Jean Chr tien, the Prime Minister, called Mr. Day on Saturday night to offer his congratulations and gave assurances that he would not delay in calling a by-election when a seat is vacated, to give Mr. Day a chance to win it. Mr. Day chided Mr. Clark with a reminder of the recent defections from the Tory ranks. Joe, I reach out to you once again with respect and sincerity. Mr. Manning vowed to remain active in the party, but told the National Post yesterday he has not decided whether he will seek re-election. Mr. Manning said farewell to leadership before an emotional crowd of several hundred party activists on Saturday night.
Elections test our commitment and our faith in democracy.
It is easy to believe in democracy when the vote goes our way. But the real test of our commitment to democracy is our acceptance of the result when the vote goes the other way. Deborah Grey, who served as the acting party leader during the three-month contest, cried as Mr. Manning spoke. I still believe he's the most visionary leader this country has ever seen. Mr. Day and Mr. Manning called for party unity in the wake of a sometimes divisive campaign.