It was at least somewhat of a surprise when the smoke had cleared and the Liberals had managed to win a majority.
It had been clear for most of the campaign that there was a mood to see Stephen Harper’s reign as Prime Minister come to an end.
But, in what remains basically a three-party system there was some expectation of enough splitting of the anti-Harper vote that the Conservatives might hold on to some relevance for the next four years. However, New Democrat support eroded, and Justin Trudeau’s message of a more hopeful, less fearful Canada caught hold and as they say the rest is history.
In many ways this election took Canada back to its norms.
In the 2011 election the Liberals were at a near all-time low with the lame-duck leader Michael Ignatieff at the helm.
The NDP were riding an historic high with Jack Layton as the leader, the support he garnered slipping back to more long-term numbers under Tom Mulcair.
Meanwhile the Conservative core stayed true, but Harper could not build on that.
Of course on the Prairies, at least in Saskatchewan and Manitoba Conservatives carried the day.
With the region predominantly populating the Opposition benches it will be interesting what that will mean in terms of agriculture policy from the Liberals.
We are aware farm issues are not a priority in terms of the lack of rural influence at the polls these days.
And now with most seats on the Opposition side we may not see Prairie agriculture being a huge Liberal priority, which is why most people aren’t expecting anything dramatic from Trudeau and whoever he appoints his Minister of Agriculture.
With Harper and the Conservatives out we will also begin the process of assessing their overall record in all areas, including agriculture.
In terms of ag the debate on the Conservative impact will start with the elimination of the Canadian Wheat Board, a process which started with questionable tactics, Parliamentary questions, and ended with the ‘scorch-earth- approach to the sell off of farmer and taxpayer-owned assets to ensure no government could turn back the clock.
Whether history is favourable of the change, or not, the way the Conservatives went about changing the CWB should forever be questioned.
The gutting of the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA), system, the head-in-the-sand approach to climate change, and weakening protection for most rivers will also be efforts history are not likely to look back on with favour.
So maybe we should hope the Liberals do tweak a few things given the Conservative record in agriculture.
Calvin Daniels is Assistant Editor of Yorkton This Week.
