alternatehistory.com
Part 34: Canada (2000-2009)
...The effect of the CPBI scandal was tremendous, and the Liberals, now under the leadership of John Manley, hammered the Progressive Conservatives relentlessly over the government's flagship program being riddled with corruption. The results of the 2001 election were therefore a surprise to no one, with the run-up to the election only focusing on just how large the Liberal majority would be.
Manley took office with a strong majority of 27 seats, picking up over 60 seats compared to 1996. The Liberal leader's right-leaning tilt, including his support for a potential free trade agreement with the United States and Mexico, resulted in an increased turnout for the Union du Québec, and the party returned to parliament, picking up two seats as the party campaigned as Quebec's left-center alternative to the Liberals. The NDP, under new leader Lorne Nystrom, also made gains at the expense of the PCs, despite the right-wing vote on the prairies no longer being split owing to the effective end of the Reform Party.
The Liberals, despite their embrace of free trade under Manley, at the same time worked for aims that would not have been out of place in the previous Liberal governments of Trudeau and MacEachan. The Liberals increased funding for education (awarding larger amounts for funding technical programs), increased funds for First Nation reserves and made progress towards subsidized child care. The relations between the United States and Canada continued to be close, especially with both countries involved in the effort to stabilize the nation formerly known as Zaire.
Beatty had resigned as the leader of the Progressive Conservatives following the loss in 2001 and was replaced by the most right-wing PC leader since Jack Horner: former Minister for Finance Mike Harris of Ontario. The Progressive Conservatives' program shifted alongside their selection of leaders, coming out for slashing taxes and government spending, with Harris becoming a dogged critic of what he characterized as wasteful government spending. UDQ leader Bernard Landry also left during the life of the parliament, being replaced by Pauline Marois. Marois, despite her independentist sympathies, was able to recruit non-independentists into the UDQ coalition for the first time during the first years of the Manley ministry, exploiting Quebecer mistrust of the prime minister and arguing that Quebec had been taken for granted by the Liberals and thus short-changed when it came to federal funds and programs.
The Liberals kept their majority, but had it slimmed down to 10 accounting for the expansion of parliament and redistricting. The NDP lost over a third of its pre-election caucus, mostly to PC gains in the prairies (where Harris was especially popular). But the major story was the UDQ flipping 15 seats from the Liberals, and overtaking the NDP for the third-biggest party in parliament. Nystrom took the blame for the result and resigned soon after, being replaced by Saskatchewan premier Lorne Calvert.
Having satisfied the Liberals' center-left constituencies, Manley attempted to take the wind out of Harris' sails by pushing for a deficit-reduction plan, funded in part by raising taxes and slashing both the military budget (following most Canadian troops leaving the Congo in 2004), and slashing aid to the provinces across the board except for Medicare and education funding. Quebec proved to be an irritant in Manley's side as he begun clashing with his Quebec ministers who warned him that such moves, while popular in Ontario and the west, had hurt the Liberal brand even more in Quebec. Several half-hearted attempts to rebuild "Fortress Quebec", such as the attempt to mandate a certain percentage of Francophone ministers in the cabinet (which was blocked by a coalition of PCs and independents affiliated with the NDP in the Senate), did little to ease Quebec's dislike of the direction the Liberals were moving under Manley.
By the time Manley had decided to advise outgoing Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson to dissolve parliament for new elections, Harris had unveiled the Progressive Conservatives' ambitious program to slash public sector expenditures and, with a liberal application of tax breaks and tax credits, stimulate the private sector to create a net gain of thousands of jobs. The plan almost immediately came under fire, as Manley and Calvert pounced on the mathematical errors and assumptions in the PC plan. Harris' refusal to abandon the plan for most of the campaign dragged down the Progressive Conservatives as the other federal parties slammed the PC plan as being emblematic of a party too right-wing to responsibly govern Canada.
The Progressive Conservatives lost over 30 seats with all three other major federal parties making gains, making Manley the first prime minister to lead his party to three successive majorities since William Lyon Mackenzie King. The NDP regained over a dozen seats, all in the west at the expense of the PCs. The Liberals won 22 seats, mostly in Ontario, at the expense of the PCs- one more than they lost to the UDQ in Quebec, which made 2009 the first election since 1887 where the Liberals did not win at least a plurality of Quebec's seats. The upstart Green Party lost its only MP as party-switcher Blair Wilson lost his bid for reelection under the Green banner, although the party broke five percent of the popular vote for the first time. Harris himself barely won reelection to his own riding and resigned as PC leader when the scale of the PC defeat became known....
