All elected out: a look back at 2008

With at least one more election campaign than most other people in Quebec and Canada for a total of three since September, West Islanders may have had all the ballot-ticking, postering and pestering they could possibly stand, but chances are it may not be over yet.

"Canadians are tired of elections," admit Brigitte Legault, the Liberal Party of Canada francophone wing's vice-president, who finished third place in October's federal election in Vaudreuil-Soulanges. "But I'm not ready to work with the government at any cost."

However, as the remaining Grits have since interim leader Michael Ignatieff came to power, Legault also displayed a softer position, stating the Liberals would be able to let the Conservative minority stand if the latter presented an acceptable budget at the end of January.

"Otherwise, there are two options, either the coalition or another election," she said.

Earlier in December, Beaconsfield resident and deputy NDP leader Thomas Mulcair made it clear to <@Ri>The Chronicle<@$P> that he was not ready to concede to a budget on any ground whatsoever, a position the party has kept since then. "No matter what they do with the budget, the coalition will take the best elements of it and form their own," he had said.

On the West Island, federal election results were not surprising, as Liberal incumbents Bernard Patry and Francis Scarpaleggia easily took back their seats in Pierrefonds/Dollard and Lac St. Louis ridings respectively.

And whereas their chances of losing would still not be very high if another election were called in January, John Abbott College political science professor James Leeke told <@Ri>The Chronicle<@$P> Liberals would do best to restrain themselves. "They don't really have a choice," he said, highlighting how polls indicate the Conservatives would form a majority government if an election was called under current conditions.

Provincially, West Islanders again generally acted according to past habits, bringing Liberal incumbents Pierre Marsan, Geoff Kelley and Yolande James back to power in overwhelming numbers in Robert Baldwin, Jacques Cartier and Nelligan, respectively. However, a lower than average voter turnout indicates interest in politics had cooled.

"I think the English voter on the West Island is more alienated than anybody else," Leeke opined, mentioning the provincial Liberals tend to take the area for granted.

Local provincial campaigns were indeed quiet compared to their federal counterparts. Whereas Conservative minister Lawrence Cannon visited Pierrefonds/Dollard, Harper dropped by in nearby Vaudreuil-Soulanges, and all federal parties had been prepping the ground months in advance with West Island visits by the likes of minister Michael Fortier, and then-Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, no such events occurred provincially.

The most unusual occurrence provincially was a Green Party candidate finishing in second in Jacques Cartier for the first time in the riding's history. Ryan Young, who gathered 7.5 per cent of the popular vote, had also run federally in Pierrefonds/Dollard. If a federal election was to occur in January, he told The Chronicle, he would likely run again, laughing at being described as a reluctant green warrior. "I would much rather see the coalition come in to power than another election," said Young.

Though provincial turnout was abysmally low, perhaps nobody was more hurt by the federal election than candidates for Lester B. Pearson school board by-elections, which were sandwiched in between the federal and provincial campaigns. Only 388 voters cast ballots in Beaconsfield North, giving Don Rae a seat as commissioner, and 220 voices were counted in Pierrefonds-Ile Bizard, with Susan Williams, a retired teacher, winning.