Canada's Chretien proclaims: 'We won big'

Prime Minister Jean Chretien and his wife, Aline, take the stage in Shawinigan, Quebec, on Monday

OTTAWA, Canada (Reuters) -- Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien on Tuesday brushed aside those who want him to end his 37-year political career, declaring that his crushing electoral victory on Monday gave him the mandate to stay on.

"When you win, you win," he said. "We won. We won big."

Chretien repeated again and again in a 30-minute news conference that he intended to serve out his third term, despite the fact that Finance Minister Paul Martin is eager to take over.

"I'm elected, and I intend to finish my term," he said. "It was a very clear mandate I've received, in my judgment."

RESOURCE List of Canadian parties contesting election     MESSAGE BOARD Share your thoughts on the events in Canada     RESOURCES Election Watch: Canada     ALSO Canadians take pride in simple, speedy election Profile: Chretien plays up French-Canadian working-class roots Stockwell Day: Little-known preacher propelled to main opposition

Chretien basked in the accomplishment that not only did his Liberals win a clear majority mandate, rather than the minority government some had expected, but that they increased their number of seats in Parliament. It was the first time a party had won three straight majorities since 1945.

The Liberals added 12 seats in the House of Commons to reach 173; they needed 151 for a majority. Their share of the popular vote rose to 41 percent from 38 percent in 1997.

Martin fought loyally for the Liberals during the five-week campaign, but some of his supporters say the party's task would have been easier with Martin at the helm. Many were angry that Chretien called the election early to capitalize on a strong showing in opinion polls.

"(Opinion on) the calling of the election was apparently not unanimous. Everybody (in the Liberal Party) is happy today," Chretien gloated. "It's amazing. Some who were the most worried got their majority increased."

Chretien staved off a stiff challenge from the free-market Canadian Alliance, which fought for deeper tax and debt cuts, a crackdown on crime, and ending government waste and secrecy.

The Alliance won eight more seats to take 66 but virtually failed to break out of its base in western Canada. It needed to crack the Liberal stronghold of Ontario, which has more than one third of the Parliament, but on Monday it won only two seats there.

Alliance leader Stockwell Day, speaking in his hometown in British Columbia, took comfort that his party had established itself as the leading choice of conservative voters.

Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day, in British Columbia on Monday, reacts to his election loss

His party boosted its popular support to 25 percent from 19 percent. The other party on the right, the Conservative Party -- which is in fact somewhat less conservative than the Alliance -- fell to 12 percent from 19 percent. "Clearly the Canadian Alliance speaks for conservatives," Day said."

But Conservative leader Joe Clark showed no sign of backing down and linking up with the Alliance, which he dismissively refers to by the name of the predecessor Reform Party.

"Reform held out the promise that they would break through in Ontario. They've got a couple of seats there now, but it amounts to no breakthrough at all. There's a phrase that's often used and that's three strikes and you're out," he said.

Clark dismissed the telegenic Day as a "photo-op" politician who will not stand up under scrutiny in Parliament.

During the campaign the Alliance had sent out mixed messages about whether it would allow more privatization of the underfunded public health system, and about how easy it would be for citizens to force referendums on issues like abortion.

It also was the target of penetrating Liberal attacks, sometimes directed at Day's evangelical beliefs.

But an overriding factor that may have played in the Liberals' favor -- and a reason Chretien called the election early -- was that the economy is doing well and tax cuts are beginning to roll in. This raised the question, why change?

One of the biggest surprises in the election was that the Bloc Quebecois, dedicated to taking French-speaking Quebec out of Canada, lost badly to the federalist Liberals.

The Liberals picked up eight seats in Quebec and kept seats of Conservatives who had switched to the Liberals before the election. The Bloc won 11 percent of the vote and ended up with 37 seats in Quebec, down seven and now tied with the Liberals.

The other party in Parliament, the leftist New Democrats, won 9 percent of the vote and 13 seats, down from 19.

Elections Canada said 62.8 percent of registered voters cast ballots, a 75-year low, down from 67.0 percent in 1997.

Chretien said the voters had plainly endorsed him.

"I'm the coach. So if you have good players on the ice it's because the coach knows the game a bit," he said. "I think the team has played pretty good. So normally you should conclude that the coach is not bad."

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Government of Canada
Canadian Alliance
Liberal Party of Canada
Bloc Québécois
NDP Election Site
PC Party of Canada

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