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   Minority Liberal Government Elected in Canada

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Minority Liberal Government Elected in Canada
« on: Jun 29^th, 2004, 3:17am »

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http://www.cbc.ca/stories/print/2004/06/29/canada/elxn_wrap040629

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Martin ready for minority 'challenge'
Last Updated Tue, 29 Jun 2004 3:38:24
MONTREAL - Prime Minister Paul Martin, looking energized by his party's surprisingly strong showing at the polls on Monday, promised to embrace the challenges of leading a minority government and "move forward to make a great country greater still."

Paul Martin in Montreal (CP photo)

Martin, 65, led his Liberals through a storm of resentment over the Quebec sponsorship scandal to take 135 seats out of the 308 available in a newly reconfigured House of Commons. Although the Liberals won a minority government, they suffered a net loss of 42 seats compared with the 2000 election result.

To pass legislation in the months ahead, Martin will need the assistance of another party either the left-leaning NDP with its 19 seats or the sovereignist Bloc Québécois with its 54 MPs.

That sets the stage for a government built on philosophical compromise and day-to-day deal-making rather than a single party's priorities.

RELATED STORY: What's next for Martin's minority?

Canada hasn't seen this type of government in a generation, and Martin acknowledged as much in his Montreal victory speech in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

"It's unfamiliar terrain, but we are up to the challenge," he said. "We will embrace it. We will make it work."

Pollsters miss the mark

The Liberals' 135-seat total was as much a defeat for polling companies as for Stephen Harper's new Conservative Party of Canada.

As late as this past weekend, pollsters were predicting Martin would take no more than 115 or 120 seats, with some opinion gatherers insisting that Harper, not Martin, would be the prime minister presiding over a minority government when the election dust had cleared.

Even some Liberals who won their seats couldn't quite explain the results in the face of doom-and-gloom predictions and the sponsorship-fuelled voter anger they were encountering as they campaigned door to door.

To his own surprise, John Godfrey held onto Don Valley West in the Toronto area.

"It was supposed to be a very close race," he told a reporter. "Last time I got 55 per cent of the vote, this time I got 61 per cent, and frankly I can't explain it. So I'm gratified, delighted and mystified."

Disappointment for Harper

Harper himself started talking about leading a majority Conservative government midway through the campaign, after a relatively strong performance in the June 14 and 15 televised leaders' debates.

On Monday night, he tried to put a good face on the 99 seats the Conservatives ended up earning, admitting to some personal disappointment but saying, "We have deprived the Liberals of the majority they thought they were entitled to."

By any account, Harper deserves a big pat on the back from social conservatives who have long felt shut out of the corridors of power. While leader of the western-based Canadian Alliance, he and former Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay forged a right-leaning merger that finally gave the Liberals a run for their money. Then he ran for and won the leadership of the new party, just two months before this spring's election call.

Fallout from a damning Auditor General's report on misspent money from the $250-million sponsorship program proved a godsend.

FROM FEB. 11, 2004: Auditor General gives details of 'scandalous' sponsorship program

On Monday, the Conservative Party gained 14 seats over the total counts of the two older parties, though its share of the popular vote dropped by eight percentage points from its predecessors' combined numbers in 2000.

The big winners of the night were NDP Leader Jack Layton and the Bloc's Gilles Duceppe, both of whom improved their parties' seat count and could hold the balance of power in future parliamentary votes.

"Canadians now expect a parliament that will deliver on what people talked about during the election," Layton told the CBC's Peter Mansbridge. He was unwilling to speculate on what priorities he would bring to the table in talks with the Liberals, but suggested they would reflect the NDP platform on health care, the environment, military priorities and electoral reform.

Gilles Duceppe of the BQ was also happy with the results, calling the night "a beautiful victory" for the interests of Quebecers.

A pledge from the prime minister

But in the end, the night belonged to Paul Martin.

This was the man who had won his first mandate after a decade of standing in the shadow of former Liberal leader Jean Chrétien, carrying out the almost-thankless job of slashing the deficit and repairing Canada's fiscal fortunes, waiting for the chance to be the prime minister his cabinet minister father, Paul Martin Sr., never managed to become.

"I feel pretty good," he said with a grin at his speech in his riding of Lasalle-Emard, when a supporter yelled out a question about his mood. "I feel pretty good."

Martin spoke of the lesson he learned over the past five weeks about underestimating the ire of the Canadian voter.

He spoke of the need to listen to and respond to what the provinces expect from their federal colleagues.

"We will work hard as a government while demonstrating honesty, integrity and a deep respect for taxpayers' money," he promised. "Together, we will make Canada a country where all Quebecers feel welcome and where they will want to stay."

Martin spoke of the last long trip he took across the country on Sunday, June 27, trying over the course of 24 straight hours to shore up votes in the face of near-disastrous opinion polls.

"I touched the Atlantic Ocean and I touched the Pacific Ocean. And I saw this magnificent country from an airplane and from the window of a bus

"I made that trip because I wanted it to be known that I am going to govern for every single region of this country without exception."

Written by CBC News Online staff

Copyright Š 2004 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved

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Re: Minority Liberal Government Elected in Canada
« Reply #1 on: Jun 29^th, 2004, 1:17pm »