Manley took office with a strong majority of 27 seats, picking up over 60 seats compared to 1996. The Liberal leader's right-leaning tilt, including his support for a potential free trade agreement with the United States and Mexico, resulted in an increased turnout for the Union du Québec, and the party returned to parliament, picking up two seats as the party campaigned as Quebec's left-center alternative to the Liberals. The NDP, under new leader Lorne Nystrom, also made gains at the expense of the PCs, despite the right-wing vote on the prairies no longer being split owing to the effective end of the Reform Party.
The Liberals, despite their embrace of free trade under Manley, at the same time worked for aims that would not have been out of place in the previous Liberal governments of Trudeau and MacEachan. The Liberals increased funding for education (awarding larger amounts for funding technical programs), increased funds for First Nation reserves and made progress towards subsidized child care. The relations between the United States and Canada continued to be close, especially with both countries involved in the effort to stabilize the nation formerly known as Zaire.
Beatty had resigned as the leader of the Progressive Conservatives following the loss in 2001 and was replaced by the most right-wing PC leader since Jack Horner: former Minister for Finance Mike Harris of Ontario. The Progressive Conservatives' program shifted alongside their selection of leaders, coming out for slashing taxes and government spending, with Harris becoming a dogged critic of what he characterized as wasteful government spending. UDQ leader Bernard Landry also left during the life of the parliament, being replaced by Pauline Marois. Marois, despite her independentist sympathies, was able to recruit non-independentists into the UDQ coalition for the first time during the first years of the Manley ministry, exploiting Quebecer mistrust of the prime minister and arguing that Quebec had been taken for granted by the Liberals and thus short-changed when it came to federal funds and programs.
The Liberals kept their majority, but had it slimmed down to 10 accounting for the expansion of parliament and redistricting. The NDP lost over a third of its pre-election caucus, mostly to PC gains in the prairies (where Harris was especially popular). But the major story was the UDQ flipping 15 seats from the Liberals, and overtaking the NDP for the third-biggest party in parliament. Nystrom took the blame for the result and resigned soon after, being replaced by Saskatchewan premier Lorne Calvert.
Having satisfied the Liberals' center-left constituencies, Manley attempted to take the wind out of Harris' sails by pushing for a deficit-reduction plan, funded in part by raising taxes and slashing both the military budget (following most Canadian troops leaving the Congo in 2004), and slashing aid to the provinces across the board except for Medicare and education funding. Quebec proved to be an irritant in Manley's side as he begun clashing with his Quebec ministers who warned him that such moves, while popular in Ontario and the west, had hurt the Liberal brand even more in Quebec. Several half-hearted attempts to rebuild "Fortress Quebec", such as the attempt to mandate a certain percentage of Francophone ministers in the cabinet (which was blocked by a coalition of PCs and independents affiliated with the NDP in the Senate), did little to ease Quebec's dislike of the direction the Liberals were moving under Manley.
By the time Manley had decided to advise outgoing Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson to dissolve parliament for new elections, Harris had unveiled the Progressive Conservatives' ambitious program to slash public sector expenditures and, with a liberal application of tax breaks and tax credits, stimulate the private sector to create a net gain of thousands of jobs. The plan almost immediately came under fire, as Manley and Calvert pounced on the mathematical errors and assumptions in the PC plan. Harris' refusal to abandon the plan for most of the campaign dragged down the Progressive Conservatives as the other federal parties slammed the PC plan as being emblematic of a party too right-wing to responsibly govern Canada.
The Progressive Conservatives lost over 30 seats with all three other major federal parties making gains, making Manley the first prime minister to lead his party to three successive majorities since William Lyon Mackenzie King. The NDP regained over a dozen seats, all in the west at the expense of the PCs. The Liberals won 22 seats, mostly in Ontario, at the expense of the PCs- one more than they lost to the UDQ in Quebec, which made 2009 the first election since 1887 where the Liberals did not win at least a plurality of Quebec's seats. The upstart Green Party lost its only MP as party-switcher Blair Wilson lost his bid for reelection under the Green banner, although the party broke five percent of the popular vote for the first time. Harris himself barely won reelection to his own riding and resigned as PC leader when the scale of the PC defeat became known....
- lord caedus
- Word Count: 920