8 Election 2015
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Eleetion 2015: Results

Grant Bachand
Contributor

t’s official. The election is over, and we now have a Liberal
majority in the House of Commons and Justin Trudeau is
the new Prime Minister of Canada.

The seat count is the Liberals at 184 seats, Conservatives 99
seats, the New Democratic Party 44 seats, Bloc Québécois 10
and Greens 1. Many people are celebrating the change while
others are still trying to figure out where to go from here.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has officially stepped down as
leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, but will continue
to sit in parliament as an MP. Thomas Mulcair, however is
staying on as the leader of the New Democratic Party. Rona
Ambrose will be the interim leader of the Conservative Party.

The Liberals moving all the way to a majority was surprising,
but the fall of the NDP has to be one of the major surprises
of the election. This election circled around a lot of issues,
the economy, climate change, Niqab, C-51, Syria, Senate
scandal, missing and murdered aboriginal women, and
much more. The main issue of this election, however, was
Stephen Harper, after 10 years of being Prime Minister of
Canada; many Canadians felt he had simply lost his way

as a leader. The Conservative Party became extremely
ideological, divisive, and they propagated a culture of

fear some would say was extremely anti-Islamic.

In many ways the election for Stephen Harper was lost
before it had even started, with many notable losses to the
executive of the party such as John Baird, and Peter McKay.
The party was limping into this election on Stephen Harper’s
tarnished brand, now the question is who will take over.
Jason Kenney? Peter McKay? Doug Ford? Who knows. Jason
Kenney is the most likely but there is plenty of potential for
anyone to lead. The rebuilding of the brand must begin and
a shadow cabinet needs to be formed. Stephen Harper has
declared he will stay on as an MP, which may make it hard
for the party to move on and be ready for next election. The
work has just begun for the Conservatives’ next chapter.

The tone of the Conservative Party has already begun to
change, with the interim leader now talking about the need

for an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous woman.

That was a sentiment that was not shared by the former
leadership of the party. The tone of politics is changing in
Ottawa; the Liberal cabinet is one major example of this
change. A gender equal cabinet, with four Sikh Canadians,
one indigenous woman and one refugee, makes this cabinet
the most diverse a Canadian cabinet has been in a long
time. Canada is not stranger to diversity in leadership,
however this much diversity, and not to mention qualified
diversity, is not something that Canada has seen in a long
time. One of the best examples of this is Harjit Sajjan
Canada’s new national defense minister, a turban wearing
Sikh. This is a huge move for diversity, and multiculturalism
in Canada, to have such a major position held by sucha
visible minority could mean a new era in Canadian politics.
Various ministries have had their names changed with the

appointment of the new cabinet, but are too numerous to list.

The NDP have returned to third party status, and that

too can be hung on the head of the leader. Throughout

the election Thomas Mulcair was criticized for doing

too much “politicking”, saying one thing in French and
another in English. His party created a fair amount of

fear as well, fear of Stephen Harper and what the future
might hold if he was re-elected. However, in the end it
could be as simple as the NDP lost Quebec, and that could
be because of the Niqab issue, and the French language
debates. Ever since those debates the NDP took a major

hit in the polls and they never recovered. The NDP did

not take a firm enough stance on the issue of the Niqab,
which was a major issue in Quebec. With the Conservatives
saying they would ban it from citizenship ceremonies

and possibly in public spaces, to the Liberals declaring it
none of the federal government’s business, the NDP never
truly cemented itself in a strong position. The NDP need to
rebuild, just like the Liberals did after the 2011 election.

The Bloc Quebecois, and the Green Party of Canada are both
returning to parliament, but neither have enough seats to
be an official party. Elizabeth May will return to represent

ctvnews.ca

the Greens, there was hopes that the Greens would take
some more seats in this election but it seems clear that
under the first past the post system, the Greens will have
a hard time picking up extra seats. This could have been
the last election with the current system, electoral reform
was one of the big points of the Liberal platform and they
have an opportunity to make a significant change to this
country with an electoral system change. Gilles Duceppe will
step down as leader of the Bloc Quebecois for the second
time since 2011. Duceppe took the party from 2 seats to 10
but it has been clear after 2011’s election and now this one
separation for Canada for Quebec is no longer an issue.

Already we have seen a lot of election promises being
answered. The long form census is back, which was a small
and easy change for the liberals to make, but an important
one. Federal scientists have been given the all clear and
are once again able to talk to members of the press.

The Syrian Refugee Crisis has been granted much importance,
and the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship
has been working around the clock to ensure they meet their
promise to bring 25,000 refugees to Canada by December.

The inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women

is starting to get momentum, though how soon it comes

is yet to be determined. One sign of the new kinder,

gentler Conservative Party is new leader Rona Ambrose’s
decision to change the party’s stance on such an inquiry,
formerly opposing one, but now supporting the idea.

The Paris summit on climate change is in December and
Justin Trudeau will have to prepare a strategy for when he
goes to Paris on behalf of Canada, but he will not be alone.
Elizabeth May, Thomas Mulcair, Rona Ambrose, and all the
premiers will be joining him. Paris will be his first real test as
Prime Minister, and might set the tone for many things such
as Trudeau’s leadership style, relationship with provinces
and other parties, and foreign affairs reputation with major
allies. One thing is clear though the new parliament and the
new Prime Minister will likely be radically different than
Stephen Harper and that is exactly what is needed right now.