Conservatives Win Majority Government in Canada

[Toro]

well done Harper, congrats Toro and all you great white northies...


*cough cough*..

Despite its reputation for leaning left, Canada has been economically opening and liberalizing since the mid-1990s. Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993 and later that decade, as the Canadian dollar swooned, the Liberals were forced to begin cutting federal spending.

Yet Liberals were only willing to go so far in shrinking Ottawa's bureaucracy. Enter the Harper government in 2006. It made tax cuts, a strong national defense and rationalizing government its priorities. And it made good on those promises. On January 1, 2008 Canada's general sales tax fell to 5% from 7%. Mr. Harper has also cut the federal corporate tax rate, which is now 16.5% and is scheduled to fall to 15% in 2012. (Add in provincial corporate rates of about 10%.) The U.S. federal rate alone is 35%.

Canada avoided America's housing mania and meltdown, but as our biggest trading partner it shared some of our economic pain. Conservative policy—low taxes and a willingness to allow the exploitation of rich oil and mineral deposits—has been a life saver for a small economy heavily integrated with the U.S. Its GDP grew by 3.3% last year, compared to America's 2.9%, and it now takes $1.05 to buy a Canadian dollar.


I am packing my bags....


Toro, are you worried about this, is it credible(?);

The bad news here is that Canada's extreme left is now the opposition party, suggesting a sharper ideological polarization more typical of America. New Democratic leader Jack Layton moderated his populist tone during the campaign but the party's official "constitution," as reported on in the Canadian press, is anything but moderate. It includes references to "the extension of the principle of social ownership" and promises to increase government control of the economy in the interest of social justice and the environment. If the Tories mess up, the NDP would be poised to take the country sharply to the left.


all from-
Review & Outlook: What Canadians Want - WSJ.com

I stopped reading WSJ editorials about Canada a long time ago because the editorial board is pretty clueless about the country.

Unlike the American right, the Canadian right is not all tax cuts all the time. However, the Tories are seen as generally competent on the economy. They were criticized somewhat by conservatives for increasing spending and increasing the deficit, but Canada generally escaped the crisis that befell America. I think that is partly good management but also partly luck. I can send you a broader piece on why I think that happened, and why I think things are more dangerous in Canada than perceived if you are interested