Well, it was a short, boring campaign, and, uh, nothing really happened. I’m writing this before the polls have all reported in, but the Conservatives have almost certainly gained a couple dozen seats, putting them just — just — short of a majority government. The Liberals have run on a campaign of trying to be mildly less abusive of the planet, and will be even weaker in the 40th Parliament than they were in the 39th. This likely means a few things:
- Stéphane Dion, Liberal leader and Kyoto champion, will lose his job next spring if not sooner. I’ve got to say, I feel bad for him. But his party has never been kind to losers, and he came to power less because of his own popularity than because of the deep, deep divisions within the Liberals. Those divisions haven’t gone away — if anything, they’ll be deeper.
- A carbon tax is probably dead in Canada for now. But hope still glimmers for cap-and-trade. Maybe.
- Canadian politics continues to be dull. Like, watching-paint-dry dull.
- Like most Canadian political junkies, I’m more excited for the results November 4th than tonight’s.
- It’s past 11 PM, my country will be governed by reactionaries for another few years, and I’m gonna keep drinking until the sweet embrace of night.
