Martin steps back from the abyss

Paul Martin staved off a crushing rebuke on Monday night, thanks to the kindness of the Atlantic Provinces and some sober second thinking from the Ontario block of voters.

The Martin forces picked up three seats in the Atlantic Provinces, did not get slaughtered in Quebec as badly as expected and managed to hold Ontario’s anger in check.
They lost some seats in Ontario as was expected, but certainly not to the extent that many pundits had called for. It was Toronto that proved to be the saving grace for the embattled Prime Minister, the Libs did not just dominate the Metro voting block, they over ran it. Only sporadic incursions by NDPers (hello Jackie boy), stemmed the tide of Red in Canada’s largest city. The NDP did however play giant killer in Hamilton where former Liberal cabinet minister Stan Keyes felt the wrath of the voter, his compatriot Tony Valeri holding off the NDP and their legions of Sheila’s by only two percent. Oh how sweet that bit of vengeance might have been for Ms. Copps, holding down the fort at CTV, but it was not to be.

But by far the big story of the night was a singular lack of tangible success for the Conservatives in Ontario that told the tale of this minority election. Stephen Harper must have been disappointed to see the vote totals start to roll in Ontario, a statement of concern over the worrisome aspects of the Conservative agenda. Torontonians obviously thought twice and voted once, just like the Liberal ads suggested.

The Liberals held their own on the prairie ridings, losing ground in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the loser of the week is former Winnipeg Mayor Glen Murray, who gave up his mayoralty to run as a Liberal only to lose the riding, as they say Glen, close but no cigar and now no job. Winner in Manitoba is obviously the guy that held the riding before and now sits as Lt. Governor of Manitoba, hoo ha, the ravages of fate eh.

The Liberals kept their wee flicker of hope alive in Alberta, holding the two seats in Alberta they started with. Once again however, it was a squeaker of a victory for Deputy Prime Minister Anne McClellan, who gained victory by less than 2%. David Kilgour was returned to Ottawa with less than 1% difference, those two lonely seats all that kept the Conservatives from sweeping Alberta, subject to recount of course.

That left British Columbia and the Liberals performed well there, the Conservatives lost 8 seats and a huge amount of the popular vote in the province. One part backlash against the agenda of Gordon Campbell (perceived as more of a conservative than a Liberal) and one part rebuke for the mutterings of the likes of Randy White (could you have been any dumber!), the BC vote much like Toronto’s became an urban/rural split.

Vancouver proper became the bastion of the NDP and the Liberals, with a few incursions into the hinterlands. The downside of the Liberal wins is the rewarding of the “star” candidates such as Ujjal Dosanjh and David Anderson, giving proof that sometimes the party machine has its way. Another head scratcher in BC is the beyond belief return of Hedy Fry to Ottawa, Hedy who sees rednecks everywhere somehow won again despite herself, one wonders why the fine people of Vancouver-Centre don’t deserve a better fate. Conservatives won many of the ridings they normally win, but lost a few they once counted as theirs. Like Scott Brison on the east coast, Dr. Keith Martin was rewarded for changing parties on Vancouver Island and Raymond Chan got his job back in Richmond. Skeena-Bulkley Valley was returned to the hands of the NDP, as the Liberal/ Conservative vote split upon itself, those Liberals afraid of the Conservatives giving Nathan Cullen their vote, taking the seat away from incumbent Andy Burton.

By far though, the best feel good story of an election that contained none to few was the re-election of Surrey North MP Chuck Cadman. Cadman who was unceremoniously tossed from his riding by an insta-tory managed riding meeting, turned the tables on all parties. Or more to the point the people of Surrey turned the tables on the party machine manipulators. Cadman overwhelmingly won the riding as an independent, his Conservative competitor who usurped him from the nomination, falling to fourth on the depth chart.

Good on you Surrey, perhaps yours is the only riding that gets this democratic deficit chestnut, lets hope the mainstream parties learn from your fine example, the riding grassroots is always right! Ignore their wishes at your peril. As for Mr. Cadman, enjoy your moment in the Sun, your about to receive the wooing of a lifetime, you may never buy another meal again.

For the rest of us, who apparently can't see things as cut and dried as the folks in Surrey North, may we receive a brief respite from the stomach churning decisions of the last 36 days. Perhaps our newly minted MP's can all just get along long enough for us to forget about them for awhile. Though one suspects we’ll be doing this all over again much sooner, rather than later.