2021 was an election for losers – including the Canadian public.  After paying $610 million on the election, the House of Commons is scarcely different from what it was before the election writ was dropped.

The seat count:

Party 2019 Federal Election Results 2021 Federal Election Results
Liberal Party of Canada 157 160
Conservative Party of Canada 121 119
Bloc Quebecois 32 32
New Democratic Party of Canada 24 25
Green Party of Canada 3 2
People’s Party of Canada 0 0
Other 1 0
Source: Elections Canada, October 7, 2021 

 

Both the Liberals and Conservatives decreased in popular support from the 2019 election.  In contrast, the People’s Party, under Maxime Bernier, experienced a surge in the popular vote moving from 292,661 (CBC, September 21, 2021) in 2019, to an astonishing 842,253 – a 187.79% increase. (Elections Canada, September 27, 2021).  Indeed, at 5% of the popular vote, the People’s Party of Canada had a larger share than the Green party’s 2.3%!  The People’s Party of Canada, however, did not win any seats.

The Liberals

Justin Trudeau called this unnecessary election for one reason only: to satisfy his vanity to obtain a Liberal majority in the House of Commons.  In the end, Trudeau gained a mere three seats over the 2019 election result. Despite Trudeau “giving” the province of Quebec a grant of $6 billion in August, with no conditions attached, he won only 35 seats out of 78 Quebec seats, which was a loss of three seats from the 2019 federal election.   In Ontario, the Liberals obtained 78 seats, losing a seat from 2019.

The Liberals also lost three seats in the Atlantic Provinces.  In the West, the Liberals won only 19 seats in total over the four Western provinces. Significantly, all seats were located in the urban centres of Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.  Essentially, the Liberal government no longer represents Canada, but only the provinces of Ontario (78 seats) and Quebec (35 seats) and, especially, Toronto and Montreal, where seats were concentrated, supported by the few urban centres in the West.

This fact didn’t seem to bother Trudeau personally when he declared in his “victory” speech that he had a mandate for a progressive agenda, stating “millions of Canadians have chosen a progressive plan”.  In making such a declaration, Trudeau ignored the fact that 67.4% of Canadian voters did not vote for his party or its “progressive” platform.  He also denied there was any division among Canadians. Instead, he claimed that Canadians are standing together for “real climate action, for $10-a-day child care, for homes that are in reach for middle-class families, for our shared journey on the path of reconciliation”. Trudeau never lets reality stand in the way of doing what he wants to do.   His minority government, which will be backed in Parliament by the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP parties, will force a left-wing agenda on Canada, despite the views of many, if not most Canadians.

The Conservatives

The Red Tory, eastern elites, who control the Conservative Party, thought they had their dream candidate in Erin O’Toole.  The 2021 election, however, was a disaster for the Conservatives.  O’Toole moved the party to the left, ignoring its social conservative base, which supported him in the leadership race.  The base regards the move to the left as an unforgiveable betrayal and an utterly dishonest act.  O’Toole won only 119 seats, dropping 2 seats from the last election.   At the first criticism from the media or the Liberals, O’Toole quivered and quaked, and quickly pulled out of his back pocket a revised policy suitable to the left.  His candidates, canvassing door to door, couldn’t keep up with his flip-flops on such issues as conscience rights for physicians, gun control, the carbon tax, climate change and defunding the CBC.

O’Toole believed that he could follow the example of the UK’s Boris Johnson in the last UK election in which Johnson won many opposition Labour seats.  O’Toole was not astute enough to realize that the situation in the UK was totally unlike Canada’s.  O’Toole was also wrong in believing that he would pick up left-wing votes by catering to labour leaders and giving them more power and influence.  These labour leaders supported the Liberals or the NDP in the election.  O’Toole didn’t grasp the fact that labour leaders do not reflect the perspective of many of their rank and file union members, who are forced to pay union dues but who are hard-working, tax-paying people with family values.

In a fruitless attempt to gain seats in Quebec, O’Toole offered an astonishingly generous platform to that province.  This had the effect of alienating the multicultural community, which had been alarmed by Quebec’s policies on religion.

O’Toole proudly proclaimed he was all for a woman’s “right” to abortion (although there is no such constitutional right), and was champing at the bit for a Gay Pride parade in which he could bob and weave among the naked participants, despite the fact that this is offensive to social conservatives.

O’Toole’s misguided campaign, to create a watered-down Liberal party, fared far worse than his predecessor Andrew Scheer’s, did in the previous election.  The latter gained 26 seats more for the party in the 2019 federal election and won the popular vote.  However, he was pressured, within two months, to resign from the Conservative leadership.  If O’Toole and the Red Tories, who control the Conservative Party, haven’t realized that it was a mistake to ignore conservative principles that animate its social and fiscal conservative bases, then there is no future for the Conservative Party in Canada

New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP)

The NDP, as is customary, provided an extravagant, unrealistic platform demanding pharmacare, dental care, guaranteed income, to be paid for by “taxing the rich” and corporations.  Such a platform will only further destroy the already limited foreign investment in Canada and increase our horrendous national debt.  The media covered up for Jagmeet Singh’s fantasies (since he is left-wing, why not?) by repeatedly emphasizing his “likeability”, “personableness”, and “charm”, ignoring his atrocious platform, unacceptable to any rational Canadian.

The People’s Party of Canada (PPC)

As noted above, PPC leader Maxime Bernier’s popular support rose from 1.6 % in the 2019 election to 5.1% in the 2021 election.  Who were the voters for the party?  We know that many of these were individuals upset by the pandemic restrictions and mandatory vaccines.

The PPC also had numerous candidates who were pro-life/family. It is certain that these candidates received votes from former Conservative Party supporters.  Although it is satisfying to cast a vote for a pro-life candidate, to do so, sadly, is a wasted vote for the pro-life cause because PPC candidates had no realistic possibility of being elected.  The Liberals, with razor thin majorities in a dozen ridings, would have lost the seat if the PPC vote had gone to the Conservatives.  In effect, the PPC flipped seats to the Liberals, which led to the minority Liberal government rather than a minority Conservative government.

Whither Canada?

It is easy to dismiss the PPC as only a fringe party consisting of right-wing extremists – this is what the mainstream media want us to believe.  To do so, however, would be a mistake.  The PPC party reflects many of the positions that the Conservative Party once stood for:  balanced budgets, lower taxes, economic and political freedom.  These positions and the principles that animate them still resonate with the vast majority of Canadians.  Many Canadians are heartily sick of the control of Canada by the left-wing – both in terms of our institutions and political leadership. Canadians want to be part of the country, not ignored, ridiculed, and dismissed as nobodies.

In order for the Conservative Party to succeed, it must stick to conservative principles and serve as an authentic voice for millions of Canadians by reflecting their values, views, and opinions.  In effect, it’s time that Conservative leaders shred leftist policies and return unapologetically to solid conservative values and principles, proposing a bold, new vision of a better Canada.  Certainly, the Conservative Party has failed miserably over and over again in its efforts to imitate the parties of the left.  It’s time the Conservative Party moved on from losing policies, and upgraded its leadership and policies to become an authentically conservative party.

The renewal of the Conservative Party is possible, but can only be done with leadership that is confident, principled, and articulate.  Until such a leadership is found, the Conservative Party will continue to drift, serving as a hapless foil for the dominant Liberal Party.

During the election, O’Toole showed himself to be an inept and a surprisingly incompetent politician.  He does not have the confidence of most conservatives, who perceive him as lacking in integrity and principle.  O’Toole must be removed as Conservative Party leader.