Canadian Election Results

Here are the facts and interpretations of last night's elections in Canada.

• Liberals got the boot. Canadians punished those who have remained in power a bit too long.
• Conservatives won a minority government. Canadians still don't trust the conservatives enough to give them full control.
• The NDP (left of the Liberals) does not hold the balance of power. NPD did gain a lot of seats and this is a good sign that the Canadian public has not veered to the right.
• Conservatives won seats in Quebec. This is the most important event in the elections. The major change in Canadian politics last night was that the Liberals AND the separatists lost votes to the conservatives in my home province. In fact the Liberals had their weakest showing in Quebec in 20 years. Also note that Conservatives won SEPARATIST ridings! Previously the Tories were not seen as viable in Quebec ... if you wanted to boot out Liberals you voted BQ (separatist) ... but after last night this is no longer true. There is a now a viable federalist (i.e. non-separatist) option for French Canadians.