by Harvey Oberfeld
May 25, 2025
Canada’s federal calendar this week will be full of new beginnings.
A new Parliament, a new government, a new Prime Minister, a new Cabinet, 112 new MPs, five new Commons seats, a new Speaker, and a new King to read a new Speech from the Throne.
A time of change … hopefully!
Canadians re-elected the Liberals to power, but made their dissatisfaction with the past government, the past policies, the past record very clear.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has acknowledged the need for change, the need for the Liberals to better address Canadians; concerns about high income taxes, the hated carbon tax, rampant crime, revolving door Courts, jobs and the economy.
The Conservatives, believing Carney/Liberals borrowed heavily from their pre-election promises and the Conservative election platform, have vowed to fight to make those changes a reality.
After a caucus meeting Sunday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said the Official Opposition “will be pushing measures to make Canada more affordable, safe, self-reliant and united”, the CBC reported.
“We’ve expanded our coalition to include union workers, young people, newcomers and others who had never voted before. They voted for hope, for a change” Poilievre said.
Union workers? Young people? Others who have never voted before?
Didn’t they used to be overwhelmingly NDPers?
Well, the April 28 election results showed not any more … or, at least, not this time.
The NDP, winning only seven Commons seats, was not only pushed out of third place by the Bloc Quebecois, which captured 22 seats; its leader, Jagmeet Singh, resigned after losing his own seat and the NDP even lost party status in Parliament.
Party status, which requires at least 12 seats in the Commons, brings with it several perks, including public funding for the leader’s office to operate, a research budget, participation on Commons committees and the right to ask at least one question each day during Question Period.
Reports declared this was the worst ever election result in 64 years for the NDP, which held 24 seats at dissolution.
And making it worse, the NDP’s share of the popular vote fell to 6.3% this election, from 17.8% in 2021.
I believe that’s not only bad for the NDP, it’s bad for Canada too.
With the Liberals holding 169 seats in the Commons and the Conservatives 144, the results reward the Bloc Quebecois, with 22 seats, a position of greater influence … and even power … when it comes to influencing legislation and even impacting government policies/approvals.
No doubt Quebec will benefit even more than they do already (as if they need it!) from this third place party position!
As for the NDP, right now, they’re still bickering internally over the process that was used to select their interim leader Don Davies (Vancouver-Kingsway). (Read about that fight here: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ndp-caucus-members-letter-interim-leader-don-davies/.)
Geez!!
The federal NDP has to get its act together!
They didn’t pay attention to the warnings I (and others) voiced on this blog in the months before the federal election about how the party was losing touch with middle class voters’ struggles and concerns.
“Perhaps it’s not just the Liberals who should be looking for a new leader and a new approach … as their only hope of resuscitating popular appeal? Strange, the federal implications of the BC provincial election are not getting the attention they should,” I wrote last November. (https://harveyoberfeld.ca/bc-provincial-losses-signal-trouble-ahead-for-federal-ndp/)
The federal NDP must rebuild.
First, they need to choose an electable leader.
It may excite armchair socialists to break a glass ceiling or two in choosing a replacement for Jagmeet Singh, but what’s the point if they know deep down that leader doesn’t have a hope of ever winning the hearts and minds … and votes … in Quebec, which holds 78 seats and other parts of Canada as well.
Second, the federal NDP should hearken to the messages I delivered so often to their BC counterparts: far too many voters believe the NDP has abandoned the working and middle classes, their struggles to find jobs, pay rent, buy groceries, manage ever-increasing taxes, get adequate health care for themselves and their families … and just stay safe from the criminals and crazies running amok everywhere, day and night.
It may be admirable, even laudable, to champion Canada as a leader in environmental change (and oppose mining, refineries, pipelines) or provide a home for hundreds of thousands Third World immigrants, almost unlimited numbers of refugees, prioritise spending on homelessness, services (and supplies) for hard drug users, and advocate on behalf of trans-gender issues or pontificate on world conflicts … but right now, Canadian taxpayers/voters have other priorities.
And the election results show beyond any doubt the vast majority of working and middle class voters don’t see the current NDP as the party the would make their lives better … or safer.
Time for the NDP to start focusing on the needs of the majority of Canadians, not the minorities … unless it wants to remain a fourth place election finisher … without even party status.
The election was rigged/stolen before it even started. Just like rigging the leadership race for the liberals. Using pencils to put your X which can be erased. Dumping 90 names in PP riding!!! You can bet Carney would never of agreed to run unless he was guaranteed to win. They are still stealing the election trying to get recounts to get a majority. There is no positive to this election as the Liberal party is all the same faces. One must ask how did Freeland, Anita and others ever get elected again. Things will get much worse with the lying conniving Liberals.
I don’t buy your “election was rigged“ reasoning. Elections Canada runs a very good process … not perfect … but honest. Readers may recall a blog I wrote, complaining that I was unable to vote since I was travelling during the election campaign, and unlike many other countries, Canada does not permit citizens to vote at embassies or consulates around the world. That should be changed. However, I don’t believe the election was rigged in any way.