Election Night in Canada

By: Sara Nicholas

Election night…is there no bigger night in a politician's life? It's the one night were countless hours of campaigning, promise making, debating and mudslinging pay off, everything comes full circle. That was the case for two of Canada's finest politicians vying for the office of the Prime Minister.

Evelyn Mercer sat on the edge of her seat watching the television like a hawk, the silence around her was deafening. Nobody had said a word in the pass half hour; all eyes were plastered to the T.V, Evelyn let out a sigh "what's taking them so long, the polls closed two hours ago!" Her voice filled with agitation, she looked over at her campaign manger Eddie Price the man was old…too old. He has been in the game of politics along time; he was her father's campaign manger and one time manger to Trudeau, and one of Evelyn's closest friends, he looked tired and warn out, his grey hair was somewhat out of place, the bags under his brown eyes were dark, old aged etched into his features, the first button undone on his white dress shirt, his tie untied. He gave her a reassuring smile "give it time" he said quietly and calmly, she smiled back and took one last look at the T.V "excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom" Evelyn was many things, shy was not one of them.

She made her way through the place that they called 'Liberal Party Headquarters, memories came flooding back, nervousness came flooding over her, she ran the rest of the way to the bathroom she was going to be sick. After about five minutes of loosing her dinner to the toilet, she splashed some cold water from the sink on her face, she grabbed a towel and dried her face, and she looked into the mirror, the women staring back at her was someone different, that women looked well beyond the age of thirty-five, that women looked like she hadn't had a good nights sleep in a long time, though some things on that women's face looked familiar to Evelyn, her olive green eyes still held hope and compassion, and she recognized the smile, her black hair was still tied up messy, the navy blue pantsuit she wore was beyond hope, a laugh escaped despite the way she looked and felt, I would kill for a drink right now she thought as tried her hardest to remember a time long ago were she could rid herself of such uneasiness by having a drink, but those days were gone.

She took a moment to regain herself, push those memories out if her mind and walked back into the sound deprived room "anything?" she asked as she took her seat once more "the Tories have a slight lead, there up by two seats, but that can change" Eddie said both carefully and quietly in hopes that she would blow up. He watched as Evelyn sat, eyes glued to the T.V, and take a deep breath "two seats…and that's it, two seats?" "Yes..." he said with caution, Evelyn just sighed "okay, that's okay…we have lots of time, lots of time" She said calmly, she sat back on the couch and fished through her pocket for her cigarette pack, she took one out and placed it in her mouth, she then tried to fine her lighter, but to no avail she couldn't find one. " Damn it! Does anyone have a lighter" she asked flustered, Eddie tossed her his lighter and she lit her cigarette up much to her relief. She inhaled some of the smoke and exhaled it back out, all the while her eyes carefully watching the T.V.

"…Were up by two seats John, but again that could change it's only the top of the hour." John McClellan sat working on his acceptance speech, so deep in concentration; he didn't even hear his aid "John…" He looked up from his note pad his eyes were some what blood shot due to lack of sleep, his white dress shirt wrinkled "what is it Carl?" he asked as he took his glasses off to rub his tired eyes, "were up by two seats" Carl said taking a seat on the other end of the table John was working at. John sat back and stretched "two seats…that's it?" he asked as he sat forward again. "Yeah, but like I said that could change…" Carl said sounding disappointed, John just smiled "its ok son, the night's still young" Carl smiled back and got up to leave.

John let out a sigh and got up to wake his legs up. He walked through the place that had become known as 'Conservative Party Headquarters' for the past few months picked up his coat and scarf and went out side to get some fresh air. The cold December air stung at his eyes as the strong winter wind hit his face, why can't they hold election night in August? He thought as he watched the snow fall lazily to the ground illuminated by the porch light. Just then his cell phone went off, he looked at the number and didn't recognize it," John McClellan" he said gruffly not bothering to hide the tiredness in his voice "hey daddy its Annie, I just called to wish you good luck tonight" He froze, and it wasn't the weather, the last thing he expected was a phone call from his daughter. He was at a lost for words "Daddy…?" "Annie…how…how are you?" he finally managed to say, she sighed "I'm doing good Daddy", he smiled, he was relived to hear that, then said "that's great to hear…so you still clean?" Sounding a bit worried, "yes daddy, I've been clean for five months" his smile came back, that was the best news he's herd all night. "Dad I got to go my pop corns ready, I'm watching the election results, I know you're going to win" Annie said hurriedly "Okay sweetheart, I'll talk to you again soon, bye" "bye daddy" and with that he hung up. He took in one more breath of fresh air feeling renewed, ready to face anything.

