Uh-oh Canada

The results of the Canadian election are in. As Fox News reports, “voters stripped the long-dominant Liberal Party of its outright control of Parliament, but left it enough seats to take charge of Canada’s first minority government in 25 years.” According to Fox, the Liberals will likely form “an informal governing coalition” with the left-wing New Democratic Party. However, the Toronto Star suggests that what is really in store for Canadians is “government by uncertainty.”
Although the Conservatives did much better than in the recent past, the results must be disappointing to them, since polls showed them neck-in-neck with the Liberals. Fox surmises that voters were reluctant to turn over power to the Conservatives’ relatively untested leader, 45-year-old Stephen Harper.
Meanwhile, reader Bruce Korol adds these notes on the Canadian political landscape:
“The main reason for the Conservative comeback is probably the fact that the right is united for the first time since the Reform party split from the Conservatives after Mulroney’s tenure. Furthermore, the Conservatives were almost blanked in the last election because the true conservatives were voting for the Alliance party not the mushy-middle Progressive Conservatives.
“[Economic issues are] obviously a key component [of the comeback] but the latest ‘Adscam’ scandal where the Liberal party lined the pockets of friends and friendly ad companies surely contributed to Canadians being disgusted (finally, considering the long line of scandals and boondoggles we have had to endure for the last decade under the Liberals) enough to vote Conservative. Speaking as an Albertan, we may be sweeping this province and the west Conservative but the problem in Canada lies in Eastern Canada where they love their nanny state and fully endorse this culture of collectivism that has defined Canada.”
UPDATE: PoliPundit has a good analysis of the Canadian results.

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