Oh no. Poor Andrew Scheer must have been so disappointed. I'm sure he had high hopes of winning yesterday's by-election in the Saguenay.
Especially after asking the Madonna at Cap Trinité for some divine intervention.
But sadly for that creepy religious fanatic, she wasn't interested.
And neither were the voters.
Who clearly prefer somebody a little more secular, and a lot less monstrous.
And instead handed Justin Trudeau a stunning victory.
Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have pulled off a stunning upset, winning a federal byelection in the heartland of Quebec nationalism. Liberal Richard Hébert has won the riding of Lac-Saint-Jean, a riding held by the Tories since 2007 and once the home base of sovereigntist champion and one-time premier Lucien Bouchard.
It's a devastating blow for the Cons who once had a lock on the seat, and also a blow for the NDP who won less than half the votes they won last time.
Which suggests to me at least, that Jagmeet Singh could easily lose all the seats the NDP presently hold in Quebec.
So even if he does pick up a few seats in Ontario and B.C., they probably won't be enough to prevent the Trudeau Liberals from winning another turbocharged majority.
Or at the very least give them a blueprint for success in 2019.
With a gain of 20.2 points over the Liberals' performance in the riding in 2015, Hébert more than doubled his party's support. With the exception of a 25-point gain in the Fort McMurray–Athabasca byelection of 2014, that is the biggest byelection swing towards his party that Trudeau has experienced as leader.
Winning in rural, francophone Quebec — Lac-Saint-Jean was the Liberals' worst riding in Quebec in 2015, it is now their 29th best out of 78 — sends a signal that the party can make up for losses elsewhere in 2019's federal election.
Which of course would be a huge disappointment for Scheer and our ghastly Con media, who have been attacking the Trudeau Liberals like a pack of rabid rats...
For although this victory gave them something to celebrate.
The Conservatives have held onto another long-time Tory riding, however; Dane Lloyd has easily won a byelection in the Edmonton riding of Sturgeon River-Parkland with 77 per cent of the vote. The riding is prime Conservative turf, left vacant after former cabinet minister and interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose quit politics to join a Washington-based think tank.
Don't expect them to celebrate long.
Not when they are sure to be grilled about why they didn't do more to stop an alt-right bozo, with a Richard Spencer haircut, from becoming a Con MP.
Because you can be sure that Dane Lloyd will be a gift that keeps on giving.
And his victory tells you all you need to know about the kind of party the Cons are becoming.
You know, my buddy Sébastien hails from the Kingdom of the Saguenay, and when he first took me up there to meet his family and friends, I was a bit concerned about how I might be received in what was then a separatist bastion.
Yikes, don't shoot, I'm a separatist from Scotland!!!!!!
But the locals turned out to be friendly, the place was really beautiful.
And I'm sure it never looked more beautiful than it must look today...
The Liberals should definitely pick up on this momentum, and start grilling Scheer about his affiliations with Lloyd and the Rebel punk as his campaign manager. What they must never do is become complacent, a lesson the Democrats had to learn the hard way by relying solely on forecasts of the "coalition of the ascendant."
ReplyDeleteI don't think they will become complacent either. Not when so much is at stake and there's a two-front war ahead of them now that the Dippers have once again become useful idiots for the dark side. But I would absolutely love to see Scheer (Harper Jr.) and Lloyd (Harper the Turd) each having egg on his eminently punchable face.
There is some flicker of hope too for our Democrats, in that an assortment of progressive candidates have been winning special elections (what yours would call by-elections) in "purple" districts where the voters are disappointed or even disgusted by Trump. Although, I don't think Canada has such a thing as gerrymandering, which is why it'll be much more difficult (if not impossible) for the Democrats to fully topple the GOP from their majorities in the House and even Senate. But for you folks north of the border, this is a heartening sign.
Onward and upward to 2019!
Hi anon...if there is one thing that bugs me about the Liberals is that they are too damn nice. Now I realize that's a reflection of our national character and under normal circumstances that's how I would expect a Canadian party to behave. But we're not living in normal times, we're dealing with a bunch of political thugs more American than Canadian, and if we don't destroy them, they will destroy us. That doesn't mean descending into the swamp or the sewer where they live, but it does mean taking off the gloves occasionally and hitting them where it hurts. And failing to point out that Scheer approved an alt-right goon as a candidate, and that the people in that Alberta/Alabama riding happily voted for him, is the kind of weakness we can't afford...
