Canada Elects Conservative Minority

By Olena Wawryshyn

In the Federal Election on January 23 the Conservatives under Stephen Harper won enough votes–124 seats or 36 percent of the popular vote–to form a slim minority government, break the Liberals’12-year hold on the reins of government and to send a decisive blow to Paul Martin’s leadership.

“Tonight friends, our great country has voted for change,” Harper said at his victory party in Calgary.

Canadians voted for change, by not only ousting the Liberals, who garnered 103 seats, but by increasing support for the New Democratic Party, who won 29 seats, up from 19 in 2004.

The Conservative victory was not all good news for the party as there were some disappointments. The party failed to win any seats in the three major urban centres; Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver ridings all went either to the Liberal or NDP.

The trend carried through to the key ridings in the Greater Toronto Area that Ukrainian-Canadians were particularly focused on during the race.

Many Ukrainian-Canadians had worked hard in Etobicoke-Lakeshore during the election to support the campaign of Conservative John Capobianco after top Liberal Party brass, bent on promoting their preferred candidate, prevented other local Liberals, including two Ukrainian-Canadians, Markian Shwec and Ron Chyczij, from taking part in a nomination race.

The number of Capobianco supporters increased, compared with 2004; nevertheless, the Conservative lost by almost 5,000 votes this time around to Liberal Michael Ignatieff.

The riding will continue to be a focus of community and national attention as Ignatieff, who in his 1991 book Blood and Belonging wrote that “Somewhere inside, I’m also what Ukrianians would call a Great Russian, and there is just a trace of old Russian disdain for these 'little Russians'” is being touted as a contender for the upcoming Liberal leadership race.

In Parkdale-High Park, Conservative Jurj Klufas also failed to win, coming in a distant third after winner NDP Peggy Nash and incumbent Liberal Sam Bulte, who lost her long-held seat.

In nearby Etobicoke-Centre there was positive news as Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj, who has done much to promote Ukrainian-Canadian interests, won his seat by more than 10,000 votes over Conservative Axel Kuhn.

Liberals in Western Canada did not fare as well as they did in Toronto. First-timer Andrew Hladeshevsky, the president of the Shevchenko Foundation, came in third in Edmonton-Strathcona. Liberal Jim Jacuta came in second in Edmonton-Leduc, trailing 12,508 votes behind the Conservative.

Three incumbent Ukrainian-Canadians in Western Canada who were predicted to win, NDP Judy Wasylycia-Leis in Winnipeg North, Conservative Mark Warawa in Langley, British Columbia and Conservative Tom Lukiwski in Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre, all held on to their seats.

Other notable Conservative incumbent candidates, Inky Mark, who put forward the Private Member’s Bill on Internment, and Peter Goldring, who was an observer during the 2004 elections in Ukraine, were also victorious.