Well the election is in the bag. The sun still came up today, so that's a good thing. I feel comfortable knowing this. A couple weeks ago I said that Martin would be lucky to last two days after the election as leader of the party; instead, he fell on his own sword last night. Probably the right thing to do, which is the first time in a while I've acknowledged Martin doing the right thing. I will admit that it is a little sad that he has been reduced to this, if only for nostalgia's sake, but after the events of the past year and my regular clashes with his decisions, it's much less sad than it could have been. That said, I am looking forward to seeing who steps up for the nomination process for the Liberals' leadership race. If it ends up boiling down to Ignatieff or McKenna, both of whom would make an excellent successor, I will most definitely renew the membership that I allowed to lapse last December.

Harper is currently the man, but he's going to have to work very hard to stay at the top of the mountain. Though the Canadian people are weary and tired of voting, if Harper makes even one major gaffe, he will likely be raked over the coals by a stronger-than-expected opposition and we'll find ourselves doing the voting thing again. Good luck to him in what can be described only as the most difficult job in the country.

Predictions and such, dating back to December 30th....

What I said on December 30th:
Conservatives: 122 Liberals: 92 Bloc Quebecois: 66 NDP: 28

What I said on the 22nd on Cherniak's blog:
Conservative 159 Liberal 80 NDP 23 Bloc 46

It appears as though I should have stuck with my original prediction eh?

1. Will any party win more than 155 seats? No. Good call!
2. Will any party capture more than 35% of the national popular vote? Yes. 2/2
3. Will the Bloc Quebecois win more than 55 seats? Yes, probably more than 60. Sometimes it's good to be wrong.
4. Will the Bloc capture the "50 percent plus 1" of the popular vote that they have been seeking to use as a foundation for a future referendum? Almost certainly. See #3.
5. Will the Conservatives win more than 30 seats in Ontario? Yep. Called it.
6. Will the NDP win more than 25 seats nationally? Yes, I think they'll get upwards of 30. Got this one too!
7. Will the Liberals win any seats in Alberta? Oh such a tough call. Will McLellan's luck run out? I think that this time around she is finished. This is a sad one too, I really like McLellan and Parliament is worse off not having her in its corridors.
8. Will the Conservatives win any seats in Quebec? Yes, close to 5. More like ten, but I was still right.
9. Will the Green Party elect its first-ever MP? Nope. Harris' boys continue to remain on the outside.
10. Will the Liberals elect MPs in all 10 provinces? No, see #7. 8/10
11. Will Michael Ignatieff win in Etobicoke-Lakeshore? I hope so, and I believe he will. Right.
12. Will more than 3 current Cabinet ministers fail to win re-election? Definitely, and you can start with Jean Lapierre. Unfortunately he got re-elected, but upwards of 10 were defeated.
13. Will Jean Lapierre be re-elected? NO 10/13
14. Will the NDP's Olivia Chow be elected? Yes, especially in the aftermath of the chow chow debacle. 11/14

Not a bad predictor of things.

It was a fun night, Canadians got the government they chose, let us now see if they will live up to the promises made during this rather long but exciting campaign. Congratulations to Mr. Harper and also to my local MP, Alexa McDonough, for her re-election. Even though I supported Andrew House, Alexa is a fair and honest leader in the House, and I'm glad that she took half an hour out of her night to chat with me. Her campaign people are also quite nice. Looking forward to Election 200(?) when I'm hopefully in Ottawa!