Not enough seats in Parliment to make radical change, but still scary that Canada would choose to vote for "better ties with Washington".
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadians elected their first Conservative government in 12 years, but gave the party a far-from-decisive mandate to push through its agenda of tax cuts, extra military spending and better ties with Washington.
The Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, will have 124 seats in the Canadian Parliament, 30 below the 155 needed to form a majority. But they will still be 21 seats ahead of the ruling Liberals, who came across as tired, jaded and out of ideas in a two-month election race.
Opinion polls had pointed to a Conservative minority. But the number of Conservative seats was somewhat below forecasts, pointing to an unstable government unlikely to last for long.
Minority governments in Canada rarely last longer than 18 months. The outgoing minority Liberal government stayed in power for 17 months before it was defeated in November 2005 over a kickback scandal.
Unlike the Liberals, who governed with the help of the left-leaning New Democrats, the Conservatives have no natural allies in a four-party Canadian Parliament and will need to seek support from political rivals on an issue-by-issue basis.
Harper pledged to work with other parties to push through his agenda, which includes a cut in consumption taxes and a balanced budget.
The Conservatives won 36.3 percent of the popular vote and the Liberals won 30.2 percent, their second worst showing since Canada gained independence in 1867.
Harper also vows to clamp down on crime, cut waiting times for health care and improve strained relations with the United States, with whom Canada has a number of trade disputes.
He says he will allow a free vote in Parliament about whether Canada should repeal laws that allow gay marriage.
"Get those gays!" Yeah, yeah, what else is new. But as Kos points out, the left still holds the majority power in Parliment.
Another weak government with little popular mandate. The Conservatives are not natural (ideological) allies of the Bloc (who agitate for Quebec's seccession from Canada), and certainly not of the leftist NDP who made dramatic gains this election. (Combined, the Canadian left, including the Greens, drew over 52 percent of the vote. And that's not including the Bloc, which is very leftist as well.)
So any major agreement will have to be done with compromise and cooperation.
Wow, what's that like?