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For sure, most of the parties have silver linings to point to. But voters humbled them all.聽

So, does that mean everybody lost?

No. We won. Canadian democracy won.

At exactly the point when Canada finds itself threatened by a neighbour whose leaders claim we’re not even a real country聽and insist that we’re ripe for annexation, we bucked a worldwide trend toward strongman authoritarianism and polarized dysfunction to demonstrate the strength of our democratic system.

How so? Well, first of all, we showed up: We had the highest voter turnout since 1993. At 68.6 per cent, turnout may still pale compared with what was considered normal in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, but it is a significant bump from what we’ve grown used to. In 2021, only 62.6 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot. Earlier this year, in the Ontario provincial election, 聽bothered to vote. By recent standards (or by comparison with the U.S., where in 2024 a turnout of 63.7 per cent was considered sky-high), voters got engaged.

A great Canadian poet , “Don’t it always seem to go / that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone?” Perhaps seeing their political agency threatened made a lot of Canadians eager to exercise it.

And by other measures, we were especially eager. The Conservatives reported big turnout at their campaign rallies and boasted of engaging and firing up new voters. News outlets such as the 海角社区官网Star saw readership spike sky-high on election night (the ).

Well over , a 25 per cent increase over the 2021 election. People didn’t just show up, they lined up early to do it as soon as possible.

But then there’s what happened after the vote was counted, too: the leaders of all of the parties were gracious in their reactions. All of them, winner and losers alike, accepted the results as legitimate, and pledged their parties would work together in the new Parliament for the good of Canada. This shouldn’t be noteworthy in a functioning democracy. But given how routine it has become in the United States for right-wing parties that lose elections to automatically cry fraud and spiral into conspiracy theories, it bears remarking. Even when (as we were told to expect) the late counting of big swaths of advance and special ballots suddenly swung a bunch of seats, there was no immediate hint of denialism.

We’re using our tinfoil to wrap up the leftover election-night pizza, not fashioning hats out of it. It’s a relief.聽

And in the results, it appears voters collectively managed to use our clunky first-past-the-post representational system to deliver a coherent message.

The story the results tell could go something like this: Under threat, voters trusted Carney’s experience and calm demeanour most to handle Trump and the chaotic international economy, but he’s so new and they were so dissatisfied with his party that they were unwilling to write a blank cheque. Poilievre fired up the traditional Conservative voting universe to its maximum effect, but his attack-dog persona and 聽inspired progressive voters to a previously unthinkable level of unity in opposition to him.

The parties furthest from the centre of the political spectrum fared the worst 鈥� the result is splintered, but it is the opposite of polarized. The Bloc and NDP were each reduced in seats, but each will have a potentially influential voice, each able to hold the balance of power on any given vote.

And so to function while dealing with the tough times ahead, Carney’s government will need to make common cause with at least some of his opponents in Parliament, consulting and negotiating and perhaps compromising 鈥� the stuff that it is the bedrock of democracy. But he will have his choice of dance partners, able to pass legislation with the support of any of three parties and the voters they represent.

I don’t think it is anyone’s idea of a perfect result. That’s probably OK: someone’s perfect is always the enemy of someone else’s good. That’s democracy. And at the moment we need it most, on election day, Canada’s democracy looked strong.聽