Conservatives win big in Canada

With a few races still uncalled, news outlets are calling the election in favor of the Conservative Party. As I am writing this, the Conservative Party has picked up 125 seats, a gain of 27. The ruling Liberal party lost 31 seats to finish with 102. The New Democrats who in November joined the Conservatives to support a no-confidence vote over members of the Liberal party mispending tens of millions of government money and taking kickbacks.

Many Canadians had grown weary of the corruption scandals and voted for Stephen Harper despite fears the 46-year-old economist was too extreme in his views opposing abortion and gay marriage. During the campaign, Harper pledged to cut the red tape in social welfare programs, lower the national sales tax from 7 percent to 5 percent and grant more autonomy and federal funding to Canada's 13 provinces and territories. (sounds like a man after my own political heart) He also wants to improve relations between Canada and the United States, which comprise the world's largest trading bloc and conduct $1.5 billion in business daily.

The Liberals have angered Washington in recent years, condemning the war in Iraq, refusing to join the continental anti-ballistic missile plan and criticizing President Bush for rejecting the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions and enacting punitive Canadian lumber tariffs.
Harper also wants to spend more on the Canadian military, expand its peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan and Haiti and tighten security along the border with the United States in an effort to prevent terrorists and guns from crossing the frontier.

It is important to note that minority governments in Canada usually only last a year or two. They are usually unable to maintain a consistent coalition for any period longer than that.