7 Months Earlier

If someone had told Evelyn Mercer that she would be nominated to become the leader of the Liberal Party and run for Prime Minster after the current one was dissolved …she would have laughed in their face. It was enough that at 26 she became one of the youngest ministers in a cabinet ever, but at thirty-five she would become the youngest Prime Minster in Canadian history, so you bet she confused her colleges when they nominated her for the leadership of the party. "What's so funny?" asked Sam Morris, current party leader and Prime Minister, here he was asking what he thought was one of the youngest and talented politicians he had ever met, not too mention it was in her blood her and she was laughing at his request. "You…!" Evelyn exclaimed in between laughter "me?" He was confused "yes you…you can't be serious in nominating me, why not Paul? He's been in the game longer then me…" she stated pointing to the other man sitting at the table with them "we need some one young, someone with new ideas….someone with a famous father…" Paul added rather coyly with a smile "Ahhh I see, you're willing to throw someone in to the lion's den all because she has a famous father?" She stated jokingly and took a sip from her drink, Paul laughed, Sam just sighed "now you know that not why we want you to run… "His voice going serious, the laughter and smiles disappeared "it's only one of the reasons we want you to run" he added laughing, the other two burst out laughing again "okay, okay joking all aside why would I want to run for Prime Minister, I mean I got it going on being Education Minister and all, and if that wasn't enough of a strain on my marriage…campaigning for the Prime Minister will end it, and besides I'll be running against John McClellan and that won't be any picnic " both Sam and Paul looked at her sympathetically, they knew they were asking a lot of her by running for Prime Minster, but they also knew she was perfect for the job. "Well…will you do it…will you run?" Asked Sam going serious again, Evelyn sighed and downed the last bit of her dink "okay...sure why the hell not!" The small table of three erupted in cheers; both men stood up and pulled her in to a hug " I just know your going to make your father proud" said Sam as he pulled her in to a bear hug, she hugged back, all the while thinking what the hell have I gotten myself into?

"…That's why we need to eat at least five to ten servings of fruits and vegetables a day" The small boy in the apple costume declared as he stood on stage, he looked out among the sea of people smiling, hoping to catch a glimpse of his dad, he said he would try to make it if he wasn't to busy. His smile widen as he spotted his dad, it went even wider as his dad waved to him, he gave a small wave back and said his next line "an apple a day helps keep the doctor away…" and the small boy pointed to himself, all the while keeping his eyes on his dad. The smile faded from his face however as he looked in the direction of the door, there stood a man who seem to be looking for someone and he knew that someone was his dad, he watched as the man made his way over to his dad's direction, whispered something too him, and then watched as both men left together.

"This have better be good Carl, I promised my son I would watch his play, but instead I'm out here with you" "It is sir; in fact I think this might be the best news you've herd so far this year…""just get to the point Carl!" "Right, sorry sir, um… I've just learned that the Liberals have chosen someone to run in place of Sam Morris in the election" Carl was relived now that he got that off his chest but what he had to tell his boss next might just earn him a slap up side his head, "really…that fast? Who..?" "You're going to love this sir…Evelyn Mercer" he said somewhat sarcastically, and watched as his bosses face showed resentment "Great…well at least it's going to be an interesting campaign" he sounded some what frustrated, Evelyn Mercer was a popular Liberal, brilliant, beautiful , and she had the family history to back it up. "Alright, get back to the Hill and start pulling together a crack campaigning team and I'll meet with you latter, now if there's nothing more, I have to go back and learn why fruit and vegetables are good for me" he gave Carl a nod, Carl tried his hardest not to laugh at that last remark, and turned to leave, with all that said and done John McClellan turned to go back inside and kept his promise.

"…I don't know if I can handle much more of this Evelyn, I mean your always working, your never home, and I'm starting to think that becoming Prime Minister is more important then our marriage!" Evelyn couldn't believe what her husband was saying. It had been three months since the campaigning started and at the start of it all he was supportive…but now, now he having second thoughts "Ryan, it's been three months and when I asked you if running would be okay, and if you said no, I would have declined the offer! But no, you said go for it!" She moved around him and headed for the kitchen in the house that they shared. "Yeah well I think a lot of things are a good idea, but in the long run they just aren't worth it" He said as he followed he into the kitchen "like our marriage…" he added offhandedly, Evelyn gasped and dropped the container of juice she was holding, she just stood there and stared at him, his eyes widened "oh Evelyn…honey…I didn't…that's not what I meant…" he said moving closer to her stepping in the spilled juice and tried to hug her, but she pulled away "leave, I've had enough of this" she said not looking at him but rather at the floor. "But Eve..." "Get out Ryan" she walked out of the kitchen and down to their bedroom. She entered the room, closing the door behind her and broke down, all the while hearing Ryan throwing things and hearing them contact with the wall, then finally she herd the door slam. After about ten minutes of crying she ventured back out into the living room to fine a chair over turned, paper thrown everywhere, she found a picture of both of them on the floor the, day she became Education Minister, he had stepped on it. Tears flooded down her cheeks again, she then made her way over to the liquor cabinet, and she opened it and found the largest bottle of Vodka she could find. She grabbed it and took one last look at the living room, and made her way back down to her bedroom alone.

