1993, another Time Canada’s Conservatives Were Soundly Swept from Power

With the welcome change of power occurring tonight in Canada, I’m remembering Fall 1993, when my wife and I were in Canada on a late autumn road trip. A week in late October found us in a wee beauty spot called Margaree Harbour, on Cape Breton island, in the province of Nova Scotia. With its scenic Cabot Trail, I like to call Cape Breton the Big Sur of Canada.

That year, October 25 happened to be the date of a Canadian federal election, and a local friend we’d made, Geoffrey May, invited us over to have dinner and watch the returns with him and his wife, Rebecca Lynne, and a friend of theirs. It turned out to be an amazing night, as in this election Progressive Conservative party members in the federal parliament were swept out of power in one of the most lopsided defeats ever in the history of modern elections. Prime Minister Kim Campbell lost her office, and Liberal Party leader Jean Chretien became PM. It was a celebratory evening—for comparison’s sake, imagine all Republican officeholders in the U.S. losing on the same day!

We were renting a small vacation house that week from Geoffrey’s sister, Elizabeth May, then the head of Sierra Club in Canada. Ms May, of course, has since become a prominent Canadian politician, leader of Canada’s Green Party, first Green Party member of the Canadian Parliament. I’ve written more about that special vacation, including about Geoffrey and Elizabeth’s fascinating parents (the Mays were all friendly with Farley Mowat), and that year’s World Series, when the Bluejays last won it all, all assembled at the post, Why I Write this Blog.