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Scanning the dailies provides a bounty of Election Day quotes/observations

In reaction to last Tuesday’s federal election that saw the Conservatives strengthen their minority government, the Liberals recorded their worst performance since 1984, the New Democratic Party gained eight seats including one in Alberta and the Greens left on the outside looking in, the following are a number of samples from editorials and columns gleaned from daily newspapers across Canada that put into perspective the results of the election:

In reaction to last Tuesday’s federal election that saw the Conservatives strengthen their minority government, the Liberals recorded their worst performance since 1984, the New Democratic Party gained eight seats including one in Alberta and the Greens left on the outside looking in, the following are a number of samples from editorials and columns gleaned from daily newspapers across Canada that put into perspective the results of the election:

“This was a federal election that was lost, not won. Neither of our parties can be fully satisfied with the results ... neither proved up to the challenge.”

“The fact that Mr. Harper was restricted to another minority government, albeit a marginally stronger one, means that this campaign can only be viewed as a personal defeat.”

“(Dion) failed miserably ... Mr. Dion should gracefully step aside and allow the next leader to be selected with minimal acrimony.”

- Globe and Mail

“Canadians may have handed Conservative leader Stephen Harper a poisoned chalice. Over the next few years, it will be his dubious honor to steer the country through the first period of deep economic turmoil of the new century.”

- Toronto Star Columnist Chantal Hebert

“The Conservatives have won a majority in political power, if not in name ... Mr. Harper will have an even weaker Liberal opponent to tackle with even less money to fight back.”

“Mr. Dion cannot last, of course. He may try, insisting he’s no quitter, but if he refuses to quit he will suffer a ... mutiny of caucus.”

- National Post Commentator Don Martin

“Several million Canadians are probably scratching their heads this morning as they look at the day’s headlines and ask themselves, with just a tinge of bitterness, whether it was all worth it.”

“Harper must find a way to make this Parliament work because if there’s one thing the country can’t afford, it’s another bout of expensive rancor. The House of Commons might look pretty much the same as it looked five weeks ago, but the world certainly doesn’t.”

- Montreal Gazette

“We have to reconcile ourselves to the idea that minority governments could be with us for a generation, or longer. This means making minority governments work. We have had three federal elections in four years, a pace that is not sustainable. It is hugely expensive ... Parliamentarians are going to have to hammer out a politics of compromise.”

- Ottawa Citizen

“There is no reason to have another federal election until 2012. Canadians have now gone to the polls three times in four years at a cost of almost C$1 billion ... twice now, Canadians have delivered the verdict that they want Harper as prime minister, but not with a majority. It’s time all parties recognized the reality and got down to work.”

- Ottawa Sun

“Canadians elected a government which strongly resembles the ‘dysfunctional Parliament’ that Harper dissolved last month on the grounds that it couldn’t be managed ... yesterday’s election reveals a Canada that will undoubtedly be harder to run and keep together.”

- Journal De Montreal

“A majority of Canadians voted against him (Harper) and the country is politically polarized and divided.”

“The prime minister must learn to control the excessively partisan spirit that characterizes him ... The task of (running Canada during the crisis) will be complex and delicate. The prime minister will not be able to accomplish this and retain the support of the population unless he radically changes his approach.”

- La Presse

“What has happened is the opposite of what Harper intended. The Tories have no more power than they did when this election was called. In fact, with the Liberals losing ground, about 20 seats, and the NDP picking up about 10 as of last night, the opposition to the Tory agenda just got a lot stiffer.”

“This election cost taxpayers between $300 million and $400 million. We will neither get our money back nor our money’s worth with this result. When the Conservatives will be able to obtain a majority is an open question. With a recession coming on, some say even a depression, they are going to be stuck with governing through tough times and making some very unpleasant decisions.

- Nanaimo Daily News

“The Conservatives made a breakthrough of sorts in Quebec in the 2006 election, winning 10 of the province’s 75 seats. In pursuit of a majority government, Harper courted Quebec voters assiduously throughout his first two-and-a-half year minority. He gave the province a seat on a UN cultural organization, offered up hundreds of millions of dollars in no-strings federal transfers to solve the so-called fiscal imbalance, and - most significantly - formally recognized the “Quebecois nation” in Parliament.

But those efforts did not pay electoral dividends. Stung by Conservative cuts to cultural grants and disconcerted by the government’s hang-’em-high youth criminal justice reforms, Quebecers refused to add to the Tory seat count.”

- The Canadian Press

“Obviously, the strategy of playing nice with the Greens did not work out for Dion, given that it may have cost him a number of close seats in Ontario. The results do not augur well for Dion’s future. The Liberals were on their way to winning about 77 seats in the election, a loss of more than 20 seats from the 103 seats they held at dissolution.

These things are always measured against expectations, but even accounting for how low the bar was set for Dion in this election, this can only be described as disastrous for the Liberals.”

- Saskatoon Star-Phoenix

If Canadians are sick of politics, it’s understandable. Harper argued it was time for an election because Parliament had become dysfunctional. Oh, please. Enough of blaming the system. Sure, the political process is in need of some democratic tweaks. But it’s our politicians who are dysfunctional, not Parliament.

- Edmonton Sun