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Muslims Candiates in 2019 elections

10-30-2019

Since Monday, October 21st, Federal elections results the Canadian Muslims are relieved that Canadians elected a forward-thinking progressive government, Liberals, led by Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and once again rejected the Harper era divisive mindset which still reigns within the Conservative party.

Canadian Muslims are on cloud nine, what’s app messages going around about the 12 elected Muslim MP’s under the Liberal banners. We say fantastic it’s a darn good reason to be happy and elated.
However, what those feel good messages do not tell you is how concerning, worrisome, and sad the situation for the Muslim Canadians are when it comes to political activism, political participation on an elected level really is.

Here are the bare facts on Muslim representation on the Federal level in terms of Elected Muslim MP’s in the House of Commons.

On October 21, Canadians across the country elected, in total, 12 Muslim Parliamentarians. 10 from Ontario, 1 from Montreal and 1 from Alberta. So out of 10 provinces and three territories, 7 provinces and 3 territories do not have single elected Muslim Parliamentarian in the House of Commons.

11 elected fortunately all belong to the Liberals Party and 1 from Alberta under the Conservative banner.

Therefore, it would be enough to say, Muslims have only been able to make inroads with the Liberals, when it comes to clinching candidacy in what is known within the political lingo – “Electable Ridings.” For the rest, where remaining 53 out of 65 total Muslim candidates in the running were merely in ridings deemed as “Sacrificial Lambs” – Ridings where the party knows with absolute certainty that they do not have an iota worth of chances to win and clinch the seats.

Therefore, a week before the election a little-known fact that there are 65 Muslim candidates are in the running vying for a seat In the House of Commons. A week after the election the reality hits home that 53 had the no chance to win when the hell freezes.

Fortunately, the Liberals won and are on their way to form the government and soon will be making important decision on behalf of all Canadians. Now think for a moment what if Liberals had lost the elections on October 21. Even if the 11 liberals had still been elected they would be sitting in the opposition benches, their participation in decision making process on important issues the government undertakes would be limited to simply sitting in the opposition benches and booing the government – that’s all!

Now what does it mean for the Muslim community and how it will be represented in the House of Commons. Muslims can feel good about the results, not only that we have a progressive government in power, but it has also a large slate of Muslim parliamentarians’ presence in the House of Commons.

Of the 65 Muslim candidates who ran in the last federal elections. Here is the breakdown by province.

In four Atlantic provinces, there were no Muslim candidates on the any of the ballot.

In Quebec the 12 Muslim candidates on the ballots, only one was elected, among five parties and 2 independents.

However, in Ontario it’s a whole different picture. In total there were 42 Muslim candidates across all parties. 10 were elected all under the Liberal banner.

West of Ontario, in Prairies and British Columbia only one Muslim candidate was elected under the Conservative banner from an Edmonton riding.

Overall, 2019 elections has one more Muslim parliamentarian than the previous Parliament.  This is not a great feat rather a moment of concern – a wake up call for the Canadian Muslims to become involved and engaged in the Canadian politics and have representation in each province and within each party.

Some food for thought post election victory and defeats.

On October 21st, 2019 Canadians elected forward thinking progressive government, Liberals, led by Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau to govern the nation and rejected the divisive politics of the Harper era Conservatives once again. However, the “Red Wave” that had enveloped the nation in 2015 elections had lost its steam, and reduced to a minority government, losing all past gains in the province of Alberta and Saskatchewan. In total the Liberals lost 20 seats in the house of commons mostly at the expense of Liberals. Although the liberals lost the popular vote, garnering only 33%. It did manage to garner most seats, 157 in total. Liberals captured where it matters the most, Ontario.

On the other hand, Mr. Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives won on the popular vote front with 34% of the popular vote and added 26 more seats in the House of Commons. However, it did not translate into seats that is needed to form a government. As the Canadians sent a strong message to the Conservatives that they are not interested in the politics of division and prefer a progressive government of Justin Trudeau, that promotes inclusiveness among all Canadians.

The biggest seat gains go to the Ms. Elizabeth May’s Green Party which added one more parliamentarian, now total of three, to the House of Commons, and made tremendous gains in popular votes at 7%.

The NDP led by Mr. Jagmeet Singh did not do as well as NDP had hoped. It lost the biggest percentage of seats in the house of commons, 15 in all. Now having 24 MP’s compared to 39 in 2015 and did manage to garner 16% of the popular votes across the nation. Most of the losses for the NDP were in Quebec where Bloq Quebecois, led by Mr. Yves Francois Blanchet added 22 more seats in the House of Commons.

Overall, Mr. Trudeau’s Liberals, although a minority government where the House of Commons is divided as ever, in terms of party supports, Conservatives in the west, Bloq in Quebec, NDP evenly divided alongside with the Liberals. Mr. Trudeau can breathe a sigh of relief for being in an excellent position to lead the nation. For issues related to the west, such as the pipeline, he can always count on the Conservatives to support them. For social programs, such as free pharmacare, dental care, and other social program items on the NDP agenda, he would enjoy the support from the NDP. Overall, it’s a win-win position for Mr. Trudeau and his Liberals.

Lets work together to get the Muslims involved, engaged and active within the Canadian Politics.

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Article Source: ALAMEENPOST.COM