DeleteWow! That Christofascist picked up 7% more of the vote than Droner did. But what do you expect with riding demographics like these:
ReplyDeleteEthnic groups: 86.9% White, 9.8% Indigenous, 0.8% Filipino, 0.6% South Asian, 0.6% Black, 1.3% Other (2011)
Languages: 91.0% English, 3.1% French, 1.3% German (2016)
Religions: 65.8% Christian, 0.6% Traditional (Aboriginal) Spirituality, 0.6% Muslim, 0.7% Other, 32.3% None (2011)
Hi anon...great. I'll bet Ambrose is happy with that. First Scheer blesses a candidate who was not her chosen candidate, and who calls feminists "feminazis." Then the dumb zombies in that riding make it clear they like him more than they liked her. That'll teach her to hang out in bad company. Alberta really is the gaping wound in this country and I fear nothing will ever heal it...
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteThe above comment was deleted for using the word "Lieberal" not just once but twice. And for suggesting that the Liberals would be angry with me if this freakish commenter informed them that I had called the Cons "dumb zombies." Ha ha ha ha. I don't know if they're all zombies, but they sure are dumb...
DeleteIn all fairness Simon, the only reason the CPC held Lake Saint John was the personal popularity of MP Denis Lebel, who was mayor of Roberval (one of the main towns in the riding). Even at that Lebel won with only 33% of the vote last time in a 4-way race, so this was hardly a conservative stronghold.
ReplyDeleteThe collapse of the NDP vote ensured the Liberal would win as most of those votes ended in their column.
Things look good for the Trudeau team in 2019. They'll probably sweep Quebec except possibly for a few conservative ridings in the Quebec City area. Of course, a lot can happen in two years. As long as the economy does reasonably well the Liberals should keep their majority.
BW
Hi BW...yes, everything you say is true. The Cons held that riding from so long thanks to the personal popularity of Denis Lebel. And the collapse of the NDP vote which was always an aberration, did help the Liberals. But the same thing is likely to happen in many other Quebec ridings. And the fact that the son of Pierre, whose very name used to make some in the Saguenay cross themselves like villagers in Transylvania did when they heard the word Dracula, has managed to win them over is a great political accomplishment. The Cons and their filthy stooges in the Con media are always saying Justin is finished, but the people it seems beg to disagree...
DeleteIt's too early for most people to see the forest for the trees, but I predict than one year from now both the Cons and the NDP will both realize they've chosen the wrong leaders. The pig media has tried to build them both up, but the truth is the only reason they won is because the other candidates were so mediocre.
ReplyDeletehi anon...so true, people do tend to forget what a mediocre leadership pool the Cons and the NDP were fishing in. And now the Con media is trying to make us believe that the winners are anything more than the best of the losers. The day they realize their mistake is going to be a brutal awakening, as in candidate and Con media hit wall. *Splat*
DeleteHonestly the Cons should have gone with Michael Chong. He's at least reasonable and probably would have pushed the crazy so-cons aside for his own sanity.
DeleteSingh seems too trendy and so on, I'm not sure what to make of him but he seems to be mimicking the Conservatives in the HoC and preaching "Peace and Love" outside. Doesn't exactly jibe does it?
A Liberal Supermajority might be too much to hope for, but a rejection of the demonic Scheer and the bizarre Sign might just be needed...
Simon...
ReplyDeleteIt was a good day for the Libs. Lucien Bouchard's old riding had the 10 year Con Lebel tossed.
Budget is balancing itself, sort of.
Racist remark by Rona's successor picked up by Monsef and tossed into into QP to great effect.
And Wynne's Sudbury corruption scandal has vanished...both acquitted.
Someone is reading you, Simon
JLS
hi anon...I never pretended that I have magical powers, but I must say I'm really enjoying the moment. I've been travelling around town in the back of a convertible, armed with a megaphone, and encouraging Cons to jump off their balconies. It's not that I'm vindictive or anything, but the sound of them gnashing their teeth is driving me crazy...
DeleteSo freaking excited to see this great Liberal victory in Quebec. So happy to see the pig ndp go down
ReplyDeleteThe federal Liberals will most likely remain as the governing party after the next election if for no other reason they created the cheques for children in families living in poverty.
ReplyDeleteThe Indigenous vote will also become increasingly important in the years to come as their young people come of voting age. The Indigenous community's population is increasing at 4 times the rate of other groups in Canada.