The Day After

Hello All,

So the election is over. And what an election it was. A Conservative majority. An New Democratic opposition. A decimated Bloc Quebecois. And a crushed Liberal Party. I'm in a little bit of a shock, to be honest.

I expected a Conservative government, I did. I just thought it would be a minority. I expected the NDP to do better than it ever has before. I just thought they'd, at most, beat the Liberals by one or two seats or lose to the Liberals by the same margin. I did not expect the Bloc to be killed and given only a fraction of a fraction of the seats, let a long see Gilles Duceppe lost his own riding. Nor did I expect the Liberals to com so solidly in 3rd place or that Michael Ignatieff, leader and Chef du Parti, would not be elected to Parliament. It's telling that the leader was not elected and even more telling that former leader Stephane Dion was able to retain his seat.

What do you do when the horse you backed and invested so much in breaks its leg in the final stretch of the race and comes in 3rd to the dirty jockey and his horse who used drugs and lies to cheat his way to the top? You shoot the horse, train another stallion, and move on. But you have to train it right.

With a majority government in power, the Liberals have at least 4 years to find a great candidate and make him or her into a prize winner. It'll be a tough road. It'll be a long road, but if you're able to find some new talent to hone, mold, and energize, you could see a lot of change.

But you'll have to be in the dark for a while. Like two, maybe three elections a while. Change doesn't come overnight and the Liberals don't have a lot of good names to put forward. I personally like Gerard Kennedy, but he lost his seat last night to the orange flood. I also really like Ken Dryden, but I've just been informed, to great dismay and shock, that he lost his seat as well. The Liberals need someone not tainted by this election.

A few names I have in mind, in no particular order:
- Kirsty Duncan (MP Etobicoke-North, ON)
- Bob Rae (MP Toronto-Centre, ON)
- Justin Trudeau (MP Papineau, PQ)
- Dominic LeBlanc (MP Beauséjour, NB)
- Scott Brison (MP Kings-Hants, NS
- Grant Mitchell (Senator, AB)

I'm sure there are a few names I've forgotten, but those are some of my favourites.

This is just a few. Realistically, I think it'll probably be Bob Rae, but personally, I think it needs to be someone who will be around in politics for another 15-20 years. The Liberals have to stop eating their wounded or else the party will continue to get weaker and weaker. So fine someone who can survive another election loss, keep them around and make 'em a real contender.

On a positive note, this election saw the separatists decimated. Hooray for no longer trying to pull this country apart! And the Green Party of Canada elected it first ever Member of Parliament - Elizabeth May (MP, Saanich-Gulf Islands, BC). Good for her!

On a "let's move on" note, now that the election is done I can refocus on hockey. Vancouver is currently playing Nashville right now. Tied going into first overtime. The series is tied at one game a piece.

Go Canucks!

Cheers,
Cait