I Saw the Constellations Reveal Themselves One Star at a Time

As of this writing (almost 10 MT on Monday) the Liberals in Canada are going to at least win a minority government, and it looks like they’re heading for a clear majority. Pierre Poilievre, the Tory leader, is behind in his Carelton riding, where he had 91 challengers (“this is what Democracy looks like”).

Canadians are smart, so they did a lot of strategic voting. This means, as of this writing, that the more-liberal-than-the-Liberals NDP is losing seats. Similarly, the Party Quebecois (PQ), which used to be the Quebec separatist party but is now the whatever-they-are party is also losing seats. A lot of anti-Trump Canadian social media encouraged Canadians to look at the polls — if the Liberal candidate had a chance to win, vote for that person, even if your favorite (NDP, Green, PQ) was running. This is the reason that the NDP lost seats. Carney, who was the head of the Canadian central bank, and then Britain’s central bank, is by no means a flaming liberal, but he’s a wartime leader, and Canadians believe that they’re at war. They’re not wrong.

Trump’s many endorsements of Canadian Trumpists, his “51st state” rhetoric, and his references to “Governor Trudeau” all helped flip this election.

That flip is remarkable.

So, now, Trump goes to trade war with a Canadian Prime Minister who has just won a remarkable victory, and a Mexican President who has 80% approval.

One thing you need to know about Canadians is that when they band together, they’re amazing. This is a video by the Tragically Hip. Their leader, Gord Downey, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2015. The band is from Kingston, Ontario. They had a final tour, that ended in Kingston in 2016. Justin Trudeau was in the audience. 11.7 million Canadians watched that concert — over 1/3 of the population of Canada. It was a great night. Tonight is, too.

AM Update: The CBC called Poilievre’s riding for his Liberal opponent, Bruce Fanjoy. The Liberals are within striking distance of a majority but counting still continues. I stayed up late to watch Carney’s victory speech and he repeated his rhetoric about the special relationship between Canada and the US being over. Sad to see some