Congratulations on new beginnings. We had a Canadian house guest (Canadians are wonderful house guests) a couple of weeks ago, and the impression I got from our friend from Montreal that it was expected that the Liberals would have to form a coalition with the NDP. Were you surprised by the outcome? Hopefully some of that liberal glow will shine on the US Congressional elections in 2016. We are in a funk for sure.
Everyone was surprised. We were pretty certain there would be a minority government. The Liberals have always thought of themselves as the "natural governing party of Canada." They fell apart from too much power, corruption, and excess, just as the Conservatives had before them. The former Progressive Conservative party wisely united the major right-wing parties into one Regressive Conservative party and swept away all the others for a long time. I and others were screaming "unite the left" - the two non-conservative parties, NDP and Libs -- but the two parties were unable and uninterested in talking to each other. Now the Libs are back to being the "natural ruling party" of Canada. So y'all Michiganers who are close to the border can still tune into CBC and see how big a party we're having and we can all shine on.Hopefully some of that liberal glow will shine on the US Congressional elections in 2016. We are in a funk for sure.
There was a pretty strong sentiment that the first thing to do was get rid of Harper and his poisonous policies, and that any other party would be preferable. People were also very conscious of the risks of splitting the non-Conservative vote. I suspect this led to a lot of strategic voting from people who might otherwise have voted NDP or Green and might have declared that as their intention in the polls.
Completely unexpected. I was thinking it would be a minority government, either conservative or liberal. I had absolutely no expectation that it would turn out the way it did. I was keeping an eye on some of the predictions, and last night's outcome was at the far end of probability. I don't know that anyone saw it coming.