Reply #34: Alright...

[Oregone]

First, what has happened is that immediately after the election (which Harper's party won a minority government with 37% of the vote), he became the only leader to not offer an economic stimulus plan in the G-20 (and Canada is starting to bleed). Instead, he planned to cut a measly 30 million from budget by getting rid of public financing for elections (to destroy his opposition), among other stupid measures. He came off as a vindictive idiot.

In reaction, the Liberals negotiated a coalition government with the NDP (a socialist-like party), who will support them for 30 months. The NDP gets 25% of the seats in the cabinet. Still, that would be a minority government, so the Bloc has agreed to support the coalition for 18 months (probably in exchange for concessions for Quebec). All they have to do is vote down the budget bill next Monday and get the Governor General to agree to let them take over (formality). They will then usurp power from the Conservatives.

The results are immense. You get a government that is much like Bush, replaced by one that is far more liberal than what Obama is going to be. You say what leaders are elected in the US determine who is invaded...well the ones here determine who Canada follows to an invasion. Harper would of sent troops to Iraq if he was a leader then (he in fact plagiarized the Howard speech to advocate the war). He probably would keep them in Afghanistan longer. Harper is not pro-active on climate change. His government is also chasing the silly rabbit down the hole of free-trade globalization. The result would be a complete reversal on these policies, as well as a reversal on domestic ones. Its no small potatoes.