The man who remade Canada’s political landscape

[CHIMO]

Stephen Harper is the first non-Quebecker to win a majority since John Diefenbaker in 1958. If he governs wisely, his party should be in office for at least two majority governments, or nearly a decade. In that time, he and his successor (should he choose to leave politics) could remake many aspects of Canada.

Through a combination of skill and luck, Mr. Harper already enjoys considerable advantages that come with being in a majority situation, with more advantages to come.

Canada’s population will soon start aging fast as baby boomers hit 65. Older voters are more likely to be Conservative supporters – and to show up for elections – than younger ones. New seats will be added for British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, where the Conservatives are strong.

More immigrants will stream into Canada from China and South Asia. Mr. Harper successfully targeted these ethnic communities in the election, with Conservative candidates doing well in many ridings once considered to be Liberal bastions. With so few Liberal MPs left, the Conservatives can run up much larger margins among these groups.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/jeffrey-simpson/the-man-who-remade-canadas-political-landscape/article2013137/

[Metric System]

1. Oh God, not 8 more years of Harper!!!

[craigmatic]

2. Wait so all of the past PMs since '58 were from Quebec?

[Metric System]

3. All the PMs who won a majority.

[Ken Burch]

4. Those who won majority governments, yes.

It went like this

Diefenbaker(non-Quebec)-minority 1957, majority 1958, minority 1962, minority defeat 1963.
Pearson(non-Quebec)-minority 1963, minority 1965.
Trudeau(Quebec)-majority 1968, minority 1972, majority 1974,minority defeat 1979, majority 1980.
Clark(non-Quebec)minority 1979, defeat 1980.
Turner(non-Quebec)defeat 1984, defeat 1980.
Mulroney(Quebec)majority 1984, majority 1988.
Campbell(non-Quebec)defeat 1993.
Chretien(Quebec)majority 1993, majority 1997, majority 2000.
Martin(Quebec)minority 2004, defeat 2006.
Harper(non-Quebec)minority 2006, minority 2008, majority 2011.

Harper is also the first Protestant(evangelical variety)to win a majority since Diefenbaker(who was not only a Protestant, but a member for years of the anti-Catholic Ontario Orange Order.) Diefenbaker's anti-Catholic views, in fact, may have been the reason he squandered the massive gains his Progressive Conservative Party made in Quebec in the 1958 landslide-Diefenbaker responded to the election by refusing to give any Quebec Tory M.P. a significant cabinet ministry. Quebec didn't vote Tory again until the Quebec-born(and ostentatiously Irish Catholic)Brian Mulroney became their leader in the early 1980's.

[craigmatic]

5. So besides the bloc Quebec votes leftist more consistently than tory?

That is a huge strangle hold they had on your primership.