This is Canada's 2004 "Bush re-elected" moment

I am today gripped by and reminded of the same sadness and despair that so many of us felt when the majority of American voters, in their (lack of) wisdom, decided that the world needed 4 more years of George W Bush. I think Harper will be every bit as bad for Canada as Bush was for the world and for his country, and there won't be anything that Jack and the NDP will be able to do to stop him. Harper has a majority, and in our system, this means the oppos has close to zero power over anything.

There is one quite disturbing thing for me in the results of this campaign I haven't quite yet sorted out, which is how the CPC seems to have been the only party that understood how right-wing much of our "new Canadian" immigrant population now is. After decades of emphasizing economic (i.e. well off and educated) immigrants, and the resettlement of their relatives, it appears we now have an immigrant population that is fairly affluent, and very right-wing in its views on economics, social policy, and even, yes, on democracy itself.

So the immediate prospects aren't all that good. For me, my major decision now is a) whether to remain active in politics, or to just move my focus (even temporarily) to other aspects of life over which I can exert control, and b) if I do stay active, do I do so as a Liberal wanting to push a merger with the NDP, or as an NDP supporter wanting to push a merger with the Libs? I'd be comfortable in either role, but I'm not sure either party understand the need to merge, and I'll need time and events to help me sort that out.

So that's how I see it. The results of this election are a disaster for the kind of Canada I want, and I expect that we will spend a lot of time in the next few years watching things that matter a lot to us as Canadians just disappear from the new world of Harper we now inhabit. Jack will shout a lot and make noise about how bad this all will be, but he can't do anything to stop Harper, and I doubt he will support a merger of any consequence, since he now feels triumphant.

Maybe I'll just check back in a few years to see how it's all worked out. I'm intersted in how others might feel today about all this.

I am depressed and apprehensive as to what the next 4 and a half years will bring us from a government that was already behaving in an autocratic and dictatorial manner before it even had a majority. I expect that Harper and his hangers-on will now be unrestrained in their actions, even though a large portion of society didn't vote for them. They have proven time and time again they don't play well with others and now they have no need to. I expect women, youth and minorities to suffer. My son (23 and a graduate) is already talking of leaving Canada for Scandinavia. Fortunately for my family, we are dual nationals and have other options.

Perhaps the next 4 years will wake up his followers but I don't hold any great hopes for that happening. I don't know what it would take to open their eyes. The odious Oda, who, were she a regular person like you and I, should have been in jail for her actions, gets re-elected. It seems that our northern tea-partiers would re-elect the Cons even if they were caught diddling a 5-year old on Parliament Hill. I despair.

I couldn't keep my eyes open, so I went to bed fully expecting Kerry to win (he was winning when I went to bed). The first thing I did when I woke up was check CNN.com, and my mouth just dropped as soon as I saw the big red BUSH WINS RE-ELECTION banner. As horrible as that moment felt, this feels 10x worse. I don't know what horrors await us during the next 5 years, but I am hoping with all my soul that the leadership of both the liberals and the ndp have begun to realize that a merge is the only possibility, especially as Harper will inevitably get rid of the per vote subsidy.

Quit!

Expect Harper to really start de-funding the CBC. Without an informed population his actions will be easier to achieve down the road.

My outlook is quite bleak now.

Without federal funding for the parties, I expect to see corporate funding returning. Which will pretty much mean the death of the real NDP.

The NDP now has to adopt a strong Quebec Nationalist voice or they will quickly dissolve in Quebec. Harper's extreme right philosophy will quickly alienate Quebec. There is now no counterweight other than Ontario.

With the North American perimeter deal coming up, what is left of our sovereignty will disappear.

Seems like the only counter weights left are the provincial governments.

Again. Don't quit. That would be Harpers' ideal.