I think we have to admit from time to time that Westminster-style parliamentary democracy can have a schizoid quality. Canadians voted in a general election last night amidst an atmosphere of looming dread and economic panic. We were obviously desperate for safety and stability: voters of the left-wing luxury-beliefs parties turned against their leaders, and toward Mark Carney, with the savagery and single-mindedness of Cossacks having a pogrom. (Sympathy for federal New Democrats isn’t a natural impulse for me, but hoo boy. Some of those riding totals, man.)
