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Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 7, 2015

Alberta election 2015: NDP sings for joy, Harper’s caucus like ‘morgue’

The ballots cast in Alberta on Tuesday didn’t have any federal names on them, but Parliament Hill was a study in contrasts the morning after, as New Democrats cheered, Conservatives lamented and Liberals refocused on the ever-changing road toward this fall’s election.

“There’s only good news in this,” a jubilant Tom Mulcair told his federal NDP caucus, trying to feed off the momentum for his own future campaign, with cameras capturing cheers and chanting.

Mulcair said his party had a “spring in our step” and was extremely proud of Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley’s campaign.

The mood across the hall in the Conservative caucus room — absent Stephen Harper, who was still travelling home from yesterday’s VE Day celebrations — featured many shades of blue.

“I had some questions if the sun was going to rise this morning,” said Manitoba MP Steven Fletcher. “And when it did, there was an orange tinge to it. Very disconcerting.”

The normally message-managed Tory caucus emerged for the media’s post-mortems Wednesday working through various stages of fear, denial, blame and regret.

“It was more like a morgue. Someone said it was like — it’s Albertastan now,” said Justice Minister Peter MacKay.

“Having lived through the experience federally when Conservatives [were] divided, it is a recipe for losing, period,” MacKay said.

“There has been, shall we say, an exchange of members over the last number of weeks,” he said, noting that not just the Alberta result but the majority Liberal result Monday in Prince Edward Island was “very informative — instructive, in fact.” (Source: CBC News)

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Published in the St John’s Telegram, Gull Lake Advance (Saskatchewan), L’Acadie Nouvelles, Edmonton Journal