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“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

FELDSTED -- In place of a new parliament with strong and feisty parties greeting us in 2020, we will have a collection of the walking wounded

'An enterprising sort could make a fortune selling
  overripe tomatoes and weeks old eggs ...'

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that the House of Commons will resume sitting December 5th. Without further changes, the House will recess for Christmas on Friday, December 13th and will not return until January 27th, 2020. That is 7 working days of the first 97 following the election.

The Liberals are hiding from the opposition instead of exercising the “mandate” Trudeau has been bragging about. They took a shellacking, losing 20 seats and were not elected on their policies or record. Trudeau ran for office based on not being Rob Ford in Ontario and not being a Canadian in Quebec (he claims to be a Quebecer!).

This was an election only the Conservatives could lose, and they did. They were invisible for much of the pre-writ campaign and failed to define themselves prior to the writ drop. When Andrew Scheer was challenged on moral values, he was outraged, answered petulantly and lost the election. He could not turn the narrative back from abortion and gay rights to the dismal Liberal record. The campaign lost focus and left Scheer with a dismayed and divided post election party.

Post 2011, the Conservatives are the worst strategists ever.


Those who want to dump Scheer could not engineer a caucus revolt to do the dirty deed. Waiting until a mid-April convention to hold a vote on dumping Scheer is political suicide version 2020.

The NDP survived the election, losing 15 seats in the process and sliding to 4th place in party standings. Jagmeet Singh put on a stellar performance during the writ period, reassured the party base that he was worthy of support and avoided party annihilation. He won on personality, not on policy; he must remember that.

The BQ increased its presence by 22 seats and moved from 12.8% to 41% in Quebec, but that only from 3% to 9.5% nationally. Blanchet is basking in what he interprets as a resurgence of Quebec sovereigntist sentiment, but he is in for a rude shock if he demands more Quebec autonomy or threatens another referendum.

The Greens remain a fringe, and Elizabeth May is going to be best remembered as Mighty Mouth.

According to May, the Greens are the only ones who understand the science underlying climate change. We would all be eternally grateful if she would enlighten Dr. Michael Mann and sort out the fools at the IPCC.

The People’s Party bombed in its first outing, and Maxime Bernier lost his seat.

Whether the PPC will become history or not depends on the strength of the Conservative party between now and the next election. If Scheer and the CPC don’t move to become a force to be reckoned with, dissidents will move to the PPC. Those who stayed with the CPC to ensure a conservative majority will not give the party a second chance without a positive Scheer makeover.

In place of a new parliament with strong and feisty parties greeting us in 2020, we will have a collection of the walking wounded, having bloodied one another over the summer and fall, while managing to thoroughly disgust most of the electorate.

The ranks of the elected reek of defeat. None of them can honestly claim to have a mandate to speak for the people. They have lost a lot of respect.

2020 will be a test of which political party can manage to reconnect with the public, and secure support o replace derision. An enterprising sort could make a fortune selling overripe tomatoes and weeks old eggs at the MP’s entrance to parliament.

If all they are going to do is hurl insults at one another, we might as well make it worth watching.
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