Anyone Else Have an Election Hangover?

The votes have been counted, your new or returning MP is ready to head back to Ottawa, and Stephen Harper has been returned to 24 Sussex Drive with his coveted majority. For being an “unwanted” election it had one heck of an outcome. I will be honest, the results shocked me. Ok, maybe shocked it too strong of a word, but it was very surprising. I expected the Liberals to do poorly, but not that poorly. I expected the NDP to do well, but not that well. I expected the Conservatives to near a majority, not comfortably surpass it. And the Bloc! Well I don’t know what I expected for them, but the result was very interesting.

The NDP surge in Quebec is still surprising to me. I have yet to fully wrap my head around it. How did Jack Layton and the NDP knock out a party that has been a thorn in the sides of the Liberals and Conservatives ever since their inception? I (foolishly) stated that I did not think we would see an election without a majority of Quebec seats going to the Bloc in at least 15-20 years. I was very wrong! Obviously, the voters of Quebec were annoyed with the Bloc, and they sent a VERY clear message.

I still find it strange to see some of the new NDP MP’s that were elected from Quebec though. Many are younger than I am, have little experience, and likely threw their names on the ballot so an NDP candidate wouldn’t be absent. Now they’re off to Ottawa, collecting a three figure salary in the process. I do wish them all luck. A majority will be good, as it will give Layton and the NDP lots of time to get the new faces up to speed.

As for the Liberals… what can I say? They have serious rebuilding to do. And by rebuilding, I don’t mean picking a new leader, and recycling their old platform ideas. They need reform from the ground up, that could take the full four years to complete. A majority will be good for them.

Regardless of your sentiments towards the Conservatives, I think we can all see at least a little benefit from a majority government. The whole country needs some time to breathe, political parties included. While it makes me sad that we have to wait another four years for the excitement of an election, it will (hopefully) tone down some of the accusations and bickering that have seemed to define the House of Commons lately.

So, it’s time to move onto new and fresh content. It seems as though the election has been the only thing I have posted about lately. I have now started working two jobs, which unfortunately means writing blog posts falls to third place. But hopefully there will be 2 to 3 new posts per week. The views on TOP have been through the roof lately, so thank you for all the new and returning readers.