Yesterday was Election day throughout Canada's Maritime Region. Polls across Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and the Laurentian Territory collected ballots to determine who would become the first Regional Premier of the Maritimes. With votes counted today, it seems that the Atlantic People's Party - led by Nova Scotian lawyer Robert Stanfield - took 41 of 63 seats, soundly beating the Liberals led by retired Admiral Taylor Wood Grant. The Liberals took 17 of the seats, with the CCF trailing in third place with 6 seats.

Admiral Grant - having been the face of Atlantic Canada at the head of the Maritime Relief Agency for years - was widely considered the frontrunner going into the election. He had campaigned on his own successes, touting the recently-concluded Constitutional Convention as a victory. He had been endorsed by all three Atlantic Premiers - all themselves members of the Liberal Party.

On the other side, the Atlantic People's Party had painted Admiral Grant as a relic from a bygone era. When Grant had talked about restoring the Canadian Constitution of the past, the APP had pointed out how the past constitution had only resulted in Atlantic Canada falling behind Ontario and Quebec. When Grant had spoken about the eventual merger of the MRA military into a united Canadian Armed Forces, the APP had spoken of how having its own military had given Atlantic Canada greater diplomatic clout than they had had before.

But, the APP did not only deliver strong rebuttals to Admiral Grant's promises, they had a plan of their own. They saw the creation of the Maritime Region as a political entity as a chance to unite the region behind a single government and bring strength and prosperity to it. While Admiral Grant saw the Maritime Regional Government as a placeholder that would eventually be dissolved when the Federal Government would return to its old role in Confederation, the APP saw the Maritime Regional Government as the promise of a new future.

While he has yet to be sworn in as Regional Premier, Robert Stanfield has already delivered his victory speech in Hammonds Plains. Once he is sworn in, the Interprovincial Executive will be dissolved and Stanfield and his cabinet will take control of the MRA - including its various military branches. A new era in the history of the Maritimes is soon to begin.

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