The morning after isn’t one of shock or panic.In fact, this election was largely predictable if one followed the polls.Rare discrepancies occurred due to the so-called “efficiency of the vote” for areas like Southwestern Ontario, where the Conservatives pulled off a few surprises in 905 territory because of good campaigning..The collapse of the NDP, which almost seemed purposeful, was equally unsurprising.As former NDP leader Thomas Mulcair noted on election night, once the backdoor deal between Singh and Trudeau was agreed, the NDP lost its ability to distinguish itself from the Liberals. Now they’ve lost party status, due in large part to one of the most myopic and feckless leaders they’ve ever had.Dental coverage is excellent it’s true, but it’s nothing compared to the repercussions from Jagmeet’s support for a failing government. Think of the results of Liberal policies on immigration, housing, crime, economics, and the woke ideology. Do you feel like smiling?.What good is dental care for those dying on the streets, Mr. Singh? It’s a palliative at best. It might help identify individuals after decomposition. The NDP can count their failures there.Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.The NDP of old would have fought for those people on the margins of society, and not an increasingly urbanized, irrational, and elitist vote. A vote that abandoned them wholesale to endorse a central banker..And what of the Liberals?This was no victory for the technocrat Mark Carney. In fact, it was a rather mediocre result that required the threat of Trump’s tariffs on Boomers’ already shaky savings (the same generation shaken by an ageist pandemic) and strategic voting across age groups. All just to meet the Conservatives in the middle. Unless a majority emerges from recounts and special votes, Carney will quickly aim for another backdoor deal to secure easy decision-making: decisions that minimize public input.While some imagine holding Carney to a minority is a failure, and the Conservatives could have done much better, that’s unlikely..Doug Ford’s campaign manager, Kory Teneycke, can complain all he likes about the 25% lead the Conservatives “blew” or that too much money was spent demonizing Trudeau but, in economic terms, there was no liquidity to that share price. There was no way to force an election in Dec 2024 and there was no easy way to maintain such a high voter intention either, especially if voters had to wait until Oct 2025. Ten months would allow for a myriad of unpredictable events in the current geopolitical climate. Teneycke is providing pie in the sky analysis that echoes Doug Ford’s subversive message to sabotage Poilievre on election day.Kudos to Conservative Jamil Jivani, re-elected in Bowmanville-Oshawa North, for calling out Doug Ford “and his goons” for being “a hype-man for the Liberal Party.”As it is, Poilievre ended election night with 42% of the popular vote, the highest since Mulroney in 1988. That’s a big win, and it wouldn’t have happened if Poilievre switched to whinging about Trump, who many Conservative supporters see as authentic. Poilievre’s 42% would also not have happened if he switched to a more centrist approach like Erin O’Toole abruptly did in 2021, with mid-campaign policy flip-flops. .Are the Conservatives still the last best hope for the West?.EDITORIAL: The Conservatives are the West’s last best hope.Some pundits, such as Warren Kinsella of the Toronto Sun, are already writing the epitaph of Poilievre, especially since the attack dog lost his own seat in Carleton. But in his concession speech, Poilievre implied he’s going to renew the fight ASAP. That’s probably terribly insufficient for many Westerners, and rightly so. The biggest impediments to industry cannot be overcome by an opposition party.But the future of Canada isn’t in Carney’s hands. It’s in your hands.I’ve seen your type of power before, where I live.In my hometown of Sudbury, where we frequently elect inconsequential progressives stemming from our modern development of academia and healthcare, we’re still a mining town at our deepest root. None of our precious urban sprawl, our hospitals, our academic institutions or our ability to pump services out to Northern Ontario’s remote communities would exist without our industrial base.On a grand scale, I likewise see Canada in such dependent terms and the West as the heart that pumps it.Along with that essential industry comes the part I truly appreciate, the mandate for freedom and what is right. A moral compass that Eastern Canada cannot seem to hold on to. This above all things has attracted me to contribute here at the Western Standard, as I find something of a home in values and tradition that are part of the glue truly holding Canada together. The independence of the West to me would be the loss of Canada as a whole, especially like-minded rural areas that struggle in the face of big cities.I can’t presume to tell Westerners how to face this dilemma. Whatever you choose, let it be with both peacefulness and purpose. You’ve led Canada in that direction thus far, I believe.
