Well wasn’t that a surprise! I was thinking “Liberal minority” at the very best, perhaps even a whole lot of frigid feet at the polling stations, ultimately resulting in another four years of power for the Tories.
But no, it’s a Grit majority and the return of a Trudeau to the land’s highest political office. Simply amazing!
Justin Trudeau appears to have accomplished what he set out to do, to mobilize Canadians, particularly the nation’s youth, and encourage them to collectively show their disillusionment with Stephen Harper’s negative influence, not only on the face of Canada, but also on its national pride.
Many voters, myself included, likely had limited comprehension of the intricacies of political policies and economic platforms when they went to the polls, but this was an election driven by passion, and Trudeau seemed like the only candidate willing and able to match that emotion. Whether or not his leadership will bring about a change that Canadians can embrace is yet to be determined, but one thing is certain, and that is the fact that voter turnout for this election was the highest in over twenty years, when, you guessed it, the Liberals rolled over the ruling Conservatives on their way to a majority government.
So what will Mr. Trudeau do for the nation? The Liberal’s massive election platform espoused openness across the board; open government; open Parliament; open access to personal information and so on.
Trudeau will, if we are to believe his strategists, thrust aside the curtain behind which Harper’s government has been hiding for the last several years, during which time, say many, he has caused countless Canadians pain and anxiety through program cuts, job losses and his insidious and underhanded erosion of Canadian democracy.
According to his platform, the nation, under Trudeau’s guidance, will once again be a middle class stronghold, purged of tax breaks for the wealthy, corporations required to pay their fair share and there will be affordable daycare for all. Truth be told, there wasn’t that much difference between the Liberal and NDP platforms going into the election, but, in my opinion at least, the Liberal victory was due almost entirely to the party’s handsome, youthful and energetic leader. Sorry Mr. Mulcair, you simply didn’t stand a chance.
I realized that Trudeau was onto something when I dropped by my local variety store the day before the election. The young lady behind the counter could hardly contain her exuberance over the prospect of “choosing the next leader.” Less than twenty four hours later it became obvious that millions of her peers had shared her excitement.
Congratulations Justin Trudeau, but don’t forget, the youth of the nation is watching you!
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I was at a meeting one recent evening, listening to some committee members discuss an upcoming conference, when their president suddenly began an impressive description of the event, using predominantly acronyms. “The LSUPCCD AGM will be held next month in Vancouver at the UBCSFUBANX. In attendance will be CIBCTTFU president John Gray,” said the speaker, with a wry smile on his face. “I hope to see you all there!”
Most of us at the boardroom table looked at one another somewhat sheepishly, until, seemingly minutes later, one of us garnered enough courage to raise their hand and admit that they had no idea what his president had just said.
Is it just me or have acronyms and abbreviations stolen our joy of the English language? Are we in so much of a hurry that we cannot take the time to actually pronounce words? Have teenagers found a way to truly rule the world by creating a language all their own? Hmm….
OMG,TGIF and don’t forget to BYOB! (LOL!).
Thanks for reading.
