Being optimistic is good, but Stephen Harper forgot one thing when he declared last weekend it’s the end of the Liberals’ era. Canadians often vote governments out with a vengeance — as opposed to voting them in.
The Liberals felt the sting of the electorate in 2006 following the sponsorship scandal. Eventually something similar will happen to the Conservatives.
The prime minister was offering brave words to party faithful in Calgary on Saturday when he commented on the Liberals’ distant third-place finish in the last election.
Harper said the era for what has in the past been described as the “natural governing party” is ending. The PM added, “As with disco balls and bell bottoms, Canadians have moved on.”
He also said he expects the honeymoon will soon pass with the New Democrats, who captured a strong second place.
Had it not been for disgust over the revelations of the sponsorship scandal, Canadians might very well have clung to the Liberals. They’d balanced the budget and amassed surpluses in back-to-back years.
In the past election, 40 per cent of voters thought the Conservatives were the ones to do the job. Fine. But Canadians also like to know they have an alternative when they grow tired of the party in power.
When a party governs as if they have no worries — as the Liberals did in the early to middle part of the last decade — they eventually meet their comeuppance.
The Conservatives are perhaps doing a capable job of governing. But pile up enough instances such as stacking the Senate with Tory cronies or spending unwarranted dough in a Conservative riding — such as in Tony Clement’s Parry Sound-Muskoka, screened by G8 funding — and voters will think about alternatives.
Canadians are fortunate for the reunion and resurgence of the Conservatives over the past decade, or they might still be wishing for a way to get rid of the Liberals. But they’re unlikely to start seeing the Tories as the natural governing party. In fact, with any luck, they’ve learned a lesson.
From the New Glasgow News, July 10