Georgina
October 15, 2008 06:57 PM
By: Patrick Mangion
A second consecutive Conservative minority government gouged some serious holes in the Liberal’s 905 fortress Tuesday, producing a stunning new political landscape in York Region.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s victory was the least surprising outcome of the night, however, three former Liberal seats, overtaken by Conservative candidates in York, underscored a miserable performance by the Grits in what was widely considered the party’s stronghold.
The Tories finally made their long anticipated Ontario breakthrough, gaining 11 seats. Three of those seats were won in York Region, where Peter Kent, Lois Brown and Paul Calandra toppled Liberal incumbents.
When the dust settled from the 2006 election, York-Simcoe Conservative MP Peter Van Loan was outnumbered 6-1 by Liberal MPs in York Region. Today, it is 4-3 in favour of the Tories.
Liberals Tim Jones, in Newmarket-Aurora, and incumbents Susan Kadis, Thornhill and Lui Temelkovski, Markham-Oak Ridges, were defeated. While Bryon Wilfert, John McCallum and Maurizio Bevilacqua —all stalwarts from former prime minister Jean Chretien’s Liberal government — retained their seats.
A listing Liberal party, with a leader who did not resonate with voters and a carbon tax that similarly missed the mark, helped create a perfect storm that lifted Conservatives in the 905 belt, professor of political science and dean of York University’s faculty of arts, Robert Drummond said.
“There’s always been the potential for change in the 905. York Region has gone back and forth in provincial and federal elections. The 905 belt has some very volatile ridings,” he said.
For the most part, it was an election that failed to capture the interest of Canadians and may be remembered more as a referendum on Liberal leader Stéphane Dion’s bold Green Shift policy gambit.
“I don’t think Mr. Dion got a fair shake. But the perception was that he wasn’t a strong leader and he didn’t make a very strong case for the Green Shift,” Mr. Drummond said.
While Conservative brass may be painting Tuesday’s results, in which the party gained 19 more seats than the 2006 vote, as a resounding success, many political observers believe the bigger picture doesn’t bode well for another minority government.
However, in the short term, the Tories have a lot to celebrate.
Armed with a stronger mandate and a broader government, the Conservatives can go about implementing their $8.7-billion platform unhindered, as though voters had handed them a majority.
Just when it seemed the federal Liberals had righted the ship, they will likely embark on another re-organization. And any attempt to topple this government in a year or two will likely court a backlash from voters who feel another federal election would be unnecessary and premature.
But the Conservatives made their steady hand, during uncertain financial times, the cornerstone of their campaign.
However, it is that same looming financial crisis that has some analysts declaring the government’s four-year $8.7-billion platform unrealistic and that has significant implications for York Region.
For instance, local manufacturers have been hit hard and want the Conservatives to make good on a 2-cent cut to the federal diesel excise tax and boosting the tax threshold for small business corporate tax, to $500,000.
They have also promised more help for manufacturers by scrapping tariffs on a wide range of imported machinery and equipment, along with a $50-million-a-year investment into the automotive innovation fund.
Conservative campaign promises:
• A re-elected Conservative government has promised to make a bigger dent in serious drug crimes, such as trafficking, grow houses and crystal methamphetamine labs, by implementing mandatory prison sentences;
• A new youth crime law would ensure that young offenders who are convicted of very serious and violent crimes will face appropriate sentences and allows them to be named once they are convicted, and;
• The Conservatives committed to fund their share of the Spadina subway extension. But it didn’t follow suit with $6 billion needed to top off the province’s Move2020 transit plan, which includes extending the Yonge subway up to Richmond Hill.