There was a rift developing in Canada before the federal election, and the results of the vote have only emphasized that divide in a way that will not be helpful to the unity of this great dominion.
The Liberals under Justin Trudeau went from a first-term majority to a second-term minority with this vote, and it points up some severe problems on many fronts that Trudeau is not equipped to fix — and that fact alone may be fatal to this nation.
First, there is the obvious inequity of the election itself. Westerners are angry and frustrated that, yet again, the vote is determined solely by Ontario and Quebec. And, yet again, the popular vote was won by the Conservatives, who garnered 34.5 per cent of the votes cast compared to 33 per cent for the Liberals.
Due to the ridiculous way the seats are distributed, with the bulk of seats in southern Ontario and Quebec, the Liberals ended up with the minority government with 157 seats to the Conservatives’ 121 seats — and the Liberals will have no representation in Saskatchewan or Alberta.
The West was already feeling alienated from Ottawa as the Liberals and Greens and NDP all attack the resource sector, in particular the energy industry, and this state of affairs will now only continue.
Instead of promoting the natural resources like any country should be doing to benefit the economy of the entire nation, they will keep oil and gas landlocked (which only benefits the United States), keeping thousands of people out of work and depressing the economy of the West.
This is why Saskatchewan’s lone Liberal, Ralph Goodale, lost in a historic vote in Regina Wascana, because residents here are sick and tired of being ignored by Trudeau and being treated like pariahs. This was also why the Natural Resources minister, Amarjeet Sohi, was defeated in Edmonton.
In a similar vein, Western voters are also upset about the punitive carbon tax, which now will only be increased, further hurting the economy here and not helping the environment in any way.
The talk of Western separation was really not taken that seriously by a lot of people before now, but with a real disconnect with the federal government now a reality, there may be more talk about this than ever before, especially if the concerns of the West continue to be ignored. For those who love this country of Canada, this would truly be a sad, sad thing to consider breaking it up.
