WATCHING THE ELECTION

Whew! The Conservative blue wave dissipated into a ripple almost as soon as the election results started coming in from the Maritimes.
All morning long, questions about the election rebounded back and forth across the counter at The Shop. “Voted yet?” “Who are you voting for?” When Fang came in five minutes late the first thing out of his mouth was, “Don’t let me forget to vote.” An hour later I told him he should cast his ballot while it was still slow.
I had been bracing myself for a Conservative minority government. I welcomed it in some ways: a minority means we’ll be back in the voting booths between six months to a year. It might be best for Stephen Harper to win the election and let the country see what he was really up to, and then let them decide.
For me, the turning point in the election came when Stephen Harper accused the Prime Minister of advocating Child Porn. Up until then it had been his candidates for Parliament making wild assertions about abortion and same-sex marriage. Harper’s accusation was bold, ruthless and just plain inflammatory. Luckily, it backfired.
I didn’t get to the voting booth until after three in the afternoon. I worked until one in the afternoon, needed to shower, walk the dog and stopped at the Pizzeria Uno for some quick sustenance to hold my pencil. The woman who owns the shop let me have a slice of the spicy chicken with my lunch special, (two slices and a soft drink for $3.25). “You have to be willing to make a deal if you want people to come in,” she said. I tipped her a dollar – I didn’t need the chicken slice, I like all their slices.
As I chowed down on my slab-lunch I read a commentary in The Georgia Straight about the importance of same-sex marriage to Canadians and why the writer was going to vote for the New Democrats. I had been waffling on which way to vote. I was prepared to vote strategically until last weekend when Paul Martin said a vote for the NDP was a vote for the Conservatives. It’s one thing to vote strategically, it’s something else altogether to be threatened into voting strategically. Besides, the polls were beginning to show the Liberals edging out the Conservatives, so I felt it was safe to vote with my conscience.
The results started coming in from the east at around five in the evening. The Liberals pulled ahead early and just stayed there. The newscasters warned that this wasn’t a forecast for the rest of country, but not long after the results in Quebec and Ontario – the “deciding” provinces, proved it was. I breathed a sigh of relief. Upchuck came over and got me high. The staid broadcast became more riveting after a joint. I had to pull myself away from the television to go to a writing workshop I’ve been participating in. Afterwards I went to The Pumpjack where they were showing the results on the big screen that is usually reserved for hockey. Harper was making his concession speech by the time I got there. I celebrated with a cheap Corona.
The election occurred on the same day the “International” coalition returned sovereignty to Iraq. In the meantime a U.S. Marine was captured and another executed. Despite the chaos in the world I have a lot of optimism for my country. We were on a path, had set our priorities and established limits to what we were prepared to do or not do. We have a voice distinctive voice. But best of all we came to our senses, even if it happened at the last minute. Let’s hope the same can be said for the States.

GarpinBC