Conservative leader Stephen Harper: Canada's 22nd Prime Minister

Canada has spoken and it speaks minority Conservative. When I got up this morning the sky seemed to be lower than usual. Under an atmosphere of soot and grey matter I had a hard time making sense of where I was. Orienting myself was the least of my concern when I noticed a giant glass bubble being erected in my area as tanks rolled in. Tiny little gnomes pranced with black flags in a display of giddy arrogance. A sudden knock on my door broke my shock. A beautiful woman with a lizard's tongue speaking in a baritone voice curtly demanded "We are rationing peanut butter. Sign." Just as she was turning to leave she looked out of the corner of her eye and said "And if you are gay...watch out. We don't like happy people."

Ok, it wasn't quite like this but parts of the media certainly painted such a picture in the event of a Stephen Harper victory. What will be interesting to note moving forward just how accurate they were - I learned long ago to go opposite of what the media says whenever they take a 'principled stand.' The backlash against Harper did not quite reach the insidious pitch seen in the U.S. with Bush, but for Canada it was close enough. For those spooked by the Conservatives, don't look now as North America has a blue blanket covering it now.

I have no idea how this will play out. From my years of observing politics, it can only be a good thing for Canadian Federalism. Canada has stagnated and was managed by the Liberals like a retail supply shop. Painstaking care was given to ensuring the credits and debits balanced that they forgot to man the store and listen to what the people needed and were saying.

The Tories, for their part, made important (if not remarkable) inroads in Quebec (where contradictory nuances continue to baffle analysts) and do indeed have a different perspective on what Canada should be like.

The first order of business is to bring back accountability which can begin the process of narrowing the democratic deficit the Liberals punctured. For too long I listened to the Liberals arrogantly push the notion that they alone stood for Canadian 'values.' Until this day I still have not figured out what those values are. To many, it's the tired cliches of peacekeeping, multiculturalism and other mythical inventions that were never truly part of the Canadian political cultural heritage.

By contrast, the Tories called for people to 'stand up for Canada.' Again, this nationalist cry eluded me. Stand up for what exactly? The country is more divided than it's ever been. Alienation seems to be a word particular to our lexicon - Western, Quebec, Native, beaver whatever. Everyone feels alienated. Still, Calgary spoke to me more than my native Montreal or my sister city Toronto. Where pseudo-sophistication came at the expense of innovative governance.

The power shift away from Montreal and Toronto is particularly important. Calgary and the province of Alberta have been byfar the most successful and prosperous region ushering in an entrepreneurial spirit long forgotten in a place that has come to depend on government assistance a little too much. Quebec, for its part, is what we call a have-not province but is extremely experienced in exacting a disproportionate amount of power on Canada. For 40 years they set the agenda.

No longer. Furthermore, judging by the results in this province, another myth - the myth of the will of the Quebec people nationalists claim to speak for - has once again defied their political masters who seek to destroy rather than construct. I still don't know where they got their Will-O-Meter.

Quebec is so out and Alberta is in. Far fetched and fancy rhetoric explaining how the Bloc Quebecois failed to attain its magical 50% plurality notwithstanding, the fact remains that the independistes movement was dealt a wake up call. C'est fini. Enough is enough.

As for the Liberals, they were spanked but not as hard as I would have preferred. They needed to be sent a clear hard message to wipe out those smirks off their arrogant faces. I'm not so sure they got the message.

In any event, Harper has his mandate and he deserves a fair shot. Rather than seek boogey-men, Canadians have to judge by what action he takes. Not by some difficult to prove 'hidden agenda' his party may or may not have. Save the Skull and Bones stuff for later.

For the record, I got up this morning and the sky was where it has always been and there weren't any freaks running around - except for my neighbour. But that's another story.