Thank heavens the election is over. How do our neighbours to the south manage to keep sane with over a year of presidential electioneering bumpf thrown at them?
The election didn’t turn out the way many expected or hoped but those who wanted to see Stephen Harper gone will be relieved. Congratulations to Justin Trudeau and the Liberals. It was comforting to hear him say he will be a government for “all Canadians.” The path before him is a bumpy one but we wish him well.
Many pundits believe the long campaign helped the Liberals. I’m convinced the negative TV advertisements dreamed up by the Harper gang backfired and helped do the trick. Let’s hope this election saw the last of them.
The huge amounts of money the Harperites spent on advertising no doubt triggered endorsements from the Postmedia dailies, but it didn’t convince enough voters. Mind you, some of those endorsements were strange. The Globe and Mail said the Conservatives deserved another chance but Stephen Harper didn’t. (Will the Conservatives get that message?) A Vancouver Sun editorial supported the Conservatives too but allowed columnist Pete McMartin to lambaste Mr. H., unlike the National Post which supported the Cons but killed a column by Andrew Coyne who disagreed. Mr. Coyne thereupon resigned as the paper’s editor of editorials but he’ll continue writing his column.The Vancouver Sun and Province each had a doozy of a Conservative ad last weekend, it was wrapped around their front pages. It was anti-Liberal and must have cost a fortune but it obviously didn’t have the desired impact. Former newspaper baron Conrad Black backed the Liberals.It will be interesting to see how the media deals with the Liberal government.
Young Mr. Trudeau has many promises to keep. It will take time to deal with all of them. I hope he has a priority list.
Election over, now we can focus on the Toronto Blue Jays. Can they keep winning?
Diana French is a freelance columnist for the Tribune. She is a former Tribune editor, retired teacher, historian, and book author.
