Satan defeated in Canada | World News |Axisoflogic.com

Editor's Note:
Stephen Harper (otherwise known as Satan or Shit Head) brought this defeat upon himself. As much as all politicians are merely actors on a stage, he was a constant reminder of the worst side of Canadians. He was divisive; he was racist; he was cruel; he was a whole lot of other negative adjectives (although, in fairness, he does like kittens).

But there is a palpable sigh of relief after the election results became obvious last evening - people even turned their channels away from the baseball game (Toronto won, by the way) to keep up with what was going on.

I have had offline correspondence with one of our regular readers, thnkfryrslf, a Canadian who lives in my home town. We couldn't have agreed more that almost anyone would be better than Satan as the leader of Canada.

He was magnanimous is his post-election speech, acknowledging the loss. And if there is one thing he was responsible for, it was mobilizing Canadians to get out and vote in numbers we haven't seen in decades - largely as a result of the sentiment that Canadians wanted Anybody But Harper as their Prime Minister.

He is stepping down as leader of his party as well. Sort of like a kid who goes home when he doesn't get his way.

Harper will be missed - but only in the same way you might miss a painful boil that has finally been lanced and drained.

prh, ed.

Canada's opposition wins historic elections

Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party sweeps to power, ending nearly a decade of Conservative Party rule.

Trudeau has pledged to run small budget deficits and spend on infrastructure to stimulate economic growth [Reuters]

Justin Trudeau is set to become Canada's new prime minister after his Liberal Party swept to power in general elections, ending nearly a decade of Conservative Party rule.

The Liberals seized a parliamentary majority, an unprecedented turn in political fortunes that smashed the record for the number of seats gained from one election to the next.

The Liberals had been a distant third place party in parliament before this election.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper conceded defeat, ending his government's nine-year run in power and the 56-year-old's brand of fiscal and cultural conservatism.

Trudeau, 43, the son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, pledged to run a $7.7bn annual budget deficit for three years to invest in infrastructure and help stimulate Canada's anaemic economic growth.

This rattled financial markets ahead of the vote and the Canadian dollar weakened on news of his victory.

Trudeau has said he will repair Canada's cool relations with the Obama administration, withdraw Canada from the combat mission against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in favour of humanitarian aid and training, and tackle climate change.

Trudeau vaulted from third place to lead the polls in the final days of the campaign, overcoming Conservative attacks that he is too inexperienced to govern and to return to the prime minister's residence in Ottawa where he grew up as a child.

"When the time for change strikes, it's lethal," former Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney said in a television interview.

"I ran and was successful because I wasn't Pierre Trudeau. Justin is successful because he isn't Stephen Harper," Mulroney added.

The Conservatives were projected to become the official opposition in parliament, with the left-leaning New Democratic Party in third.

Liberal supporters at the party's campaign headquarters broke into cheers and whistles when television networks projected that Trudeau would be the next prime minister.

"A sea of change here. We are used to high tides in Atlantic Canada. This is not what we hoped for," said Peter MacKay, a former senior Conservative cabinet minister.

The 11-week campaign was considered too close to call for nearly two months, a virtual tie between the Conservatives, Liberals and left-leaning NDP.

Trudeau, who took over a party in shambles in 2013, trailed early in the campaign, brushed off by his opponents as being more style than substance and an intellectual lightweight who was not ready for the job.

But a bold pledge to run a budget deficit and boost spending to spur the economy, as well as a positive message and his gregarious nature, helped the Liberals engineer a turnaround.

Up to 26.4 million electorates were eligible to vote in 338 electoral districts. About 3.6 million had already cast a ballot in advance voting a week ago.

Amid the issues raised during the campaign was a record influx of refugees fleeing war in Syria, a court ruling quashing a veil ban and a recession - crises that gave Canadians a chance to assess parties' reactions in near-real time.

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