Goings on next door?

You wouldn't know it from looking at CNN's website, but there was a big election in Canada yesterday. They have a new Prime Minister from the Conservative party, Stephen Harper.

I will disregard claims by the Liberals up there that he is a clone of U.S. right-wing extremists. Hopefully he will clean up some of the corruption and make the government more efficient. If I understand correctly, the Conservatives don't have a majority of seats in Parliament, so there will be a governing coalition. But they did win a majority over the Libs.

I can just hear the babbeling coming from Fox News' Bill O'Reilly about this great "Conservative" revolution in Canada. Not exactly! They aren't going to give up universal healthcare and it would be a long battle to undo same-sex marriage. Further, it is unlikely they will send many more troops abroad for U.S. - led wars. It's a long stretch to think Harper will be a clone of U.S. conservatives - particularly the Religio-Cons and the Neo-Cons.

What they are likely to do is work with us to strengthen border security. That is a good thing! Hopefully, they will clean up corruption and lower taxes a bit. What they should leave in place is Canada's good record of several balanced budgets. They don't need to follow the record of fiscal-irresponsibility in the United States.