A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE 2025 FEDERAL ELECTION RESULTS SHOW A TWO-PARTY RACE ONLY

A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE 2025 FEDERAL ELECTION RESULTS SHOW A TWO-PARTY RACE ONLY This week I have decided to offer my readers some insights as to the 2025 federal election results. My regular City Hall column will return next week. EARLY ON IN THE FEDERAL ELECTION I attended the campaign launch for one of only two Green Party members of parliament, and the event was truly unforgettable. With well over 400 people in attendance and standing room only, various speakers described their vision of a country very much different than the one we know today. As a political observer, I haven’t seen a better organized and colourful campaign event in decades. The crowd cheered as well over $50,000 was raised through a sort of ‘donation rally’ conducted by their co-leader Elizabeth May, a genuinely hard-working person and one whom I enjoyed chatting with afterwards. Fast forward to last Monday’s election night and the scene in that same space, according to the next day’s newspaper, was one of disbelief as supporters slowly watched the Conservative candidate take the lead and eventually win the riding. As it happens, the district is also represented by a member of the provincial Green Party, and therein lies the great mystery of politics, that being how to capture the mood of the electorate at any one time. Nevertheless, the losing candidate was thoughtful as he offered his supporters these closing remarks, “I’m glad to have had the opportunity to do this work. I’m not sure how to describe that feeling when people put their lives on the line because they believe in the things we’re pushing for and the way we’re pushing for them.” As it happens, the only Green member of Canada’s next parliament will be Elizabeth May herself. In the process of recovery from such a defeat, a period of political reorganization will inevitably take place, and this involves acknowledging the loss and finding ways to regain a sense of purpose. To that end, it must be said the Green Party no longer exists. I suggested in a previous column that, given the chance, I would offer up a story to every eligible voter, one that I would find necessary in the telling. They would be made to understand the realities associated with casting, what I may reasonably describe as a ‘protest vote’. The cross-country turnout for this election reached 67% overall, and in most electoral districts, Conservative and Liberal candidates captured the majority of votes, while Greens, New Democrats, and Independents trailed as distant contenders. NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTY RESULTS: Liberals won in 168 ridings with 8,566,674 votes, or 43.7% Conservatives won in 144 ridings with 8,089,959 votes, or 41.3% The NDP won in 7 ridings with 1,237,541 votes, or 6.3% The Green Party won in 1 riding with 244,992 votes, or 1.3% The People's Party of Canada won no ridings with 141,187 votes, or 0.7% QUEBEC AND INDEPENDENT RESULTS The Bloc Québécois won in 23 ridings with 1,233,231 votes, or 6.3% Independent candidates won no ridings with 36,319 votes, or 0.2% Any Canadian who believes greater things might be obtained by casting a vote for one of the smaller parties or an independent candidate will be overlooking the stinging reality that comes from a conscious decision to stay out of high-level decision making. The national results clearly demonstrate that fact. LOCAL RESULTS In Oshawa riding, the results are as follows: CONSERVATIVE Rhonda Kirkland elected with 32,185 votes, or 48.4% LIBERAL Isaac Ransom 2ND with 28,453 votes, or 42.8% NDP Sara Labelle 3rd with 5,112 votes, or 7.7% GREEN Katherine Mathewson 4th with 804 votes, or 1.2% It is interesting to note the NDP loss in Oshawa riding, as their provincial candidate won with 46% of the vote only two months earlier. There again one can see the difficulty in assessing the mood of the electorate at any one time. VOLUNTEER FOR A LOCAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN I encourage anyone with an interest in politics or a desire to help make their community a better place to step up and join a local campaign as a volunteer. The bulk of my own experience goes back a number of years, however on a cold day in early March I received a knock at my door from someone looking for signatures as part of her nomination package. That moment gave rise to six weeks of active participation on my part in what would become a successful campaign. The team of volunteers I worked with developed a certain fellowship during that time, as we canvassed door-to-door and by telephone, assembled and distributed signs, and gathered together each week for a meal at the campaign office. It must be said that not every moment during the election was easy as a volunteer, and there will always be personality differences among people thrown together in such a short time. On the flipside, one does get to meet a great many people in the community and the conversations are often quite enjoyable, even among supporters of another political party. THE FUTURE OF CANADA Over the course of the last 10 years, our country has changed, and not for the better. Inflation and the cost of housing have caused many Canadians to lose hope for the future. For the first time in generations, young people will have a lower standard of living than their parents, and that is unacceptable. Too many are now unable to buy their first home, and big-government programs haven’t actually added to our housing stock, but rather have succeeded only in enlarging a federal bureaucracy. Canada’s national debt has risen from $600 billion in 2015 to well over a trillion dollars, and Canadians are currently paying over $50 billion every year in debt servicing charges, something that is not sustainable. In fact, the costs to service the debt are more than our federal government spends every year on healthcare. The world in which we live is certainly more unstable now than in decades past, and the need to increase our military capabilities is paramount. Canada will eventually have to deal with new threats in the Arctic, so it makes sense to put more resources into ship building and into our Navy, with Canadian manufacturers and technology. Lastly, on the issue of carbon taxes, this columnist’s view is that the entire so-called ‘climate change’ narrative is false, and that the only real purpose of such an agenda is to see global wealth-redistribution on a massive scale. Canada’s carbon tax was recently suspended during the election under the guise of having been ‘cancelled’ and in my view, Canadians from coast to coast deserve a rebate of the taxes that were paid for no rational purpose whatsoever. Only time will show whether we can climb out of the mess we find ourselves in after 10 very dark years.