" Good evening, and welcome to CTV's Election Debate 2006 here in lovely Charlottetown, P.E.I, I'm you host Lloyd Roberson, tonight the English debate in what has been a very interesting campaign so far. In the next hour Evelyn Mercer for the Liberals, John McClellan for the Conservatives, Martin Lock for the NDP and Robert Leveck for the Block, will all be answering and debating questions from Canadians all across the country." This was the night of the campaign they were waiting for, the night were they all gathered in a TV studio and debated in front of the cameras. All the candidates looked good in the best television clothes, Evelyn ,although coming out of a three day drinking binge, was wearing a sharp red jacket and skirt, John was wearing a black suit with a light blue tie, and looked a little out of place . "Gentlemen…and Lady" Roberson quickly added after a look from Evelyn "if your ready to begin, the first question is from Linda Jones from Victoria B.C…Miss Jones" The four of the turned to the monitor that was set up for them to see the people who asked the questions, a short plump women with greying hair appeared on it "this question is for Ms. Mercer…Ms. Mercer being the former Education Minister, will you still up hold your Education programs if elected Prime Minister?" All eyes in the room fell on her, and the three others at the podium noticed she looked like hell, despite the makeup job up close the bags under her eyes looked bad, she looked like she hadn't slept it over a week, and noticed she kept rubbing her wrists "um…as Prime Minister of course I would uphold my Education Programs…I mean I did create them didn't I?" She said with a little smile and laugh, the other candidates exchanged looks as Linda left the screen, Evelyn took in a shaky breath "next we have James Section from Winnipeg Manitoba…John McClellan's home town…" John smiled at the camera, but it quickly disappeared as he looked at the screen, he recognized James, the boy was young at least in his twenties he had on a Habs cap and a matching T-Shirt, he had long shaggy blonde hair and a smirk. "Uh…yeah this question is in fact for John McClellan…how'd you take the news about your daughter?" Time stood still, John's eyes narrowed looking at the screen, and he wanted nothing more then to reach into it and kill James, his blood boiling, he politely and forcefully said "I have no comment on that thank you." And he looked away from the screen and plastered on a smile.

The rest of the debate went off with out a hitch, so you could imagine how happy John was when it was over, he found himself standing outside the small studio, the warm July air around him, he stood leaning against the building alone with his thoughts, then he herd the door open beside him "oh sorry, thought everyone else left" there stood Evelyn with a small smile "I'll leave you be" she turned to go back inside, when he stopped her "no, I don't mind I could use the company…" her smile widened and she stepped down the steps to join him. She pulled out her cigarette pack and took one out, she then offered one to him, he took it with out thinking twice about it, he hadn't smoke since law school, but right now he could use one. Evelyn placed the cigarette in her mouth and pulled out her lighter and lit it, she then did the same for him. Once lit and he inhaled, he felt his problems leave with that plume of smoke. "So…you want to talk about what happened to night?" Asked Evelyn really wanting to know, she moved to take the cigarette out of her mouth and tap some of the ash away with her thumb. John thought about telling her would she use this against me? But then he also thought it would help if he talked to someone about it, and she seemed to care enough about it to ask, he sighed "that boy…James Section, he dated my daughter, and got her addicted to…drugs" Evelyn's eyes widened "oh John…I'm so sorry is…is she in rehab?" She felt bad for prying "when I was home three weeks ago, I had only found out and right there and then I put her into rehab, I was surprised when it didn't get out into the press." He took another long drag from the cigarette. "We fought, Annie, my daughter, denied doing the drugs, but it was clear that she was doing them, all the signs and marks were there, so I had no choice but to send her to rehab, hopefully she's still there, I haven't had the time to check on her" there was an awkward silence that fell upon them, all the while she was giving him understanding looks. Then he asked the question he wanted to ask all night "now…it's your turn, what's wrong?" She snorted, and threw her cigarette to the ground and stopped on it, "what isn't wrong with me, the fact that this campaigning will probably be the death of me or the fact that I was served devoice papers last night, OR the fact that I didn't know I bruised so easily" she pulled up her right sleeve to reveal black and blue bruises around her wrist and up her arm. John's mouth fell open "your husband did this to you?" "Ex…Ex-husband and yes he did…" Her eye's started to fill with tears, but she laughed and looked down finding the ground very interesting, feeling embarrassed. "How did this happen?" He asked, moving closer to put his hand on her shoulder "Ryan came by the hotel room last night to serve me with devoice papers, being stupid me I let him in, instead of taking them at the door, we got to talking and he said he was sorry for everything, but I told him it was too late…then…then he became violent…" She trailed off no longer able to hold back her tears, they streamed down her cheeks. John pulled her into a hug and she accepted it letting all of her tears out on to his shoulder. Although they were rivals, they learned that night that they weren't all that different

Election Night

The road to the Prime Ministers is a rocky one; politicians have to sacrifice personal life, for a public one, as two certain politicians learned. So as Evelyn Mercer and John McClellan sat in there respected places waiting to see who would lead the county time seemed to stand sill. Lloyd Robertson sat behind his desk with the final results, both John and Evelyn eyes concentrated on him. "And the winner of Election 2006 and Canada's next Prime Minster…"

The End

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