Peggy NASH

Election day 2021 was a frustrating event for some Canadians with long lineups and distant polling stations. The biggest frustration was that we had an unnecessary election.

Now the votes are in. Justin Trudeau’s breathy rhetoric kept the Liberal party balloon afloat, often in some very tight races. He campaigned against anti-vaxxers, trying to wrangle voters into the Liberal tent. Canadians decided he should not be rewarded with a majority government.

Erin O’toole surprised many with his more moderate but changing campaign pledges. He was hampered though trying to build a new Conservative plane and learn to fly it at the same time, charting a slightly different direction.

Jagmeet Singh was successful in presenting a positive message, while not letting the other leaders get away with past failures. His big pledge to tax the wealthiest Canadians was appealing to many.

The bottom line is that we didn’t need a $600-million election just to satisfy Trudeau’s ambition. That money could have been spent helping Canadians during the pandemic. The six weeks of campaigning could have been spent focusing on the priorities of Canadians. Instead, Trudeau should get back to work and keep his focus on Canadians.

Peggy Nash is a former NDP member of Parliament. She is a senior adviser to the dean of arts at Ryerson University and a board member of the Broadbent Institute.