Liberals avenge Quebec MP who won without campaigning

After the losing party discovered the irregularities with the winner’s nomination papers, they demanded that there be a new election in a Quebec riding won by the most unlikely of NDP candidates. All election candidates are required to obtain 100 signatures of support before they can run in a federal election, but the Liberal party in Berthier-Maskinongé says it has discovered signatures backing the NDP election winner that may have been forged, of people that may not live in the riding or who weren’t clear what it was they were being asked to support. Ruth Ellen Brosseau caused an up rise in the media by winning her riding by nearly 7,000 votes being 3000 kilometres away. Brosseau has not given any media interviews. It was also discovered that she doesn’t speak French, unlike 98 percent of her constituents. The Liberals first discovered what they said were irregularities with Brosseau’s nomination papers. Simard said there are at least five people who are clearly not admissible. The riding’s second-place Conservative candidate, Marie-Claude Godue, is also calling for a new vote, but the national party is leaving the controversy in the hands of Elections Canada. The agency only learned through media reports of the problems but will likely be contacted by lawyers for the losing political parties shortly. “We are hopeful that nothing illegal happened here, as electoral fraud is very serious,” said Conservative party spokesman Fred DeLorey. The decision though will be made by a judge, who will either decide whether the result of the vote should stand or whether a new election should be called.

-Tuvraen Gill

 

Ignatieff leaving politics

Michael Ignatieff has announced he is stepping down as Liberal leader after suffering a crushing election defeat Monday that saw Stephen Harper’s Conservatives win their first majority government. Ignatieff revealed his decision Tuesday morning at a news conference in Toronto. “I will not be remaining as leader of this party,” Ignatieff told reporters. The Liberal caucus will meet next week in Ottawa to choose a new leader in Parliament since Ignatieff lost his own Ontario riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore. Ignatieff downplayed the need for a merger between his party and the newly strengthened NDP, which secured more than 100 seats in Monday’s vote, becoming the country’s new official Opposition. In the end, Ignatieff said he was proud that the Liberals had unlocked the desire for change in Canada.

 

Victory for Tories and NDP, while future for Liberals and Bloc is unclear

Stephen Harper celebrated his first federal majority win late Monday night. Harper said he was very pleased with his party’s 167-seat haul on Monday night, which propelled the Tories to Canada’s first majority government since the days of Liberal Jean Chretien’s third of three consecutive victories, which came to an end in 2004.”Look, it feels great, but at the same time, I am very much aware of the immense challenges that lie before us,” Harper said. Jack Layton’s NDP soared to new heights to become the country’s official Opposition. Meanwhile, the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois were facing a new, uncertain future Tuesday after their leaders, who both lost their own seats, resigned. Ignatieff made a point of criticizing the attack ads he was subjected to during his time in federal politics, saying he was the victim of an “unscrupulous campaign of personal attacks.” Ignatieff has said he accepts responsibility for his party’s “historic defeat” in the election, which saw the Liberals reduced to just 34 seats. The Bloc Quebecois was all but wiped off the electoral map, clinging to just four seats amid an NDP onslaught. In Ontario and Quebec, where 181 seats were in play, a Conservative wave west of the Ottawa River and an NDP tide to the east largely determined the outcome of Canada’s 41st general election. The Tories took more than 70 of Ontario’s 106 seats, an increase of about 20. And the NDP will send about 60 of Quebec’s 75 MPs to Parliament. The New Democrats had held just one riding in Quebec — Thomas Mulcair’s Montreal seat in Outremont — prior to Monday’s vote. On Tuesday, Layton said his party, as No. 2 in the Commons, will be ready to make a difference. Vote-splitting did appear to be a significant factor in the huge Conservative victory, with about 20 new Ontario MPs added to its caucus, pushing the party past the 155 seats needed to control Parliament.