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I don't know if there's anything to be learned from this for those of you in the states, but thought I'd share our experience up here.
We just completed a federal election campaign with a big repudiation of the previous gov't. Stephen Harper & his conservative, security-focused, fear-based, insular party was turfed yesterday in an election that went to the Liberals. We will now have our second Prime Minister Trudeau - Justin, the son of Pierre Trudeau, a dominant political figure up here from the 70's & 80's.
Few if anyone saw a majority government coming. Up until a couple of weeks ago the polls were indicating a tight three way race between the major parties (Conservative, Liberals, and New Democratic Party). While the NDP predictably slipped in the late going - they are the most left of the parties - most pundits last night & this morning are very surprised at the one-sided-ness of the results.
Harper ran his usual negative campaign, whereas Trudeau stayed above the fray. He kept a positive message & in the debates didn't get sucked into the worst of the name-calling. This really seemed to resonate with the electorate - if there is one message being bandied about it's that few felt that Harper really represented Canadians, certainly not the best qualities of Canadians. He was rejected in favour of someone who could represent himself - and now the country - with more dignity & integrity.
It's an interesting twist. And I wonder if similar results might be in store for the US in 2016. We'll see. On the whole most everyone I've spoken with up here this morning are pretty optimistic about the next few years, at least politically. It's a nice change.
We just completed a federal election campaign with a big repudiation of the previous gov't. Stephen Harper & his conservative, security-focused, fear-based, insular party was turfed yesterday in an election that went to the Liberals. We will now have our second Prime Minister Trudeau - Justin, the son of Pierre Trudeau, a dominant political figure up here from the 70's & 80's.
Few if anyone saw a majority government coming. Up until a couple of weeks ago the polls were indicating a tight three way race between the major parties (Conservative, Liberals, and New Democratic Party). While the NDP predictably slipped in the late going - they are the most left of the parties - most pundits last night & this morning are very surprised at the one-sided-ness of the results.
Harper ran his usual negative campaign, whereas Trudeau stayed above the fray. He kept a positive message & in the debates didn't get sucked into the worst of the name-calling. This really seemed to resonate with the electorate - if there is one message being bandied about it's that few felt that Harper really represented Canadians, certainly not the best qualities of Canadians. He was rejected in favour of someone who could represent himself - and now the country - with more dignity & integrity.
It's an interesting twist. And I wonder if similar results might be in store for the US in 2016. We'll see. On the whole most everyone I've spoken with up here this morning are pretty optimistic about the next few years, at least politically. It's a nice change.
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