The NDP may have gained unprecedented power within the opposition last night, but that opposition lost much of its power as the Conservatives were able to edge themselves, due to the vagaries of our "first-past-the-post" system, into a comfortable majority. As this analysis puts it, they'll be able to ram through pretty well anything they want -- and expect them to ignore the fact that they still represent less than 40% of those who voted, and 24% of the electorate overall.
Some foregone conclusions: expect no action on environment, wasted money on jets and jails, permanent consolidation of the corporate right as the Cons continue to cut corporate taxes, stock the Supreme Court with their own and kneecap other parties by eliminating their per-vote election subsidy. The CBC and Canada Council are, of course, vulnerable to similar crippling... expect widening holes in our social security net and economic inequalities -- and their related social ills -- to intensify.
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