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Hello, I'm Edward Greenspon, editor-in-chief of the Globe and Mail. Welcome to the Globe Roundtable, the most audacious and hopeful political discussion group in the land.
Well everyone is using the word historic this morning. They call the president of the United States the leader of the Free World and so the whole Free World seemed last night to be emotionally invested in the outcome.
Most invested of course were African Americans who voted 96% in favour of Barack Obama. Hispanics, women, low income earners and the young were the other groups that propelled him to victory.
But what does it all mean? And what does it mean that Ontario now is a have-not province? And Quebec Premier Jean Charest is heading into an election. To find out all of those, I'm joined today by Jodi White, president of the Public Policy Forum, a non-partisan think tank based in Ottawa and the former chief of staff to Joe Clark and Kim Campbell. And Doug McArthur, the Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy at Simon Fraser University and a former Cabinet minister in Saskatchewan and deputy minister to two premiers in British Columbia. And John Manley, senior counsellor at the law firm of McCarthy Tetrault and Canada's former minister of industry, finance, foreign affairs and deputy prime minister. And, I might add, officially NOT a candidate for the leadership of the Liberal party of Canada.
John Manley: I wondered how you'd work that in, Ed.
Edward Greenspon: That's going to be my final mention of it for today, John.
John Manley: Good.
Edward Greenspon: So we go to Mr. Obama, president-elect Obama. And you know, I'd like to start here. I mean the turnout last night surpassed Canadian turnout. That's very unusual. One of the things that Canadians have always been smug about, I guess, is that we're more civically engaged than our neighbours to the south.
So what's right about their politics and wrong about our politics that we're heading down in participation and they're heading up? John, why don't you start?
John Manley: Well I think this was a unique set of circumstances in the United States. I mean 20 per cent of Canadians I think in one poll I saw a few months ago would have traded their right to vote in Canada if they could vote in the U.S. election. I mean it's been a very engaging campaign and ah, you know, for whichever side you were sympathetic.
And I don't think our election was seen as a necessary one. It was — there was no mood for change. Usually turnout is higher when the government is being defeated because, you know, time for a change is a force of nature in politics. So I don't think you can — you can make a trend out of one election. I think this was just a very engaging election.
Edward Greenspon: Jodi?
Jodi White: Yeah, I guess I feel a little bit that Canadian politicians get the turnout they deserve. And there has been a cynicism that has crept in and it's not just among the pundits. It is among the politicians as well and I think Canadians get that and are turned off by it.
So ah, and you know, there were probably bits of cynicism in the American one but the American election really was a beacon of hope and people got that and wanted to be part of it and ah it was inspiring. And so the difference between the two is quite profound I think.
Edward Greenspon: Doug, does it just seem to people that that election mattered more than the election we had in Canada?
Doug McArthur: No, I think you had — you had three things in the U.S. that really contributed to this turnout and to this result. One, Obama was inspirational and he did provide real hope to a lot of people. That was something that we didn't have in our election and haven't had for a long time, that kind of inspirational hope that Obama presented.
