The Liberals didn't lose because of any specific incident that happened during the election campaign. There were several Liberal gaffes that didn't help the campaign that coasted before the holidays and then faltered afterwards. and although the Income Trust scandal marked the beginning of the end of the Liberal lead at the polls, it was not the decisive factor in the election of a Conservative minority. Nor did the Tory victory come about as a result of Paul Martin's blurting out constitutional amendments in the middle of a debate or the fact that everyone knew that Scott Reid was speaking the party line when he said that parents shouldn't be given cash for their children's daycare because they'd blow it on "beer and popcorn".
The Liberals did not lose the election because Canadians were fed up with the culture of corruption and entitlement that permeates the Liberal Party. If that truly was the case, it would have been a Conservative rout. Despite the fact that Conservative leader Stephen Harper and his party were portrayed as scary and evil, no one doubted their honesty and integrity. The sponsorship scandal played a role in Quebec that saw the Tories pick up an unexpected 10 seats but was pretty well ignored in the rest of Canada.
Neither did the Liberals lose because they did not have a vision for the country. The Liberal Party has never had "this vision thing" as former U.S. President George H.W. Bush so aptly put it. If the Liberals had a vision for the country they would not have trotted out promises that they had never kept from their 1993 Red Book.
although Martin and his boys and girls reached new heights of arrogance, that is not the reason that Stephen Harper is now Prime Minister designate. Pierre Trudeau was arrogant. at least we thought he was until Jean Chrétien became Liberal leader in 1990 and raised arrogance to an art form. Despite their arrogance, they were winners. Trudeau won three majority governments and one minority and spent almost 16 years in the prime minister's office. Chrétien, whose arrogance seemed to increase geometrically over time won three back to back majorities and would still be winning majorities if he hadn't stepped down.
No, the reason that the Liberals went down to defeat was because of the personality and beliefs of their leader, Paul Martin, Junior.
What separates Paul Martin from other leaders is that he has no love of either Canada or Canadians who hold views that differ from his own. Canada merely provided the backdrop for him to achieve what he has always felt was his right by birth--power. Martin's lack of love for Canada has nothing to do with the Liberian or Barbadian flags that his ships so proudly flew. The only difference between him and Stephen Harper on that matter is that Stephen never owned a shipping company. and if Jack Layton had owned Canada Steamship Lines, he would have raised the Liberian flag quicker than he took his hernia to a private hospital. The flag flap is nothing more than a red herring.
Martin's lack of love of this country stems from the contempt that borders on hatred that he has for Canadians who don't share his views. He divided the country into progressives and conservatives and did not hide what he thinks of the latter. He certainly never praised the citizenship of conservatives or their right to hold their beliefs in the same way he did for the Khadrs --Canada's al Qaeda family. Being against Western values (except for free medical care) seems more acceptable to Martin than being against same sex marriage.
We all expected that Martin would compare the Conservatives to those "ultra ultra right wing zealots" in the land of "those bastards" to the south. But he went further and revealed his true feelings during a telephone interview with a Nova Scotia newspaper. Martin told the paper that if Peter Mackay were elected he would have no power because the Conservative Party was run by a "cabal" of right wing extremists in alberta. It's hard to think of another leader of a major Canadian political party, past or present, that is as thoroughly despicable as Paul Martin is.
Shortly after the polls closed Martin announced that he would be resigning as Liberal leader as soon as power is handed over to the Conservatives. If Stephen Harper accomplishes nothing else as PM, he has rid this country of the worst prime minister in our history. Good riddance.
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