Thoughts on the new government

Thoughts on the new government:

-- it will be weak and the policy will be empty pablum
-- interesting coalition of the Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, the Maritimes, and the North.
-- it means that the anti-Muslim sentiment in Canada is weaker than other Western countries; we are tolerant
-- hopefully marijuana is soon legal
-- hopefully prostitution is soon legal
-- hopefully the Liberals forget about gun-control, but I know that won't happen

Tonight's federal election

Quebec is a toss-up in tonight's election. If they vote Liberal, you'll see a Liberal majority and return to what Western conservatives derisively call the "Laurentian consensus". Basically, it's an electoral coalition of Ontario and Quebec voters led by centre-left intellectuals and politicos in those provinces.

What we've had under Harper is a coalition of centre-right voters in Ontario and Western Canada led by centre-right intellectuals and politicos from Alberta and Ontario. In Canadian history, there has never been a power holding coalition that included Western Canada. So, though the left and centre-left despise Harper, he's been good for Canadian unity. The West's alienation no longer exists and Quebec, not being a power broker during several election cycles, has stopped being able to use separatism as an ultimatum to gain concessions from the rest of Canada. Past Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments, like the Harper Conservatives, despise Quebec nationalists, but had to concede to their demands more because they, unlike the Harper Conservatives, were dependent on Quebec votes.

Yes, Harper made oil a bigger part of the Canadian economy and this has made our national economy more volatile, but it also included Western Canada more in national politics and has satiated previously unaddressed regional tensions. So, we've traded some economic stability for greater political unity. On balance, I think it's been a net positive. But it's time for change.