Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

#ELXN44

Greens’ Currie laments electoral process while local Liberal dodges questions about first-past-the-post

Sep 21, 2021 | 12:30 AM

KAMLOOPS — “It’s a great process. I wish our government allowed it to work for Canadians, rather than working for politicians,” Green Party candidate for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo, Iain Currie says.

Frustration. If you could sum up Currie’s feelings about the 44th Federal Election, frustrated would be a good word to use.

“[The Liberals] will take the fact that 60 or 70 percent of Canadians voted against them as an endorsement of their platform,” Currie tells CFJC Today. “Which is absurd.”

Haunted by what could have been had Justin Trudeau followed through on his promise of electoral reform back in 2015, Currie pulled no punches about an election where he lost thousands of votes.

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“I would feel a lot better about the result if I thought that people had weighed our platform, weighed my ideas and what I put forward, and decided that I didn’t like it,” Currie says. “I’d be chastened personally, but happy for the process. Now I’m just sad for the process.”

At Liberal HQ, Jesse McCormick commiserates a personal loss, secure in the fact his party will return to a version of parliament nearly identical to the one that was in place before the election was called.

“Canadians had a really important choice to make in this election and they’ve chosen the Liberal Party of Canada,” McCormick says. “That means further work on climate change, advance reconciliation, and make lives more affordable for Canadian families. We’re continuing that work.”

As of late Monday evening, the Liberal share of the popular vote was hovering around 32 per cent, a fact McCormick failed to address when asked about it.

“In addition to the Liberal plurality, if you look at the actual issues that were discussed and you compare the platforms of different parties, you see a strong commitment across the board for action on climate change. The discussion on the idea that carbon pricing is a good idea is over,” McCormick says. “Most importantly, we’ve heard the endorsement of Canadians for strong measures to finish the fight against COVID-19, including proof of vaccination requirements as an important measure to support our healthcare workers.”

Currie says he wasn’t expecting a victory on election night. However, he believes Canadian voters should demand more when it comes to the democratic process in this country.

“Canadians across the country should be appalled at this waste of more than $600 million over the last little more than a month,” Currie says.