Election Follies and Funnies #30: it's over (almost)

Well, its all over except the shouting. 

As Gerry Butts pointed out on CBC, there may well be a few changes yet as the mail-in ballots and recounts get finished -- there seem to be at least a dozen seats where tonight's result may change. 

Overall, I'm very glad that Trudeau will remain our Prime Minister - I hope his Liberal government will last until 2025.

Members of the press expressing the completely nonsensical view: Why did we have an election when nothing changed. Well, that was the *result* of the election. It was not known in advance. Gah! #cdnpoli #Elxn44

— Diane Marie (@DianeMariePosts) September 21, 2021

I suspect that had the Conservatives picked up a few seats and were feeling a little more self-satisfied, the need for/price of an election wouldn't be a topic of discussion.

— Diane Marie (@DianeMariePosts) September 21, 2021

Conservatives and assorted right wingers online are trying to bend over backwards to pretend that Liberals lost this election, which they won by some margin. No, your "popular vote" tweet doesn't count. #Elxn44

— Asif Hossain (@asifintoronto) September 21, 2021

To the “what was the point” crowd,

The government had to make extraordinary choices in the last 18 months which they didn’t run on in 2019.

The public was due the opportunity to weigh in on those choices and what comes next.

Democracy is a verb, it’s never pointless. #Elxn44

— Andrew Tumilty (@AndrewTumilty) September 21, 2021

This is a dumb talking point, unless you think an election 2 years from now was going to be free. #Elxn44 https://t.co/iy8Sawyjxo

— Gerald Butts (@gmbutts) September 21, 2021

Twitter has been commenting on the concession speeches. Paul went first, but CBC actually cut away from her during her speech = she wasn't saying anything particularly interesting, and considering how poorly she did even in her own seat, she's not going to be around Canadian politics very long anyway.

Another 32 seconds and Annamie Paul’s concession speech will be longer than her leadership term. #cdnpoli

— Dean from Winnipeg (@Dean_Winnipeg) September 21, 2021

Then I think O'Toole was next:

This is the oddest concession speech I've ever heard; this one that @erinotoole is giving. It's like tonight's results never happened and the next election starts now. #elxn44 #cdnpoli

— Susan Delacourt (@SusanDelacourt) September 21, 2021

Wow ! How disappointing @lraitt @RosieBarton This is hardly an upbeat speech.
Accepting responsibility for flip flopping and supporting the gun lobby, not to mention his decision to avoid facing the need for vaccine mandates seems to go over Erin's head. #cdnpoli #Elxn44

— G Godwin (@gill_godwin) September 21, 2021

There is no gracious aspect of this O’toole speech. I suppose it’s a calculated choice to keep the internal anger down, but still feels lacking in normal points: congratulations to the winner, acceptance of the results voters gave, and willingness to work w govt.

— Bruce Anderson (@bruceanderson) September 21, 2021

Blanchet was after that, another odd one:

Maybe it plays differently in French, but this feels like a rambling, hard to follow speech from Yves-Francois Blanchet. #Elxn44

— Maclean Kay (@MacleanKay) September 21, 2021

The failure of Cons and Greens and Bloc to congratulate the PM is so petty and appalling lack of basic civility.

Classless.

— Anne with an "e" (@mrsmaris) September 21, 2021

Finally Singh spoke, and his speech was actually very good. He simply congratulated Trudeau on winning the election, and talked positively about the future. How refreshing!

Jagmeet Singh is at his best when Justin Trudeau's name is never spoken.

He hurt the party trying to take down Trudeau instead of promoting himself, his ideals and his vision.

Nobody can beat Trudeau by personally attacking Trudeau.

Nobody.

People wanna be inspired.

— kris meloche (@krismeloche) September 21, 2021

I’ve had plenty of criticism for Jagmeet Singh and the NDP campaign.

But I’ve got zero criticism of his speech tonight, he hit the notes exactly.

I would’ve liked to see more of that during the campaign. #cdnpoli

— Dean from Winnipeg (@Dean_Winnipeg) September 21, 2021

Lastly Trudeau spoke - somewhat chastened, I thought, but upbeat even though he didn't get the majority he had wanted. He thanked the people who voted for him, but more importantly he also vowed to work for the people who hadn't voted for him too.

It should be noted that @JustinTrudeau spoke graciously to his opponents and people who didn't vote for him. I do not get why this was missing from (most) other leaders' speeches tonight. #cdnpoli #elxn44

— Susan Delacourt (@SusanDelacourt) September 21, 2021

"We can only move forward if no one is left behind".
Justin Trudeau Sept 20, 2021.
Now to figure out our way forward,#Canadians #elxn44vote pic.twitter.com/PM42S2mp3b

— Tarita (@EveryAlbertan) September 21, 2021

I sense a little grumpiness among the pundits:

Justin Trudeau treats this election result as a victory because it literally is a victory. The Liberal Party has won the most seats in Parliament and that’s exactly how our system works.
BTW Erin O’Toole is the third Conservative leader Justin Trudeau has defeated.

— Philip MacQuarrie (@monkeynaut1966) September 21, 2021

If @JustinTrudeau’s speech claims this one or two seat shift in his caucus to be a victory worth a $600 million campaign, my TV screen will have a laptop sticking out of it.

— Don Martin (@DonMartinCTV) September 21, 2021

And what's next?

That faint sound you hear in the distance is the sharpening of knives in the Conservative backrooms

— Ian Bushfield (@ibushfield) September 20, 2021

One thing we can count on - there won't be another election for years, because the opposition parties cannot ask for a do-over again:

Like, you have them on record, saying #Elxn44 suddenly wasn't necessary, and how much this costs, and getting their bases all mad about it.

SO NOW THEY CAN'T FORCE A DO-OVER. Chicken played; chicken lost. Is O'Toole willing to make Canadians go through this again? Pfft.

— Carol Channing Tatum (@ThinWhiteDork) September 21, 2021

Finally, I just loved this:

The nice poll officer asked me if it was my 1st time voting. I mumbled that I became a citizen Friday.
She stood up and said to the room: “we have a new citizen here.”
Everyone clapped. It was humbling.
I was told to keep the pencil 😊 pic.twitter.com/zJ7pCa7JTd

— Hina Alam (@hinakalam) September 20, 2021

I hope she frames it.