Ed Driscoll.com Ed Driscoll.com
Conservative Canada?
By Ed Driscoll · January 23, 2006 08:54 PM · The Future and its Enemies · The New, New Journalism

Apparently, it's not on oxymoron anymore. I haven't been following the Canadian elections as closely as I probably should have, but Glenn Reynolds and Michelle Malkin are loaded with links, including to some who are live blogging the election returns tonight.

Meanwhile, Publius Pundit (found perchance via Pajamas, if you'll pardon my persnickety alliteration), reviews the pros and cons of the results so far.

Update: In an essay uploaded shortly after midnight on election Monday, John Tabin of The American Spectator takes stock of Canadian anti-Americanism, and its new prime minister:

Canadian anti-Americanism may be broad -- a 2003 SES Canada Research poll showed only 13% of Canadians wanting Canada to be more like the U.S.; a 2004 Ipsos-Reid poll found that 82% believe that President Bush is not a friend of Canada -- but it isn't deep. An SES/Buffalo University poll in 2005 showed that a majority of Canadians want closer relations with the U.S. on security, antiterrorism, and energy policy. Canadians don't want to be Americans, but they do want to be American allies. The Grits have made this tough over the years, with periodic anti-Bush and anti-American outbursts from the back and front benches.

The Tories won't have that problem. Though [Stephen Harper] has made pains to distance himself from the perception of excessive deference to Washington, even writing to the Washington Times to dispute an op-ed characterizing him as "Mr. Bush's new best friend internationally," the fact is that he'll be the most pro-American Canadian Prime Minister in a long time. He may not send Canadian troops to Iraq, but he has praised the U.S. for pursuing democracy there and would stand with the U.S. (and Israel) in international disputes where his predecessors would stand against us. In a dangerous world, the good guys are about to gain another strong leader. And that's bad news for the bad guys.

Sounds good to me.

Another Update: Channeling Doug and Bob McKenzie, VodkaPundit has mixed emotions about the election results ("Canada's election was so screwed up, all I could think of was SCTV"), but National Review's John O'Sullivan writes that tonight's election may signify the beginnings of a longer-term trend in Canada:

A good but not great night in Canada. The Tories will form a minority government, but one with a more precarious plurality in parliament [What is it about Canada that brings out the alliteration?--Ed] than looked likely from the polls. The Liberals are beaten and out but not humiliated. The Quebec separatist party has done worse than expected but still dominates the province. And the leftist New Democrats improved their position but failed to break through dramatically. In Canada's four-party system that gives the Tories the government for something less than a full term.

What's going on? Well, if Canada were a single individual, we would say that he (or maybe she) wanted to commit to the Tories but had developed cold feet at the last minute. This is exactly what happened one year ago but this time there was slightly more willingness to move rightwards. On that basis, the Tories will probably win a majority in a couple of years as the nation gets used to seeing the untried Tories in the Cabinet--and the roof fails to fall in.



Since 2002, News, Technology and Pop Culture, 24 Hours a Day, Live and in Stereo!

(And every Saturday on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.)

What They're Saying

"Great Job! Your friend, Les Paul"


Navigation
Weblog
Ed TV
Podcasts
Twitter Feed
Articles
Essays
Interviews
Links
About Me
FAQ
Photos

Home

Support the Site

Search

Archives
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
November 2002
October 2002
September 2002
August 2002
July 2002
June 2002
May 2002
April 2002
March 2002

Etcetera


Bookmark Me!

Blogroll Me!

Steal This Button!

Syndicate this site (XML)
Podcasts Feed

AddThis Feed Button

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

youtube_logo.gif

Our Podcasts' Apple iTunes Page

Powered by
Movable Type 3.35

Site design by
Sekimori

Copyright © 2002-2008 Edward B. Driscoll, Jr. All Rights Reserved