An Explanation of the Canadian Election to an American Friend

A friend from Texas asked me to explain to him what I thought was the significance of the 41st Canadian General Election yesterday.  Here's what I said:

On the surface it appears that some massive, historical changes have occurred. I think the most significant of all is the drop of the Bloc Quebecois separatist party from 47 seats to just 4. That's enormous. They still have a strong provincial party, who will likely win their next election, but at least on the federal level the threat of Quebec separation is now gone for at least 4 years; probably much more.

The next big change is the Conservative government finally winning an outright majority; third time lucky. They can now technically enact any legislation they wish, without fear of losing a vote. The question is, what bills will they bring to the forefront? So many of my left-leaning friends have declared that this is now the end of our country. Yet when I ask them to name a few policies on which the Canadian Conservatives are more "right-wing" than the U.S. Democrats (who they love) I never get any answers. That speaks volumes about the sincerity of their rhetoric.

The third great significant thing that occurred was the reduction of seats of the once powerful Liberal Party of Canada from 77 to 34. Them moving to 3rd place has never happened before. Rather than me gloating, I sincerely want the Liberals to take the time to do a serious re-think of who they are and what they stand for and then find a popular leader to represent those views.

Why am I cheering on a Liberal rebirth? Because one day the Conservatives will lose an election and if the Far-Left NDP ever comes to power it truly will be disastrous for Canada economically. Twice before they have come to power in my province of British Columbia and both times they bankrupted the economy. That's not my opinion, it's a fact. We simply can't afford to selfishly keep on borrowing from future generations to provide unsustainable "treats" for everyone today.

Over the next 12 months it will become much more clear what the Conservatives are prepared to do with their power. I hope lots but I don't want to get too optimistic as governments I support always tend to move much slower than I wish they would!