Live Rural NL Author has a pre-planned vacation that departs on election day. After taking the milk run (Deer Lake-Halifax-Boston-Las Vegas), I arrived once again at the well-lit vibrant city of full of energy and life.
After checking the news, I see that Prime Minister Harper has received his coveted majority, the orange wave from the NDP holds making them official opposition, the downfall of the Liberals to third-party status and the demise of the Bloc Québécois. What was expected to be a boring election with little change, was just the opposite. Even the pollsters had not predicted these results. We have seen big upsets with Leaders Michael Ignatieff and Gilles Duceppe losing their own seats and a few Conservative Cabinet Ministers as well. However, there was one plus for Green Party supporters, with Elizabeth May winning the first seat in Parliament for her party and ousting Junior Cabinet Minister Gary Lunn.
There were a couple of close races in Rural Newfoundland & Labrador, with Avalon remaining a Liberal riding over challenger Fabian Manning (who resigned from his Senate post), as well the change from historic Liberal Labrador to choose a Conservative Candidate. I called this the day earlier with a friend from Labrador. Stating, there is a good chance Penashue will win because it seems like Mr. Russell has not been voicing Labrador issues.
Newfoundland & Labrador only has 7 seats of a 308 member parliament. We need to make each one of them count, with very strong MPs that will stand up and have their voices heard. We had many strong candidates contending for the position of MP to represent the people. I commend you all for putting your names forward for public service and congratulate those elected and look forward to you serving the people well.
Rural Newfoundland & Labrador and Rural Canada continues to face many challenges. I only hope that our voices are heard and that the appropriate investments of our tax dollars are made to ensure strong communities of tomorrow.
Good luck to all MPs and let’s make Canada work!
Live Rural NL from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Christopher Mitchelmore
Related Articles
- Notable election winners and losers (thestar.com)
- Conservatives soar to majority with NDP forming historic opposition (thestar.com)
- Get ready for a Tory racket on the Rock (theglobeandmail.com)
- Conservatives make inroads in Atlantic Canada, Liberals dwindle (news.nationalpost.com)
