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
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'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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