Election Info and final notes...

[Cheese]

Voter Verdict:
CONSERVATIVE MINORITY PARLIAMENT

Notables Elected
TV personality Tina Keeper – Liberal
Former Ontario Social Services and Energy Minister John Baird – Conservative
Former Ontario Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty – Conservative
Former MP Dawn Black – NDP
Former Ontario Health Minister Tony Clement – Conservative
Former Toronto Councillor Olivia Chow – NDP
Academic Michael Ignatieff – Liberal
Former Quebec Cabinet Minister Lawrence Cannon – Conservative
Prominent political activist Josée Verner – Conservative

Notables Defeated
Former MP Svend Robinson – NDP
Deputy PM Anne McLellan – Liberal
Treasury Board Minister Reg Alcock – Liberal
Former Governor-General Ed Schreyer – NDP
Agriculture Minister Andy Mitchell – Liberal
Government Leader Tony Valeri – Liberal
International Cooperation Minister Aileen Carroll – Liberal
Former Astronaut Marc Garneau – Liberal
Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew – Liberal
Children/Seniors Minister Tony Ianno – Liberal
Heritage Minister Liza Frulla – Liberal
Prominent MP Richard Marceau – Bloc Quebecois
Northern Affairs Minister Ethel Blondin-Andrew – Liberal

ELECTION HIGHLIGHTS
• The Conservative Party of Canada will form its first government since 1993, sending the Liberal Party to the Opposition benches. In doing so, Canadians have elected only the third minority government in the last 25 years (Clark – 1979; Martin - 2004) with Stephen Harper set to take office as Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister. This will be the only back-to-back minority governments formed in the same 25 year period.
• The Conservative Party capitalized on an effective election campaign to increase its seat count to 124 MPs from 99 in the last election. Liberals saw their seat count go from 135 MPs in the last election to 103 in the new Parliament. With these numbers, the Liberals will hold the title of Official Opposition in the next House of Commons. However, Paul Martin has indicated he will not lead the Liberals into the next election which has set off talk of an eventual leadership convention.
• While the Conservatives captured a smaller number of seats than most pollsters predicted, the NDP and Liberals captured more than most observers expected. Contradicting its own predictions at the beginning of the election, the Bloc Quebecois finished with fewer seats than it began with. The BQ reduced its seat count from 54 to 51. Growth in NDP support was registered on Election Day translating into 29 seats, up from 19 in the last election.

Conservative Priorities
While the first Conservative Throne Speech is expected to set out the government’s overall agenda, among the new government’s early priorities are expected to be:
o Accountability Act
o Crime bill
o GST reduction
o Parental Benefit ($1,200.00 per year)
o Addressing hospital wait times

What to Watch For
The Conservatives will require time to organize as they prepare to take power just as all parties will begin organizing for the next Parliament. The following are some key milestones (all dates are tentative) along the way:
January
‘Return of the writs’: Following the close of the polls, a formal process occurs where each returning office forwards documentation of the official riding results to Elections Canada and ultimately to the House of Commons. This confirms who the new (or returning) MP is for each riding. The reported deadline for return of all writs is February 20, 2006.
Cabinet Selection Process: Recent transition periods for a change of government from one party to another have ranged from 10-14 days. With his slate of MPs known, the Prime Minister-elect immediately begins intensive work with his formal transition team to determine the size and scope of Cabinet. Soon, contacts will begin with Conservative MPs asking them to take on certain responsibilities in the new government. Other early priorities are possible changes to the senior public service and assembling candidates for senior political staff to Cabinet Ministers. This work also includes determining appointments to Parliamentary Secretary positions.
February
Swearing-In of MPs: Following the return of the writs, MPs begin the process of being sworn in on Parliament Hill.
Party Caucus Meetings: Parties are likely to organize in a fairly swift fashion meetings of departing, returning, and newly elected MPs along with Senators of each party.
Swearing-In of new Cabinet: Ministers are sworn in and the new Government is announced (can include changes to the structure or ‘machinery of government’).
Departmental Briefings: Starting in most cases the day they are sworn in, Ministers (and any early staff) receive preliminary briefings from senior Departmental officials. There is also precedent for Prime Ministers to hold an initial Cabinet meeting before Ministers meet their Deputy Ministers for briefings.
March
Throne Speech/Return of the House of Commons: The House of Commons re-opens for the 39th Parliament beginning with a Speech from the Throne by the Governor General outlining the new Government’s priorities to House/Senate members.
April (TBD)
Budget 2006
June 23rd, 2006
Scheduled summer recess (subject to change)
Sept. 18th, 2006
Scheduled return of Parliament (subject to change)

The 39th Parliament
When convened, the new House of Commons and its Committees will operate – at least initially –under much the same rules of the last Parliament. For instance:
• Passage of Legislation: As the Liberals did in the last Parliament, the governing Conservatives will need to have support from the Opposition side of the House of Commons to get legislation approved and sent off to the Senate (155 votes are required for a majority in the 308 seat House of Commons).
• Control of Committees: The parties will negotiate over the coming weeks over how to split up membership of the Parliamentary Committees between Opposition and Government MPs. The split will likely give a majority of committee seats to the opposition. For example, 6 Conservatives per committee and 7 opposition MPs – with this scenario, the reality is the opposition will have 7 members and the Conservatives only 5 since the Chair only votes in the case of a tie. The ability of the Opposition to control the Committee’s destiny increases.
• Private Members’ Business: House rules were changed in the last Parliament and now require that all Private Members’ Bills – those bills that are introduced by individual MPs – must come to a vote in Parliament. In the past, only a very small number of Private Members’ Bills ever came to a vote. More use of Private Members’ Bills to advance significant policy issues is expected under a Conservative Government where more free votes have been promised to backbenchers.

