The horrible thing in my country is that an extreme right wing party (the Conservative Party) could come to power, with an absolute majority in parliament, with less than 40% of the electoral vote. Anyone who’s familiar with the parliamentary system - with no real division between the executive and the legislature - knows what that means. The Conservative Party aligns itself with - and follows the lead of - the U.S. Republican Party. It has introduced into Canada all that it has learned from the Repubs: the wedge issues, targeted ethnic communities, exaggerated fear of crime, hatred of government and taxes, contempt for science and inconvenient facts, etc.The constant bombardment of extreme right wing sentiment from the south has shifted the political alignment in Canada sharply to the right. It’s a real shame, but in the long run it’s a process that is almost impossible to fully stop or divert.I’ve got some friends (including more than one who’s gay) who plan to vote Conservative. I’ve been polite so far, but I’m finding it more and more difficult to discuss politics with them in a calm and dispassionate manner. I have started to avoid political discussions with some of them because I fear that the end result will be the end of a friendship. And that’s not right. So I guess I’ve got to calm down just a bit.