It’s too damned bad we couldn’t have had a candidates’ forum. The Chamber tried hard, but in the end was only able to get a commitment from two of the candidates running to be our member of parliament. It seems the idea we had about these things being important is not shared by those running, or some of them. Mr. Viersen of the Conservatives quite plainly thinks they aren’t worth the effort. The Liberal guy wasn’t doing much campaigning of any kind, as far as we could tell. Six days prior to election day, for example, not a single red sign was to be seen around Slave Lake.

Well, it’ll all be over by the time this paper comes out. We look forward to reporting the results.

Speaking of which, the view from here, post-vote, is the same as ever. Let’s put down the guns and look for ways to make things work better under whatever system we have in place. Democracy works best when people accept the results, as long as they express the will of the majority. It’s far from perfect, how we choose our political leaders, and it is susceptible to manipulation. But with enough good will we can make it work well enough.

As this is written before April 28, it’s hard to say what sort of a message might have been sent. But if it’s a minority government – as many were predicting – that’s clear enough. Toe the line. Steer clear of radical solutions. Look after the people. Guard our sovereignty. Be friendly but firm. And so on.

Easy to say, hard to do. But worth the effort.