Into the mainstream

International | Upstart conservative party becomes official opposition

Vancouver, B.C.--The polls for Canada's June 2 national parliamentary election had been closed for over an hour, and Sharon Hayes, the Reform Party member of Parliament from Port Moody-Coquitlam in British Columbia, had not yet arrived to join her supporters. Journalists on the scene were growing restive, but Mrs. Hayes' campaigners were festive.

"It's not too late to come on over," shouted one Hayes supporter to the disappointed crowd across the street where Kwangyul Peck, the losing Liberal candidate, was conceding defeat.

Mrs. Hayes's backers had reason to be excited. They had won handily, despite their candidate's being forced to drop everything to care for her husband, who had suffered a massive heart attack and stroke four days before the election was called and the campaign began. Mrs. Hayes's pro-family political beliefs were put to a personal test: She limited her campaigning to the contest's final week, when her husband had gained some strength.