Reasons to Celebrate

What are the things I'm most happy about resulting from yesterday's election? Well, I think there are a number of reasons to be positive, at least from my perspective:

1. A shift in the balance of power towards the West. As a die-hard supporter of the interests of Western Canada, I welcome a government that will (likely? hopefully?) be less centered on Ontario and Quebec. For pete's sake, it's about time we elected a prime minister from outside of the province of Quebec! How long has it been (ignoring the mini-leaderships of Joe Clark, John Turner and Kim Campbell)?? The answer: since 1968, when Trudeau was elected, every "non-interm" legitimate PM has been from Quebec - Trudeau, Mulroney, Chretien, Martin. People my parent's age have essentially never had a PM from outside Quebec since they were old enough to vote. Lester B. Perason was the last one. Crazy.

2. The invigoration of new ideas regarding the proper role of government. Stephen Harper is ideologically a small-government conservative, and I look forward to seeing if he advances these ideas on a country that is under the impression that government can (and should) be all things to all people.

3. The Liberals plus the NDP together have enough seats to surpass the Conservatives on any really objectionable pieces of social policy (although I doubt they will try to pull much of this anyway), thereby holding in check my main concern with the Tories.

4. The setbacks suffered by the Bloc. Reducing the influence of the sepratist movement on federal politics can only help the functioning of the government. Duceppe's head will probably roll for their failures, which is a shame because he seems like a smart and balanced politician.