Twitter, digested: Leaders vote, kids vote, and the country turns red
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau is accompanied by his mother Margaret Trudeau (L) and his wife Sophie Gregoire, daughter Ella Grace and sons Hadrien (foreground) and Xavier (R) as he watches results at his election night headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, October 19, 2015. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)
There were no more stump speeches left to give and no more debates to be had. On Oct. 19, the final task for the party leaders in Canada’s 42nd election was to get out the vote.
We voted as a family this morning in Papineau. Get out there and make your voice heard! #realchange #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/W1VcfE9iTI
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 19, 2015
Voting selfie w my daughter! #goVote #voteGreen #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/Iubrpdmg4Q
— Elizabeth May (@ElizabethMay) October 19, 2015
Stephen Harper didn’t tweet out a picture of him voting, but when asked how he felt after casting his ballot, he talked about the nice blue sky. Tom Mulcair, meanwhile, didn’t have to worry about waiting in line today, as he was one of about 3.6 million Canadians to vote during advanced polling.
Braved the rain today to do the most important thing this election: vote. I encourage everyone to vote early. —TM pic.twitter.com/VZyHyeLpOJ
— Tom Mulcair (@ThomasMulcair) October 9, 2015
Across the country, Canadians were encouraging each other to vote by snapping selfies outside polling stations.
https://twitter.com/abirabdulla27/status/656229330931064833
#Ivoted! Hopefully you will too. Let's make Canada better! pic.twitter.com/dEfxQoNcge
— Chima Nkemdirim (@chimaincalgary) October 19, 2015
And there were several initiatives online to encourage people who don’t vote as often. In 2011, fewer than 45 per cent of eligible Aboriginal voters on reserves cast a ballot, so this time around, many tweeted out a rallying cry to “Rock the Indigenous Vote.”
Susan Twoyoungman just voted at Tsuu T'ina Nation for the first time #RockTheIndigenousVote #decision2015 pic.twitter.com/kOvNrj4Fu5
— Brandi Morin (@Songstress28) October 19, 2015
I voted today for the first time. #RockTheIndigenousVote https://t.co/thbHCGY3ZV
— Cass Gregg (@Papa_Cass) October 19, 2015
And it may have worked.
https://twitter.com/WabKinew/status/656245884582137856
https://twitter.com/kristenrivers/status/656246027880566784
And to encourage future voters to get in the habit of casting a ballot, Maclean’s called on mom and dads to #GiveKidsTheVote by taking their children to polling stations with them.
Huzzah! #ivoted with my daughter! She sat in the polling booth while I marked my X #takeagirltovote pic.twitter.com/SjR9uNQAqX
— Daorcey Le Bray (@Daorcey) October 19, 2015
@EqualVoiceCA well, i took two girls to vote, but one is a camera hog. #takeagirltovote pic.twitter.com/llPyctSD4V
— Andrew Cameron (@drk_cyde) October 19, 2015
That’s not to say voting was as simple as it should be. Many voters were frustrated by new ID requirements that could easily have led others to simply to give up and not vote.
The new Canada Fair Elections act has forced me — a fully registered voter — to walk home twice to produce sufficient ID to vote
— Doug Saunders (@DougSaunders) October 19, 2015
Our producer Katie's proof of address lacked her middle initial. Poll-worker sent her home. #elxn42 cc @CBCLarsen #PollWatch
— Jesse Brown (@JesseBrown) October 19, 2015
And there were other problems with polling stations across the country from long lines to polling stations not opening on time.
https://twitter.com/StuMillsCBC/status/656137927869755392
But for many Canadians, the simple act of voting was, as Mohamed Fahmy put it:
Euphoric! I could get used to freedom and democracy…… #elexn42 #Canada pic.twitter.com/KydcnXzaLX
— Mohamed Fahmy (@MFFahmy11) October 20, 2015
When the polls closed out east and results started coming in, Atlantic Canada quickly turned a Liberal red.
https://twitter.com/kayafraser/status/656276132979871744
And within 10 minutes of the polls closing in Ontario and Quebec—and with people still voting in B.C.—all the major TV networks projected a Liberal government.
https://twitter.com/NancySMacdonald/status/656284029361242112
https://twitter.com/AaronWherry/status/656284423466426368
And it would be a majority.
Well for a new generation Trudeaumania2 has arrived. A majority. Again. Pollsters wrong.
— Evan Solomon (@EvanLSolomon) October 20, 2015
The Conservatives will make up the official opposition, though they won’t have Finance Minister Joe Oliver or Immigration Minister Chris Alexander, who were both ousted in their ridings.
The scene at Chris Alexander's party. I use that term loosely. #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/C5cBauw3dM
— Laura Stone (@l_stone) October 20, 2015
And the tide went out on the 2011 Orange Wave, as the NDP fell to third. In fact, several big-name NDP MPs lost their seats, including Megan Leslie, Peggy Nash, Peter Stoffer and Olivia Chow.
Orange crushed #elxn42
— Andrew MacDougall (@AGMacDougall) October 20, 2015
Justin Trudeau will be the 23rd prime minister of Canada.
Guys, @JustinTrudeau gets to move back into his childhood home. #elxn42
— Kelly Hobson (@kellyhobson) October 20, 2015
We have another Prime Minister Trudeau as Liberals sweep into power: https://t.co/iECdT8h0hv pic.twitter.com/MNlCNxqCc8
— VICE Canada (@vicecanada) October 20, 2015