Image Credit: Mel Rothenburger-Screenshot- CBC

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: The election is over, now it’s time to get back to reality

Oct 22, 2019 | 4:26 AM

KAMLOOPS — WELL, ONCE AGAIN B.C. got left out. Despite what the pundits said, the election was pretty well over by the time our polls closed.

And, as the pollsters predicted, Canada chose to give the spectacularly imperfect Justin Trudeau another chance rather than take a chance on Andrew Scheer and the Conservatives.

Nevertheless, Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo stayed True Blue with incumbent Cathy McLeod, who prevailed over Terry Lake.

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All the talk now is about the need for the Liberals to take a more humble approach to governing. Finding common ground with the NDP and the Greens will take some careful and adept maneuvering, something Trudeau hasn’t displayed a lot of during the past four years.

But maybe it’s time for a little good will all around in the House of Commons, including the Conservatives — as tempted as they’ll be to obstruct.

Let me give an example of what I mean. In the dying days of the campaign, with everybody getting desperate at the thought of a minority government, Scheer baldly stated that Trudeau was “openly discussing” a coalition government with the NDP.

That was an absolute fib, since Trudeau carefully avoided the coalition word whenever the subject came up.

This misrepresentation was extended into the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding, with McLeod issuing a press release Saturday demanding to know if Trudeau would cancel the Trans Mountain pipeline “just to gain the NDP’s support and stay in power.”

Only Andrew Scheer could be trusted to build the TMX, she said.

That, too, was a crock. Nobody — not the NDP, the Greens, certainly not the Bloc and not even the Conservatives — is going to want to rush into another election.

The Trans Mountain expansion is going ahead. The election is over. Time to get back to reality.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He writes five commentaries a week for CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.