Canadians voted in the 41st federal election May 2, resulting in the Liberal party taking a record-breaking hit.
They began the day with 77 seats and left with a mere 33, losing their place as official opposition. For the first time, the Liberal party finished third in votes in what would become a Conservative majority.
Despite being one of the most commonly neglected groups during the election, this result will have a great impact on students.
Sarah Trick, a recent Carleton humanities grad, said she’s surprised at the outcome and worries about the growing similarity of Canadian and American politics.
“It’s a little disturbing to see the country’s politics so polarized,” she said.
Like most students, Trick is concerned primarily with student funding.
“Without my Ontario graduate scholarship, I wouldn’t be studying,” she said.
Trick said she was one of the few who liked former Liberal party leader Michael Ignatieff, adding she doesn’t see the problem with having an “academic” in office.
However, it may have been his academic identity that was a such a problem for Ignatieff’s campaign, according to Alexander Aronec, a Carleton political science alumni who also ran as an independent in Ottawa’s municipal election.
“[Ignatieff’s] attitude is more like ‘listen to me because you should’ while Jack Layton portrays a ‘I believe you should listen to me’ image, whereas Stephen Harper has his record to back him up,” said Aronac, who wasn’t surprised about the election outcome.
Aronac said he believes the Liberal campaign failed to live up to its own potential.
“[Ignatieff] chose to emphasize his own family history, not the party message,” Aronac said.
David Valentin, president of Carleton Liberals (CL) said despite the setbacks, he does recognize success on some levels.
“The Liberal party is still alive and well, with a lot of great people in the running for intern leader . . . we have such a talented caucus,” he said.
In addition, he is inspired by the highly active CL and their ever-growing presence on campus.
According to Valentin, the CL is one of the most present political groups on campus, and last year held the largest event hosted by a campus political party at Carleton.
“I think we had a stronger club presence last year than CL has had in the past, and [are going to] have an even stronger presence this year.”
