So, maybe being from Alberta has 'poisoned my mind', but it may very well be a valid reason for me to be aghast at the thought of a coalition. Alberta voted 64.6% in favour of Conservatives. But I had a look at all the provinces and territories - and Conservatives had the majority of the popular vote in 7 of the 13. Just over 50%, which isn't exactly fabulous, but it is still notable. The rest had 4 Liberal, 1 NDP and 1 PQ majority of the popular vote. Going by seats of course, the Conservatives didn't quite cut the cloth and they are still 'weak'. But I cannot ignore the country-wide statistics of the PEOPLE'S vote.
Some people told me earlier that it doesn't matter about the breakdown by province because some have much higher populations. Yes, of course that is true, but if you look at that, the provinces with the highest populations (aside from Quebec of course) had Conservatives taking the majority of the votes. Ontario, BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Nova Scotia and Manitoba are pretty close in population so it should be noted that NS had Liberals take the majority of votes - by 3% over Conservatives.
The issue for myself and many others is that the people want their voices heard. They spoke 2 months ago and while it is a small majority rather than a landslide, the way our democracy works still put Harper as the Prime Minister. It still put Dion in a place where he had to resign after his party's poor results. It still put NDP at only 18.2% of the total votes. And it is also still a fact that only one province can vote for the Bloc, and Conservatives were only 2% behind Liberals in Quebec (21.7 vs 23.7). NDP were well behind at 12.2% with the Bloc at 38.1%.
What exactly do people want? Do they just want Harper gone so badly they don't give a rat's arse about the 5 205 334 people who voted Conservative? Or about whatever number of people who voted for other parties that do not want a coalition between Lib and NDP?
I am just putting it out there - wondering how many Canadians are 'okay' with the thought of a coalition government. Do NDP supporters want Dion and the next Liberal leader to be Canada's representatives to the world? Do they want their MPs agreeing to join the Coalition without any say from their constituents? Do Liberal supporters want their MPs to join a coalition with the NDP without their prior knowledge?
I also had someone tell me earlier today that if more Canadians had gone to the polls, the Liberals definately would have won and be in the majority and none of this would have had to happen.
What? How do they know this? Sure, this was a poor turnout at the polls but I can tell you right now that a lot of Conservatives in my city did not even bother to vote. Why? Because the Conservative MP gets the VAST majority of votes here. This time it was 70%. Many do not even bother because they know the Conservatives will have this seat. I am NOT saying that is the right attitude, because if anything it is becoming more apparent now that every single vote is important and every single vote counts. But in my city and province alone there are an awful lot of Conservatives who didn't bother voting because they knew what the outcome would be. It's very short-sighted to assume that if everyone voted, the Liberals would have had the majority. COME ON! How can anyone say that? I cannot predict it, and no one else can either. It is really ridiculous what some people are spewing around the net.
* I like to throw in this little reminder every so often that the last time I voted before this recent election, I voted Liberal. So do not assume that I am some Conservative nutjob that can't tell my a$$ from my face. I fall pretty much down the middle of those two parties but I was young then and have learned a great many more things about politics as I have gotten older *
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