We have a new Prime Minister

Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

The second Trudeau to ever hold office, Justin Trudeau steps in as our 23rd Prime Minister, as defeated Conservative leader Harper stepped off stage, too cowardly to announce his own resignation during his concession speech.

Photo by Andrej Ivanov.
Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

“The people are never wrong,” said Harper during the live broadcast by CBC. And so ends the nine-year reign held by the Conservative Party of Canada spearheaded by Harper. Hallelujah.

As Elizabeth May, leader of the Green party said in a  in a video on CTV’s Twitter, “[we’re] very happy to start imagining the beginning of the post-Harper era.”

And what a post-Harper era it could be.

To start, contrast the loud shout of “NO” from the crowd when Gilles Duceppe, leader of Bloc Québécois mentioned Québec Solidaire, the provincial party known for their separationist ideals, to Trudeau’s comment of, “Ce soir, le Québec fait un véritable retour au gouvernement du Canada,” which translates into, “tonight, Quebec is returning to the government of Canada,” during his victory speech broadcast on CBC.

Who just won the election Duceppe? Read the crowd, geese.

Trudeau took to the stage beaming and waving to the the crowd—ducking to not just to shake the hands of the people cheering him on, but to hug them.

“This is what positive politics can do,” said Trudeau during his victory speech broadcast on CBC. “Canadians from all across this great country sent a clear message tonight: it’s time for change in this country tonight my friends, a real change.”

Concordians, for the majority of their political memories, have had a Conservative government running their country. After approximately a week, when Trudeau is officially sworn into office, Canada will have a Liberal government for the first time in a decade.

It’s a great time to feel like our votes actually mattered, that students can actually participate in politics. But it’s not time to check-out again from politics quite yet.

It is important to remember how the Liberal party did not pledge to repeal the controversial Bill C-51, which was passed by the Conservatives and allows the government to collect information on it’s citizens. Trudeau does not support stemming pipeline development, or free tuition.

We have a new Prime Minister. And Canada is entering a new era where we lean left rather than to the right. But this does not mean Canadians can turn away from politics.

The Harper Conservatives changed our country, and rarely for the better. Now we have a Liberal leader and Canada is back on track. But it’s not fixed yet, and it’s going to take our continued attention and participation to help guide the Liberal party.

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