- by Anne Finlay-Stewart, Editor
The candidates'signs are disappearing in the same mysterious way they seemed to appear, and for those of us in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound (BGOS), the almost invisible federal election campaign appears to have changed nothing. Party votes here were all no more than a 6% swing from 2019 totals.
But there were two results of this election which should hold our attention in the months ahead.
Conservative leader Erin O'Toole was clearly defending his own job in his speech to the country on election night. He will face calls for a leadership review after winning 119 seats – two fewer than Andrew Scheer won in 2019. Scheer increased the Conservative seat count by 26 in that election; O'Toole has lost two seats in the 44th parliament.
O'Toole has been strongly supported by local MP Alex Ruff and was the preferred candidate of the majority of local BGOS Conservative Party members in both the 2017 and 2020 leadership contest. Will they support a review or vigorously defend their chosen leader? If there should be yet another contest, what will local Conservatives be looking for?
Although Max Bernier, leader of the People's Party of Canada, failed to win his own seat for the second election in a row, the party picked up 5% of the popular vote – more than half a million new supporters.
In Bruce Grey Owen Sound, the People's Party's support grew from 1702 votes in 2019 to 4643 in this election and included some notable former Conservatives. The “freedom rallies” the PPC candidate organized or where she was a featured speaker – focussed laser-like on opposition to Covid-19 restrictions and mandates - drew some of the largest crowds of the past few years. What impact this will have on the 2022 elections may depend on the trajectory of Covid-19 here and across the province.
Elections are only a starting point – there will be a new cabinet, a throne speech, and perhaps a budget that will indicate the government's priorities. Climate change, Covid, housing, Indigenous sovereignty, childcare, immigration – there are many pressing issues for the federal government to address that impact our life here in Grey-Bruce. We will be watching for progress, and not divisive distractions.
Next year there will be two elections – provincial in June and municipal in October. We anticipate both will generate interest and energy, and we look forward to enabling the discussion among those who seek to represent you in those two chambers.
