Alwaght- After a 10-year domination of power in the Canadian parliament, the conservatives have been finally pushed aside by the liberals who fought a tough battle to sweep a majority. This drastic shift will see Canada make alterations not only in its internal policies but also with relation to foreign policy.
Canada’s Liberal Party has conclusively scored a win in parliamentary elections according to partial results. The Liberals, headed by late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s son Justin Trudeau are leading in 185 electoral districts while the conservatives, led by incumbent PM Stephen Harper, are leading in 103 districts.
The Conservatives, however, have already conceded defeat.
Speaking to a crowd of his supporters, Trudeau said that Canadians "sent a clear message tonight, it's time for a change".
The poll results as well as Trudeau’s pronounced slogan all indicate that Canada is on the road to change.
This change is expected to primarily affect Canadian-US relations. The Conservatives have been in power for almost 10 years and have been known to be pro-US and therefore pro-Zionists. With the Liberals expected to form a majority government, the country’s relations with its neighbouring ally will likely take a different path.
A recent Pew Research survey finds the Liberal Party represents centrist views toward the US. However, on certain issues, the Keystone XL pipelines and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, for example, the liberals have expressed reservations unlike their conservative predecessors. A Pew survey shows that nearly 46% liberal supporters opposed building the pipeline while 72% of the conservatives supported it.
To sum up, the figures have shown that Liberal Party supporters are not as pro-American as the Conservatives are.
The change has also begun taking its toll on Canada’s West Asian policies which have been in line with US interests. The Liberals have taken the initiative to end the country’s participation in the US-led coalition in Syria and Iraq. While the Conservatives had campaigned to keep these missions in effect despite a public outcry against war, Canada's new Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau has proven his party’s commitment to diminish Canada’s involvement in the US-led coalition.
He told US President Barack Obama that Canada would be ending all of its non-NATO missions in the region.
"I committed that we would continue to engage in a responsible way that understands how important Canada has a role to play in the fight against ISIL, but he (Barack Obama) understands the commitments I've made around ending the combat mission," Turdeau told reporters on Tuesday.
However, Washington has much less to worry about than the Israeli regime.
Upon Turdeau’s landslide victory, Tel Aviv became submerged in worries. Under Harper, the Canadian government stood up for the Israeli regime despite its crimes against humanity at the G8 summit in addition to the United Nations which rejected a Canadian bid to grab a seat at the UN General Assembly. Many believe the reason for this was the conservative government’s bias toward the Israelis.
In an interview with Breaking News Israel, IIan Mann, a Conservative party activist, said if the conservatives lost it would be a loss for the Israeli regime.
“The Conservative government’s record on Israel has been second to none, both in Canadian history, and in the international community,” he claimed adding that: “This is represented clearly by the fact that several Israeli and Canadian publications have commented that Harper is ‘Israel’s best friend.”
Harper’s pro-Israeli stance has been the cause of criticism showering the conservatives. In 2014, he received the “Key to the Knesset” as a thank you for his friendship. Harper, back then, assured the world that Canada will stand with the Israelis through fire and water. Now with the liberals in power the Israeli regime is expected to be given the cold shoulder.
With a majority government set to be formed by the Liberals, Canada has embarked on a new path in politics, economy, environmental and humanitarian issues as well other turfs. How Canada will chart this road to change is what remains to be seen.
