For a federal election that wasn’t supposed to be all that interesting at the outset, Monday’s vote certainly ended up being one to remember.
It was a historic result for some parties and a major collapse for others nationwide. And for a party that kept stating that it didn’t want another election, things worked out pretty well for the Conservatives, didn’t they?
A little closer to home, it seemed like Whistler and Pemberton’s ridings followed the national trends in many ways.
It wasn’t a big surprise that the Conservative Party hung on to its seats in West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country and Fraser Canyon-Chilliwack. What may have been a little tougher to predict back in late March when the election was called was how the NDP’s orange surge arrived in the corridor and the Spud Valley’s riding.
The New Democrats running in each constituency both secured the most votes the party has ever garnered since either electoral district was established. The day after the ballots were counted up, both Terry Platt and Gwen O’Mahony seemed content to finish second in their respective races and instead celebrate the NDP forming the official Opposition.
Voter turnout was also up in both ridings, consistent with the rest of Canada. We commend those of you who took the time out of your day to do your civic duty on Monday or got out to the advance polls.
Lost among the excitement of the Green Party putting Elizabeth May into the House of Commons was the fact that the party’s national support fell sharply compared to the last election, and that was noticed in the Sea to Sky riding as well. We think the local numbers may be a little skewed in 2008, however, as Blair Wilson gave electors an opportunity to vote for the Green Party’s only incumbent MP to date and was a Liberal castoff.
Whistler has traditionally voted Liberal in the past and it would be hard to imagine that the weeks of campaigning completely turned the resort from red to blue.
But whether you voted for him or not on Monday, Weston had already proved through his first tenure as an MP that he has the ability to get things done in Ottawa.
Weston has served on federal committees and has been the government’s liaison to Canada’s Persian and Iranian communities. He also worked hard to get his private member’s bill put into law just before the election was called.
And Bill C-475, which made it illegal to procure the ingredients of the drugs ecstasy and crystal meth with the intent of producing them, is hardly one you can argue against whether you lean left or right. We think it was also the most noteworthy private bill to gain royal assent since Weston headed to Ottawa.
Though there will be an influx of new Conservative MPs stocking the benches when Parliament resumes, the Tories also lost some key members of their party in this election, be it through retirement or defeat.
Perhaps it’s time that Weston be given the chance to take on a more important role for his party. We can only speculate as to whether that could mean getting the call to cabinet, but if he does, we think he would be up to the task.
-Eric MacKenzie
