So, this is the moment I am supposed to be gracious.
I will get there, I promise, but excuse me for a moment while I pause to bask in the glorious recognition that I will never again have to call Stephen Harper prime minister of Canada.
In his victory speech last night, Prime Minister-elect Justin Trudeau鈥攅xcuse me another moment while I wipe a tear of joy from my eye鈥攔eminded us that conservatives are not our enemies. I take that to heart; they are even within my own family.
I disagree with our new leader, however, that all of a sudden, Stephen Harper deserves our respect.
The thing is, I am not a particularly partisan Liberal. At the beginning of this election campaign and right up until the Liberal surge started to become evident a couple of weeks ago, I would have jumped on the NDP bandwagon to elect a majority Tom Mulcair Parliament and ensure there was no possibility whatsoever that Harper would somehow cling to power for one more minute.
Because of my passionate disapproval of the former prime minister and government鈥攅xcuse me one more moment, I really like the sound of that鈥攑eople have accused me of having Harper Derangement Syndrome. That is utterly not true. I have never called him a Nazi, Herr Harper, a totalitarian or a dictator.
I never bought into the popular idea he has destroyed Canada. Neither will Trudeau, by the way, so stop the hysteria already.
He was, however, the worst prime minister at least in my lifetime, possibly ever. That is not based on some irrational dislike of the man or his party or his policies. It is based on the evidence. I will forego rehashing all that evidence here (not that there is enough space in this newspaper to do that anyway). That is my nod to graciousness on the subject of the former prime minister.
People laughed at me back in June when I suggested a Liberal majority was a possible outcome of this election. I knew that for two reasons. Canadians are, for the most part, centrist and we abhor governments that have surpassed their best before date.
To quote the famous American humourist Mark Twain: 鈥淧oliticians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.鈥�
On the issue of partisanship, I would caution our new prime minister to keep the victory in perspective. Liberals must be mindful that Canadians do not like arrogance. After the Conservatives won their majority in 2011, Jason Kenney, now the front runner to replace Harper suggested the win was based on the fact that 鈥淐anadian values are Conservative values鈥� an assertion that insulted two-thirds of us.
Trudeau drifted into that territory by suggesting Canadians have overwhelmingly accepted his definition of real change.
To be sure, it is a stunning rebuke to the Conservative brand in general and Harper in particular.
And, to give credit, where credit is due, Trudeau kept his campaign clean and positive in the face of some of the ugliest, most negative attack ads in
Canadian election history, even as advisors mused about going negative鈥攁nd never has there been more to go negative on. Justin made himself and the Liberal Party the agents of change that Canadians turned to in what was always going to be a change election.
But, like Harper did, Trudeau now sits on a significant majority government achieved with less than 40 per cent of the popular vote.
It is a travesty, in the 21st century, that this is how we continue to elect governments in this country. If there is one promise Trudeau made that I hope he keeps more than any other, it is that Monday鈥檚 vote will be the last federal election decided by the archaic first-past-the-post system.
He should find all party support for that. Nobody likes a majority elected by a minority.
