November 10, 2009

Conservatism is thriving - in Canada

Yesterday there was a special by-election in 4 ridings in Canada.  The ruling Conservative party won two of the four seats, one returning to them from a seat that had gone independent, and another a net new seat.  The other two seats were won by the respective incumbent parties.  The conservative government has edged slightly closer to majority territory in parliament, althugh they have not quite achieved that status yet and are governing with a minority that could be toppled by a coalition of other parties if they chose to do so.  The conservative party has no natural allies in parliament, although the other parties occasionally can unite, it has been uncommon of late.

The reason the out of power parties, especially the Liberal party, have not succeeded in uniting to topple the Conservatives is what current polling in Canada is indicating to them - that the Conseratives have edged slowly towards enough of an lead to win a parliamentary majority - the equivalent of a filibuster proof Senate in the United States.  In Canada, the Executive and Legislative branches of government are combined in parliament and the Senate, which is appointed and not elected, serves primarily as a rubber stamp body.

Meanwhile the the threat of a non-confidence motion in parliament by the opposition parties has subsided with the ebbing of popular support, particularly for Liberals.  Much like in the U.S., the Liberal party appears to be beset with people occupied with their own sense of self-importance, their own manifest destiny, as opposed to doing what's right for the nation.

Ironically, the currently leader of Canada's Liberal party, is viewed by many in Canada as an American.



In any case, conservatism in Canada is not at it's apex, but it's certainly ascendant. Clearly things are looking as well for conservatives as they have since prior to 1993.  It's unfortunate that the same cannot yet be said for conservatives in the United States.

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