Welcome to my new blog!Some of you will remember this forum formerly hosted on www.blakerobert.com. I've let the website lapse, pending some redevelopment. In the meantime, I thought this was the best way to keep my e-commentary going.
So Monday night was a pretty good one for me, as you can imagine. Its been 12 long years since Canada has had a Conservative government, and I couldn't be prouder of the one that Prime Minister Harper is about to lead.
As you can imagine, there is simply too much to comment on vis-a-vis this election. But I will let you know what I did on e-night, then some various bits and pieces.
For the first time since the 1997 election (when I was in the 10th grade), I spent Election Day doing something other than Get Out The Vote for a campaign. I wasn't involved at all in the campaign here in Fort McMurray-Athabasca, so I hopped on the plane to Edmonton after work to partake in what I hoped would be a victory party for Laurie Hawn in Edmonton Centre.
Laurie and his team are people I have the highest degree of respect and admiration for. They are dedicated, thoroughly professional, highly skilled, and very personable. When I run, I would be fortunate to have a team like Laurie's.
Anyway, I finally arrived at the Hawn HQ at about 9pm on Monday and walked into a veritable who's who of conservative politics in Edmonton and Northern Alberta. Among the crowd were provincial Ministers Dave Hancock, Lyle Oberg and Ed Stelmach, former Edmonton Councillor Wendy Kinsella, longtime organizer Hal Danchilla, Mark Norris' right hand man Tim Shipton, party stalwart Louise Hayes, and the list goes on.
Hal and a lovely reporter from SRC (French CBC) recognized me and, more importantly to them, that I was bilingual. 2 minutes after walking in the door, I was in front of a camera and a microphone giving the party spin en francais.
The rest of the night is, as they say, history. Laurie Hawn was elected as the new MP for Edmonton Centre with a margin greater than all of Anne McLellan's previous margins combined.
Onto some odds and ends that I found interesting on E-night...
FAVOURITE CONSERVATIVE WIN:
Laurie Hawn in Edmonton Centre
MOST DISSAPOINTING CONSERVATIVE LOSS:
John Capobianco in Etobicoke-Lakeshore. He would have been a much better MP than Ignatieff, and he's the kind of person you wish we'd see more of in politics.
MOST DISSAPOINTING LIBERAL WIN:
Belinda. Although it was somewhat satisfying to watch her cry during an acceptance speech, it pains me to think that her voters reward blatant opportunism.
MOST SURPRISING CONSERVATIVE WIN:
Royal Galipeau in Ottawa-Orleans. Of all of the seats in Eastern Ontario I pegged for us to win, this wasn't one of them.
MOST SURPRISING CONSERVATIVE LOSS:
Cindy Silver in North Vancouver. All my spidey-senses told me we were going to get this seat back, i'm not sure how Don Bell hung on.
MOST SURPRISING LIBERAL WIN:
Blair Wilson in West Vancouver. Same deal as North Vancouver, I figured we'd keep Reynolds old seat on the North Shore.
MOST SURPRISING LIBERAL LOSS:
Reg Alcock in Winnipeg South. I didn't think Manitoba would change at all, with the exception of Churchill. Not that i'm dissapointed, Reg Alcock sure got what was coming to him.
MOST SURPRISING NDP WIN:
Irene Mathyssen in London-Fanshawe. I suppose this shouldn't surprise me, she was once the NDP MPP for the area. Again, the spidey senses failed me.
MOST SURPRISING NDP LOSS:
Svend Robinson in Vancouver Centre. Hedy Fry has been a waste of space in Ottawa for 12 years, and she's embarrassed the people who vote for her with some of the statements she's made. Granted, Svend has a lot of baggage of his own, but I thought Van Centre would have chosen him over Fry.
MOST SURPRISING BLOC WIN:
None. I frankly thought they'd do better... although i'm not dissapointed to see them falter one bit.
MOST SURPRISING BLOC LOSS:
Richard Marceau in Charlesbourg-Haute-Saint-Charles. Marceau was a rising star in the Bloc Quebecois... young, talented, and very articulate in both French and English, he was one of the BQ poster boys and certainly the most frequent Bloc commentator in the English media. What's more is that he lost to a Conservative.
I realize that was far longer than a blog posting should be, but I had some catching up to do.
Thanks for stopping by!
Well considering that very personal mass email you sent me I just felt the need to congratulate you on reviving your blog.
ReplyDeleteCome visit me sometime soon...it gets oh so lonely in Calgary!
Yes, thank you also for your mass email :).
ReplyDeleteIf it's in the cards let me know about some kind of meeting in Calgary. I'll jump on a plane and head in myself, Haha!
Pretty good analysis of the election I must say; though I was not surprised by Irene Mathyssen or really about Royal Gallipeau's election. We just need to run a Francophone in Orleans.
Thank you Kiley and Bryan... methinks a Calgary reunion of epic proportions is in order for the end of March.
ReplyDeleteAs for the election, I accept that I was probably pretty out of touch with most of the goings on in Ontario. Galipeau was a pleasant surprise, though, because my Harper-hating aunt lives there.
Winnipeg South: the riding my sister lives in. Coincidence? I think not.
ReplyDeleteWell, for the three ridings my family lives in, two went Tory, and at least we got second place in Westmount-Ville Marie... building for next time!