Sunny ways and other thoughts on the election

The Dark Age is over. The wicked witch of Calgary is gone. And Justin Trudeau has promised he will lead according to Sir Wilfred Laurier's "sunny way." Guided by the PM-elect's "positive, optimistic, hopeful vision" rather than by Harper's paranoia, the country will be a much happier place to inhabit.

I had hoped for a minority government; however, all in all I can live with a Liberal majority. And the icing on that cake is that my local Liberal candidate, Kent Hehr (you may hear more of him), won, and that's something in Calgary.

The Liberals received about the same per cent of the vote as the Conservatives did in 2011, so we remain ruled by a government elected by a minority of voters. We can, however, expect a broader range of representation than we had under Harper. The Harper government was just that—a Harper government, a one-man rule. He saw little need to consult outside of his own mind and if you weren't on his side, you were the enemy. The NDP and Green Party policies are generally closer to those of the new government, and the new government has promised to be a listener, so our governance should be much more inclusive.

Furthermore, Trudeau has promised to include the views of ordinary Canadians in his policy-making (now there's an idea for a democracy—listen to the people). What a change to have policies driven by people power rather than by dogma. That, of course, is exactly what we should expect from Liberals. The Prime Minister-elect has also promised electoral reform and we should keep his feet to the fire on that promise.

One of the refreshing aspects of the campaign was Trudeau's declaration he would take the high road and he stuck to it—no attack ads, no wedge issues. Nice to see positive politics work, a healthy sign for the future.

As for the NDP, my party, it tried the political centre approach and it didn't work. The Liberals have made it clear that's their territory and they intend to keep it. Time to get back to democratic socialism.