Dear editor:

Many Canadians sighed with relief when the Liberal party led by Justin Trudeau won a minority government.

Though many Liberal supporters have their reservations about Trudeau, they couldn’t see a victory in voting for the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh instead.

Having said that, we have hopes for a progressive future in the hands of a minority Liberal government, with support from both the NDP and Green party.

We see now a unifying moment for these three parties in the face of defeating the dangerous prospects of the Conservative party by a hair.

Canada is a strong presence on the world stage and we have witnessed the destructive agendas being put forward by Conservative parties across our allied nations.

With America playing a loose game of impeachment tied to a president who is vastly compromised by foreign influences while simultaneously romancing the idea of dictatorship, and the U.K. walking a tightrope with the destructive results of a possible exit of the EU, Canada has decided to stay the course with what progressive leaders we can manage to hold onto as of now.

Trudeau is not perfect, but he is the best of a bad situation. With Conservative leader Andrew Scheer not being honest with the public about his platform with talks of health care privatization and the ideas of breathing life into a dying oil industry, he stoked the fear of Canada turning its back on the progress of addressing a climate change crisis and adapting a problematic health care system that has a history of bankrupting a middle class.

Canadians were left to feel nervous about turning to the NDP, which, unfortunately has not historically had many victories at the federal level.

Understanding that placing your hopes in the hands of a progressive party that didn’t have a strong chance of winning left Canadians sticking to what they know.

Trudeau, wrapped up in scandals that were overplayed by Conservative attack ads, had Canadians reluctant to keep him in power.

The Prime Minister now has the opportunity to write his wrongs on the progressive agendas he failed to accomplish in his first term. With the scare of such a regressive Conservative party almost taking power, the NDP and the Greens need to step up and become strong influencers and supporters of the Liberal party as it is.

Canadians walk into a sombre victory knowing you can’t always get what you want. But if you compromise without sacrificing all sense of progress, you can get what you need.

Cameron Taylor

St. Catharines