Last night, the Conservative party in Canada retained power with a strengthened minority government. Not sure if a stronger minority is any different from a weaker minority but it does give the Conservatives a much better mandate which to govern. This is partly due that the Liberals lost seats last night, the only party to lose seats. Listening to the commentators on the CBC feed on CSPAN, it appears that it is a foregone conclusion that the Liberal leader, Stephane Dion, will be replaced as leader. This means that the Liberals will be distracted for two years or so and will be in no mood to contest another election. This gives the Conservatives a relatively free hand in Parliament during that time.

I have not followed the election much. The election in the United States has pretty much consumed my interest these past few months. But in fact, there was nothing really compelling about the Canadian election. No major initiatives, no changes in the course of the nation. In reality, this election was about securing a majority government for the Conservatives on which they come up short. But we will see this replay once more again in two years or so.