[transplant99]

Conservative Priorities
While the first Conservative Throne Speech is expected to set out the government’s overall agenda, among the new government’s early priorities are expected to be:
o Accountability Act
o Crime bill
o GST reduction
o Parental Benefit ($1,200.00 per year)
o Addressing hospital wait times

I dont see the NDP nor the Libs blocking any of this legislation.

[BlackEleven]

Originally Posted by Cheese

Notables Defeated

Heritage Minister Liza Frulla – Liberal

That's my riding. I was pretty surprised. It was basically a race between a Cabinet Minister and a 25 year old engineer from the Bloc, and the Bloc took it.

[Bobblehead]

What was the final percentage of registered voters who actually voted? I haven't noticed that yet.

And thank god the Heritage Minister got the boot. WIPO is not the way to go; don't let the door hit your butt on the way out.

[transplant99]

65.8% i believe i read somewhere.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Originally Posted by transplant99

I dont see the NDP nor the Libs blocking any of this legislation.

It'll be interesting to see what the cost of their suppport is though. Nothing comes for free.

[Resolute 14]

Neither party can afford an election right now - especially the Liberals. Most of these motions could pass without difficulty simply because of the internal party situation of the Liberals.

[Winsor_Pilates]

I don't think they would even want to block those. Shouldn't take much effort to pass those, because they're things that all parties can likely agree on anyway.

[Bacardi 151]

I still can't believe Belinda Stronach won?!?!? I don't know how anyone could vote for an MP that's loyalty and values change with the wind. As well as not having any interest in the Liberal party except to challenge for the leadership...... horrible

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by Bacardi 151

I still can't believe Belinda Stronach won?!?!? I don't know how anyone could vote for an MP that's loyalty and values change with the wind. As well as not having any interest in the Liberal party except to challenge for the leadership...... horrible

well the obvious answer is they voted for the person...not the party. The area is very affluent and seeing as though Belinda is VERY much the same Im sure she has great pull in that area.

The same could be said for Rob Anders...how could anyone vote for that idiot? I wouldnt even if I was a died in the wool Conservative.

[The Goon]

I'll miss Liza Frulla-she would always come out west for the CCMA Awards and had a good sense of humour. I also found her accent sexy.

[Bacardi 151]

Originally Posted by Cheese

well the obvious answer is they voted for the person...not the party. The area is very affluent and seeing as though Belinda is VERY much the same Im sure she has great pull in that area.

The same could be said for Rob Anders...how could anyone vote for that idiot? I wouldnt even if I was a died in the wool Conservative.

But the Conservative candidate was also very affluent as well. It's not like there was only one rich snob to vote for. Even if you did want to vote for the person and not the party, I'd think that Belinda would be the worse choice then, simply due to the fact that she didn't hesitate to stab her previous party in the back just because she didn't become leader.

Belinda Stronach is one of the most self-interested politicians I've seen. The only reason she became Liberal was because it could get her a cabinet position. She'd gladly stab the Liberals in the back if she knew that she wouldn't be given any power within the party. The only problem now is that that could never happen because no other party wants her. They all know she's targetting the Liberal leadership and if she doesn't get it she's going to be pushing hard for a opposition critic position.

But while this is all fine and dandy, and her decision to make, what really stumps me is the fact that the voters in her riding don't see that someone with her values and goals would be the worst person to have as an MP. If they are voter for her because they like HER and not the Liberal party, they should see that she's not focussed on her riding, but instead on her political career EXCLUSIVELY.

She's a spoiled girl who's sick of making money. She's now moving on to bigger and better things......she now wants power. And will do ANYTHING to get it. Too bad those fat-cats in Newmarket-Aurora don't see this....Terrible

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Bacardi 151

But the Conservative candidate was also very affluent as well. It's not like there was only one rich snob to vote for. Even if you did want to vote for the person and not the party, I'd think that Belinda would be the worse choice then, simply due to the fact that she didn't hesitate to stab her previous party in the back just because she didn't become leader.

Belinda Stronach is one of the most self-interested politicians I've seen. The only reason she became Liberal was because it could get her a cabinet position. She'd gladly stab the Liberals in the back if she knew that she wouldn't be given any power within the party. The only problem now is that that could never happen because no other party wants her. They all know she's targetting the Liberal leadership and if she doesn't get it she's going to be pushing hard for a opposition critic position.

But while this is all fine and dandy, and her decision to make, what really stumps me is the fact that the voters in her riding don't see that someone with her values and goals would be the worst person to have as an MP. If they are voter for her because they like HER and not the Liberal party, they should see that she's not focussed on her riding, but instead on her political career EXCLUSIVELY.

She's a spoiled girl who's sick of making money. She's now moving on to bigger and better things......she now wants power. And will do ANYTHING to get it. Too bad those fat-cats in Newmarket-Aurora don't see this....Terrible

Have you met her?

[RougeUnderoos]

I gotta say, the hatred around here for Belinda Stronach borders on the obsessive.

She switched parties for crying out loud, she didn't invade Czechoslovakia.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

I gotta say, the hatred around here for Belinda Stronach borders on the obsessive.

She switched parties for crying out loud, she didn't invade Czechoslovakia.

I wouldn't put it past her if she had the power to.