Au Revoir, Pierre

There was one big surprise in the Canadian election results: there were no big surprises.

Pollsters, pundits, and public alike expected a win for Joe Clark’s Tories. Trudeau’s 11-year reign had clearly foundered on the shoals of inflation, plus a general disillusionment, in English Canada, with his colorful one-man rule. The only disagreement among prognosticators was whether Trudeau could hang on as Prime Minister even if the Tories won a few more seats than the Liberals.