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Originally Posted by baraka_guru
What we do know is this: Harper has little concern with the political process if it gets in the way of what he wants, and now he has far more power. However, most of those who voted for him aren't as right-wing as he is and so he has to keep them in mind when he goes about his work.
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This is pretty much all we have to keep Harper in check. The swing vote in Canada is not insignificant. Many of those who voted Conservative this time are small c Conservatives that would have been comfortable voting Progressive Conservative or Liberal in the past. Canadians tend to vote in cycles and the current cycle has drifted right-ward in some key areas of the nation.
Canada lives in the centre but there wasn't much on offer in the centre. It will be interesting to see if the NDP, in their new role as opposition, drifts closer to the centre over the next few years. Layton has been known as someone who is willing to bi-partisan when it matter. He'd rather build than divide.
If Harper goes down the social conservative path and enacts laws against abortion, re-opens the same-sex marriage debate, or goes too far down the war and crime road that neo-conservatives love to travel, he will not be re-elected in 2015. I am with GreyWolf in the idea that Canadians were hungry for "stability" (I think this stability is a fiction but it's what people are buying into), but I cannot believe that the majority want our government to enact laws that threaten our socially liberal foundations... including national health care.