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Canada: Pluralistic, Progressive and above all, Peaceful
In the US, the term progressive is usually attributed to Democrats, not Republicans. In Canada, the term was used by conservatives to veil their Progressive Conservative (PC) party platform. Over time, the PCs merged with the even more right-wing Reform party to gain some critical mass in a largely liberal, left-wing nation, but if the results of Canada's 2004 national elections are any indication, the minority victory of their rival Liberal party firmly reiterated Canada's place in the world as a pluralistic, progressive and above all, peaceful nation.
Going into Monday's night elections, the polls and pundits expected the Conservative party to eke out a Minority government, not in large part to their actual platform, but rather because many felt that Canadians would be outraged by the so-called federal sponsorship scandal that embroiled the Liberty party and the twilight of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's tenure. The cynics and doomsayers felt that Canadians would be so outraged that they would send a loud and clear message to current Liberal PM Paul Martin and send him packing out of 24 Sussex Drive, and replace him with the right-leaning Conservative leader Stephen Harper and his platform. In the end, when the votes were tallied, not only did the Conservative party not manage to secure a victory, but the Liberals performed fairly well, securing their own minority government.
Moore Effect
Incidentally, one factor that many people failed to account for was the so-called Moore effect, no, not Moore's law, but Moore' effect, Michael Moore that is. Maybe that is giving the Flint, Michigan filmmaker too much credit, but it is not too small of a factor considering that Mr. Moore threw his hat into the fray, warning Canadians to avoid going down the same route - voting for a Right wing government - that now finds Americans embroiled in a war with no end, a war on terror that is eating up freedoms and liberties. It is also not a coincidence that one of the major issues Canadians had with the Conservative agenda was its support for the so-called War on Terror, now in Phase 2 (of... pick a number) in Iraq.
All is Not Quiet on the Eastern Front
Also of note was the somewhat not surprising outcome in Quebec, where the Bloq Quebecois managed to secure a fourth consecutive majority in Quebec, something that no party has been able to muster in any province over that stretch of time. If anyone ever doubted that Quebec is for all intents and purposes a distinct society, they need not look further.
What was rather suprising, was that - at least on this evening - Bloq leader Gilles Duceppe did not hint at an immediate, impending sovereignty referendum, rather, he stated that Quebecers' needs and wants could only be answered by the Bloq, and that the province had effectively sent a message to Canada by voting for a party whose mandare is Separation from the rest of Canada.
If this wasn't a cold shower on the Liberal's victory, then the fact that the Bloq has fine-tuned its PR skills by moving away from the "ethnic vote and money" stigma permeated by Jacques Parizeau should be.
Arguably for perhaps the first time ever, Mr. Duceppe stated that the Bloq was not a party for "pure-laine" Quebecers only, that it was a party that would make even Michael Jackson proud (color doesn't matter, not that it wants to target children), arguing that Quebec was not a superior society or culture, but merely a different one, one whose people could only be served by a nation of Quebec.
In the end, the Conservative party did make a splash, especially in the West where they were expected to, and a decent result in Ontario, Canada's largest province), the left-wing NDP also showed that indeed Canada is a gentler, more compassionate country that its cousins from the South... but in the end, the message sent around the World seemed one intended more for the situation around the World than the one within the country.