Students Enjoy Canadian Elections, Beer

Over 100 people indulged in Molson Canadian beer, Canada Dry ginger ale and live coverage of the Canadian federal elections last night at the ARCO Forum at the Kennedy School of Government.

The audience was pleased with the election results and took the opportunity to dig into Canada's right-wing minority. The ruling Liberal Party swept Quebec and Ontario to win a third consecutive term, the first third term in more than 50 years.

The forum's big screen loomed over a crowd of students, many completing problem sets while listening to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) live from the Parliament buildings in Ottawa.

The viewing was sponsored by the Canadian Consulate to Boston. The consulate had originally planned to hold the event at its New England headquarters but changed the location to the ARCO Forum to meet demand, said consul representative Dean Sherratt.

"We love to help out with these sorts of events," Sherratt said. "We work with Harvard's Canadian clubs a lot on these sorts of things. Harvard's and MIT's Canadian clubs are great examples of the Canadian communities we try to support."

The consul funded the satellite link to the CBC, Canada's largest national television network. Because Canadian law prohibits election results from being broadcast in any region before the 9 p.m. poll closings, attendees tuned in to CBC stations in a number of Canada's six time zones throughout the night.

The crowd appeared to enjoy the defeat of Canada's right-of-center parties, the Progressive Conservative Party (PC) and the Canadian Alliance.

"Thank God for Ontario," said Matt Lincoln '03 of London, Ontario, referring to the strong Liberal support in that province. "We keep the West straight."

Most students said they believed that the Canadian Alliance, Canada's newest and most conservative political party, nevertheless represents Canada's liberal tendencies.

"The Canadian Alliance is further to the left than the Republicans," Lincoln said. "But not by much."

Harvard College Canadian Club Co-Prime Minister Karen W. Kiang '01 said the recent increase in support for the Canadian Alliance worries her.

"The Alliance is scary," she said.

The event brought out professors and members of the non-Harvard community as well as students.

Mackenzie King Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies Jeffrey G. Reitz said, no matter who won, Canada would still be more liberal than the United States.

He said that even the Canadian Alliance promotes more liberal stances on tax cuts and trade liberalization.

"The downside is that the Canadian Alliance is anti-immigrant," he said.

The Canadian Alliance has been the focus of media attention in recent months, with party leader Stockwell Day pulling media stunts to attract voter attention.

"The Globe and Mail said the man is an idiot!" Reitz said. "He claims that human beings co-existed with dinosaurs 6,000 years ago."

Reitz said he questions whether a man who challenges the entire scientific community could run a country.

"Day didn't even finish college," he said.

Most of the crowd at the ARCO Forum seemed to share Reitz's dislike for the Canadian Alliance, which has strong support in the west of Canada.

But nationally, the Liberal Party predominated. Party leader Jean Chretien led the Liberals to their third straight majority in Canada's parliamentary government. Chretien is the first prime minister to have won a third consecutive majority government since Mackenzie King in the 1940s.

And all in one night.

"Canadians can choose a leader in a matter of hours," explained one slightly tipsy junior. "This just shows that the Canadian political system is vastly superior to that of the United States."

--Staff writer C. Matthew MacInnis can be reached at macinnis@fas.harvard.edu.