Conservative candidates are generally clean-cut, pro-US (or at least not anti-US), pro tax cuts, pro government fiscal responsibility, pro-military, pro-small business, pro-morality. Can't say the same for the Liberals, not by a long shot. And DEFINITELY can't say it for the New Democrats (should be spelled DemoKrats) - a very, very left-wing party.
It's a strange situation here right now, actually. It's a very, very close election, from all indications. If Conservatives don't manage to pull off a win, they are set to do so the next time around (about four years)and would have the time to build up party strength and the solid backing of the people. They are pretty powerful in an opposition position.
If they DO manage a win - and they could - they would almost certainly form a minority government, and that would put them in the unenvionable position of having to fight hard for everything in their current platform, with a failed program perhaps triggering a vote of non-confidence, which could bring the government down and force another election.
Which could be okay - as long as enough time has passed for them to build up the necessary confidence of the electorate in them to win a majority that time around. A Conservative majority win could be really GREAT for this country, and our relationship with the U.S.
These are just my musings, and I suspect they will only confuse you, if you're not familiar with the way our weird government works.
We used to be a two-party system, but we now have Liberals, Conservatives (a joining of the former Progressive Conservatives and the Alliance Party), Progressive Conservatives who DIDN'T join with the Alliance, the New Democrats, the Quebec Bloc, and a few bits and pieces of parties, including, believe it or not, the Communist Party (although they never elect anyone). You have a right to be confused. I probably didn't help much.
Actually, this is helpful. I appreciate all the feedback.
I understood the different parties, but am less familiar with the constitutional details, which of course are very important. I think the U.S.'s separation-of-powers system serves us less well than it did at one time. However, coalition governments would be an awful drawback of a parliamentary system.
I caught a little of one of the debates. Harper seems pretty good.
By the way, was Robertson Davies a (small-c) conservative?
I'm finishing his Deptford Trilogy right now, and previously read another of his novels. I have the growing impression that he was somewhat right of center, at least culturally.
The Conservatives' aim for a permanent two party system. Unlike the Progressive Conservatives of the past, they're not interested in sharing Liberal spoils. They're interested in being permanent contenders for national power. If they win a minority Monday, their aim will be to work with other opposition parties on measures to put the Liberals in their place. No wonder Canada's once natural governing party is panicked. Imagine an end to the natural order of things and a Canada without the Liberals, who stradded the Left-Right divide in the country for decades, was an unthinkable proposition, until now. We may well be witnessing in the Liberals' loss of hegemony, the birth of a New Canada.