All federal political parties experienced their share of disappointments in the election last Monday. From the Liberals of Justin Trudeau, who failed to form a majority government by triggering a rushed election, to the Conservatives of Erin O’Toole, who won fewer seats than in 2019, neither party has achieved his goals after an election campaign that Canadians followed with mixed interest. If, in a democracy, the elections are never banal, it is clear that those of 2021 will not enter the political history of the country as being a strong moment in our collective life.
While all the leaders come out of this campaign weakened, none have experienced the utter humiliation that voters inflicted on Annamie Paul, who finished fourth in her own riding of Toronto Center. Nationally, the Greens are back at square one after seeing their proportion of the popular vote drop below 3%.
The problems of the Green Party of Canada go far beyond the inability of its leader to row its troops in the same direction. Instead of focusing on the ecological issues that form the basis of this party’s raison d’être, green activists are tearing each other apart on identity issues of systemic racism and transphobia. By showing a flagrant lack of maturity, they succeeded in convincing voters that their party did not deserve their trust.
If the days of Mme Paul as leader are numbered, party activists will have to conduct a thorough examination of their conscience over the next few months if they want this party to become a real political choice again. The election of the first Green MP in Ontario, Mike Morrice, in Kitchener Center – thanks, in part, to the mid-campaign withdrawal of the Liberal candidate and incumbent MP due to allegations of sexual misconduct – makes all the difference. even to the greens to keep hope.
An extremely disappointing electoral result
New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh kept a smile on Monday’s election night. But his good humor could not hide the discontent among the NDP ranks at an extremely disappointing election result. With 25 elected, barely one more than in 2019, the NDP is once again the fourth party in the House of Commons.
The party failed to elect any candidate in the greater Toronto area outside of the riding of Hamilton Center, an NDP stronghold held by MP Matthew Green, the same one who congratulated the University professor of ‘Ottawa Amir Attaran to resist “the racism he sees perpetuating in Quebec”.
Recall that last March, Professor Attaran described Quebec as “Northern Alabama” in a series of hyperbolic tweets. Singh did not see fit to call his MP to order, fearing to alienate NDP activists outside
of Quebec.
With his light tone and shallow videos posted on TikTok, Mr. Singh’s campaign lacked seriousness. The NDP platform, which forecasted $ 214 billion in new spending and huge tax hikes for “rich” Canadians, reinforced the impression of a party disconnected from reality. Singh’s refusal to say whether an NDP government would halt work already underway to double the capacity of the Trans Mountain pipeline in B.C. undermined his credibility with voters seeking an alternative to the Party. green.
On Monday, Mr. Singh won his constituency of Burnaby South in Vancouver by just 4,000 votes, by far the smallest majority of any party leader except Mr.me Paul and Maxime Bernier, also a loser in his riding of Beauce. Anyone who believes Mr. Singh deserves another chance as leader of the NDP is playing ostrich. Their party failed to capitalize on the disaffection of progressive voters with the Liberals and the woes of the Green Party. And the main responsibility lies with Mr. Singh.
For his part, the leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, owes his party’s result to the host of the leaders’ debate in English, Shachi Kurl, whose tendentious question on “discriminatory laws” in Quebec gave to M. Blanchet’s campaign the momentum it had hitherto lacked.
Had it not been for this turn of events, the Bloc would certainly have lost several ridings in the greater Montreal area on Monday evening. Although the position of Mr. Blanchet at the head of the party is not threatened, the fact remains that the future of the Bloc seems uncertain. A party that depends above all on Quebec bashing in the rest of Canada to mobilize voters is never far from its expiration date.