Philip Jong

On October 14, 2008, Canada held its 40th General Election to elect the new Canadian Parliament. The hastily called election by the incumbent Conservatives was heavily criticized by many in the media, and the low-key pre-election campaigns across the country were largely overshadowed by the political dramas of the concurrent election in the United States. As a Canadian citizen myself, I was disappointed by the general disinterest shown by many Canadians of this election. Best dubbed as a déjà vu of the election of 2006, the Conservatives were able to secure only a minority government (yet again) and not the majority that the party had wanted. Moreover, the small victory by the Conservatives, mostly at the expense of the Liberals, was of little comfort to Canadians (including me) who were seeking a stronger mandate and governance from the current leaders. At a time when a strong and unified leadership is most needed, the heavily divided political landscape resulted from this election will undoubtedly make it difficult for Canada to face its many challenges for years to come.