swing is swung........

well we now have a right wing government in Canada led by Calgarian Steven Harper (eerily reminiscent of many slimy Tories we had in the Uk under Major), but any fears of a George Bush style malaise settling over this beautiful land should be dispelled

in a nutshell the Conservatives won a small minority & any hopes they had of pushing through their right wing agenda will be dashed by the fact that the 3 parties in opposition won't stand for any of that nonsense & could unite to defeat any of the radical crap that Harper may come out with

happily the NDP gained in strength in the elections, and as the most left wing party they will have a lot of power in checking Harper & his cronies - the Liberals (think Blair) will be eager to elect a new leader to replace the bumbling Paul Martin & oust the Conservatives ASAP, whilst the Quebec Bloc will still be smarting over the loss of a whole host of seats to the Conservatives in the Quebec for which they wish independance from the rest of Canada - they will be in no mood to aid Harper

so where does he turn - the answer would seem to be nowhere & unless he can push through & deliver somehow on the policies he has espoused, we'll be facing another election within 24 months - this time he'll be up against a rejuvenated Liberal party, an angry QB & hopefully an ever insurgent NDP - it's just a matter of gritting our teeth & waiting for the current bad smell to dissapear