York Region voters spurred by anti-Harper, pro-change Liberal promises

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 22, 2015
By Lisa Queen

Student Alayna O’Brien wanted to vote NDP in Monday’s federal election.

But, convinced the New Democrats had no chance of winning her Newmarket-Aurora riding and determined to do her part to oust what she called Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s heavy-handed style, she cast her vote for winning Liberal candidate Kyle Peterson.

The Newmarket resident wasn’t alone.

In most ridings across York Region, and indeed across Canada, many voters placed an X on their ballots for Liberal candidates, sending Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau to 24 Sussex Dr. with a surprising majority government.

In Markham-Stouffville, veteran NDP supporter Manjit Sidhu not only voted for Liberal candidate Jane Philpott, but also volunteered on her campaign because he was buoyed by Liberal promises of change.

Meanwhile, first-time voter Samora Neimeyer, 18, also voted for Philpott, even though members of her family are usually NDP supporters.

“I don’t want Harper or (Conservative incumbent Paul) Calandra. I voted for Jane. I know her personally, but that’s not the only reason. I believe in what she’s trying to do,” she said.

“I don’t mind voting Liberal this time. I don’t like voting strategically, but this time we had to.”

The hearts of 68.1 per cent of Canadian voters - the 39.5 per cent who voted Liberal and the 28.6 per cent who voted for other non-Conservative parties - were pulled in two ways, according to political science professors.

Canadians voted against Harper while at the same time embracing the hope of positive change.
Sick and tired of Harper’s “divisive, polarizing and partisan” style of politics, voters, who were repeatedly told every vote would count, were determined to make their ballots count to toss the Conservatives from office, Seneca professor Marc Menard said.

“You can hear a collective sigh of relief from approximately 70 per cent of Canadians who were tired of the confrontational, partisan politics that Mr. Harper and the Conservatives used,” he said.

“This was a referendum on Mr. Harper and the nature of politics he played, which leads me to believe that this was a referendum on what Canadians believe is good and bad about politics. It was about Canadian values.”

Just as important was Canadians’ need to embrace positive change, a desire that had them parking their votes with Trudeau over NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, who, like the Conservatives, bad-mouthed the Liberal leader and tried to out-Conservative the Conservatives on austere fiscal policy, Menard said.

York University professor Robert MacDermid agreed, although he pointed out the Liberals only got 39.5 per cent of the popular vote, compared to the Conservatives’ 31.9 per cent.

“People were looking for change and about two or three weeks ago, they decided that change was Justin Trudeau. I think the NDP, being in opposition, assumed they were the party to which the change mantle would fall and they would be the logical party to take office if the Conservatives tripped and that wasn’t true,” he said.

“Being positive works. That’s the one thing about Justin. He was, the Liberal campaign was, relentlessly positive. They did have a few negative ads but, by and large, it was pretty positive and he was pretty upbeat.

“He was appealing to Canadians to join together and so on and that worked. He managed to inherit the mantle of change and that was the result.”

This election was proof politicians need to offer Canadians hope in the future, according to MacDermid, who said the sea of Liberal red that first appeared in Atlantic Canada showed Canadians’ desire for change across the country.

“If you just said, ‘I’m the best of the worst bunch or you haven’t done so badly under us, give us more time,’ that’s not enough to motivate voters at some point,” he said.

“That’s an important takeaway. We’ve gone through a lot of politics of negativity and people do want to see something positive.”

Canadians’ appetite for change was reflected in a voter turnout of 68.5 per cent, up from 61.1 per cent in 2011 and the record-low 58 per cent in 2008.

The Liberal romp gave the party a majority government with 184 seats, a dramatic change in fortune from their dismal third-party results of 34 seats in 2011.

The ruling Conservatives toppled from 166 seats to 99 and they will form the official opposition.
The NDP saw their fortunes sink, moving from official opposition with 103 seats to 44 in this election.

The national mood was reflected in York Region, where seven of the 10 ridings went Liberal.

Vaughan-Woodbridge’s Francesco Sorbara, Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill’s Leona Alleslev, Markham-Thornhill’s John McCallum, King-Vaughan’s Deb Schulte and Richmond Hill’s Majid Jowhari will join Markham-Stouffville’s Philpott and Newmarket-Aurora’s Peterson in Ottawa.

Meanwhile, Thornhill’s Peter Kent, York-Simcoe’s Peter Van Loan and Markham-Unionville’s Bob Saroya will carry the Tory blue banner.

OK, so we voted for change. What does that look like?

“We have Justin Trudeau saying, amazingly, we’re going to run three budget deficits (to ignite the economy through infrastructure spending) and that seemed like a huge mistake, but, in retrospect, it showed the Liberals are really more dedicated to change,” MacDermid said.

“Now, having said that, I personally don’t believe that the Liberals will govern in any way that is radically different than the Conservatives. They will still advance the interests of globalization and so on. There will be some changes around the edges. We’ve been governed by a broader sense of principles that include globalization and downward pressure on wages and all those sorts of things and the Liberals will continue that. The change is superficial is the point I’m trying to make.”

Trudeau may lose his lustre with Canadians as three decades of virtually stagnant wages, when inflation is taken into account, and mounting housing and higher education costs continue, MacDermid said.

“If people sincerely look at their lives, they will come to the conclusion that, despite what the Conservatives said (boasting about their economic record), they weren’t, by and large, better off,” he said.

“The same is likely to be the case for the Liberals as well because the Liberals will continue many of the same economic policies that the Conservatives had in office. Just as the Conservatives continued many of the policies of the Liberals that (former prime ministers Jean) Chrétien and (Paul) Martin put in place.”

Don’t look to the Liberals to bring in electoral reform, as parties are reluctant to change systems that put them in power, MacDermid said.

But after a decade of Harper rule, Canadians can look forward to a more inclusive government, Menard said.

Even though the Liberals endorsed anti-terrorist legislation Bill C-51, they are likely to repeal elements they found distasteful, he said.

Canadians could also look forward to changes to the Elections Act employed by the Conservatives, which resulted in making it more difficult for lower-income and younger Canadians to vote, a re-introduction of the long form census and an end to the muzzling of scientists, Menard said.

“There are so many groups that will feel relief at this and they happen to be in the 70 per cent who didn’t vote Conservative,” he said.

“This was an interesting election in so many ways. We’re going to be chewing on this for quite a while.”