.
It was a referendum against Mr. Harper himself and his imperious personal style. (And Monday night he seemed to concede as much with plans, reportedly, to step down as leader of the party.)
The election capped what, almost improbably, was an exciting campaign. Rather than tuning out, Canadians became increasingly engaged over two-and-a-half months of electioneering, almost in defiance of the Conservative plan to outspend and outlast the Liberals and Tom Mulcair’s NDP. Through the campaign, opinion polls showed a low undecided vote, and that the Harper government would be doomed should the anti-Tory vote come together.
In late September the big shift came, on an issue few saw coming: the Harper government announced it would fight to ban the wearing of the niqab at citizenship ceremonies. Mr. Harper insisted it was what Canadians wanted and used this particularly in Quebec where anti-veil sentiments run high. That set in motion the demise of the NDP in the province where much of their vote was concentrated.
But as a Tory gambit for support, it was too clever by half. The Conservatives gained little from the divisive tack that pitted "old stock" Canada against the assimilated. It helped the Liberals and it revived the separatist Bloc Québécois, which was almost wiped out in the 2011 election. That’s insult to injury, Mr. Harper.
Across Canada, the anti-Conservative vote finally gelled and turned Liberal red.
Now, time for the Liberals to get to work. There’s a lot to be done.
If the Liberals keep their promises, some marquee Conservative tax policies will go — income splitting for families with children will be axed; the grab bag of child tax credits will meld into one, bigger monthly cheque tied to income; the plan to make Canadians wait longer for old age security benefits will be scrapped.
But Mr. Trudeau should ponder what Canadians were voting against. Canada needs to regain some of the fundamentals of a participatory democracy. That includes rejecting bully governance that saw a majority party use the cudgel of omnibus bills to pass mounds of important legislation with a pittance of debate. Decentralize the power amassed in the Prime Minister’s Office. Take the muzzle off government MPs and cabinet ministers.
Creeping authoritarianism doesn’t sit right with a pluralistic, centrist society. And Canadians were more than ready to put a stop to it.
Editorials are the consensus view of the Winnipeg Free Press’ editorial board composed of Catherine Mitchell, David O’Brien, Shannon Sampert, and Paul Samyn
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