Fabian Manning, John Crosbie say Canadians want change
Prominent PC and Conservative agree the Liberal sweep came as little surprise
Conservative Senator Fabian Manning, the former MHA for Placentia-St. Mary's, says Monday night's election results didn't come as a surprise.
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"I felt over the past week or two that the Liberals were going to win the election," Manning told CBC News.
"I was surprised maybe at the numbers, but not necessarily the result."
Manning said seeing veteran politicians — like NDP MPs Jack Harris and Nova Scotia's Peter Stoffer — defeated made him "sense that there's a change in the wind."
"I think a big part of the Liberal victory [Monday] night was the major collapse of the NDP vote, right across the country," he said.
Regardless of the party in power, Manning said it serves Newfoundland and Labrador well to have a strong voice at the cabinet table.
Where the NDP went wrong
Manning believes Canadians felt they had to choose between the NDP and Liberal parties, and factors like the niqab debate cost the NDP the election.
"That started moving people away from the NDP," he said.
Either you liked him or you didn't like him, there wasn't a halfway.- Fabian Manning on Stephen Harper
"Once people started moving to another direction, then you have to have a reason to bring them back and the NDP didn't offer any reason to bring them back."
Manning added that Tom Mulcair's balanced budget commitment caused "some of the hardcore people that sit on the left" to turn to the Liberals.
'Young Mr. Trudeau performed well'
Former PC cabinet minister John Crosbie, like Manning, said he also expected the federal Liberals to do well Monday night, though he was "surprised at the rapidity of the win."
"Young Mr. Trudeau performed well. He was well briefed and when he came on TV he was very convincing … I have to give him full credit," he said.
Crosbie told CBC News he believes Stephen Harper's decision to run a fourth time was a mistake.
"[There was] a general feeling that it's time for a change," Crosbie said.
"That's very hard to combat, particularly after you've had three terms and you're asking for a fourth."
"That was probably the biggest obstacle that the prime minister had to overcome, and he wasn't able to overcome it obviously."
Harper's legacy
Harper, Manning agreed, is a divisive figure. "Either you liked him or you didn't like him, there wasn't a halfway."
But Manning believes Newfoundland and Labrador was treated well under the Tory government.
Every party goes through what we have to go through now.- Fabian Manning, senator
He cites lower taxes, a new military headquarters in Pleasantville, a promised $40-million Canadian Coast Guard base and the universal child care benefit — decisions all made under the Harper government.
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"Part of his legacy will be bringing the old Progressive Conservative Party and the Reform Party together," Manning said of the soon-to-be former prime minister.
At 51 years old, Manning said he's not ruling out the possibility of running as a Conservative in future federal elections.
"Every party goes through what we have to go through now," he said.
"Right now we have a rebuilding process."
With files from Mark Quinn