Save for a few seat flips here and there, Monday’s election night was largely inconsequential to the country at large as Justin Trudeau’s Liberals wound up with essentially the same minority they held in 2019.
While most were left questioning whether or not the snap election served any purpose at all, the residents of Hastings-Lennox and Addington find themselves in a much better position than they were 36 days ago. Namely, Derek Sloan is no longer H-LA’s problem.
Though Sloan’s time as MP of this riding was just shy of two years, he managed to cram more than a full term’s worth of controversies and embarrassments into 23 months. To say he even represented this riding during that time would be a stretch-when he wasn’t alienating constituents with his support of conversion therapy or questioning whether or not Dr. Theresa Tam was secretly working for China instead of Canada, he was actively campaigning for other jobs. First it was a questionable attempt to run for leadership of the Conservative Party just three months after landing his first job in office. When that failed and he was subsequently kicked out of the party, he’d go on to finish his tenure as an MP in Eastern Ontario by spending virtually the entire summer in Alberta attempting to, in his words ‘Make Alberta Great Again.’ After largely ignoring his actual riding and its constituents, Sloan showed a rare moment of self-awareness when, likely sensing a lopsided loss, he withdrew from re-election in H-LA and attempted to parachute into Banff-Airdrie. At the time he claimed he had spent the summer researching ridings in Alberta, determining Banff-Airdrie to be the one where he stood the best chance of winning. He would ultimately finish with just two per cent of the vote, placing fifth out of nine names on the ballot.
Whatever Sloan’s plans are going forward, the good news is they won’t be done so at the expense of the people of H-LA. Should he continue his pursuit to be the next Maxime Bernier, he can do so on the backs of donors who willingly finance his ambitions.
Sloan’s antics weren’t enough to sour locals on the Conservative Party, as they gave his replacement Shelby Kramp-Neuman a strong mandate with 45 per cent of the vote. Odds are Kramp-Neuman won’t make headlines with her tweets or comments-and that’s a good thing. With family roots in the riding it’s also unlikely she took this job with the intent to use it as a springboard to more appealing opportunities in an attempt to fast track her career. She also boasts a resume that includes previous political experience, another attribute that provides hope she’ll be a better MP than her predecessor. Already she’s shown to have a knowledge and understanding of what’s important to voters, something this riding hasn’t seen in nearly two years.
And for those unhappy with Monday’s results they can take some solace in knowing another minority government means odds are we’ll get to do this all over again in 24 months.
Adam Prudhomme