Excuse me as I use my blog to boost search rankings for this Georgetown Ontario fitness club, whose website and logo we just finished. Feedback welcome. And of course, if you’re looking for graphic design and/or copy writing for print or web, let me know.

Cons: 124 Libs: 103 BQ: 51 NDP: 29 Indy: 1

This is an open thread for discussion about the election now that the results are in.

Alevo just sent me an article about a payday loan company in Winnipeg that was charged with levying criminally-high interest rates:

Winnipeg police charged a payday loan company Thursday with levying criminal interest rates, and verbally accused payday loan companies across Canada of breaking the law. “All payday loans companies basically operate in the same manner,” said Winnipeg police detective Len Terlinski.

I wrote about this issue a year ago in a post called Easy Money. I wonder if these charges in Winnipeg will have any effect on payday loan companies across the country. I’m tempted to print out a copy of this article and bring it to my local PayDay loan companies for comment.

“CONSERVATIVE REVOLUTION IN CANADA” Michelle Malkin blares on her blog. “A nightmare of [the Liberals] own making”, “constructed out of the apocalyptic proclamations from America’s shattered left wing” blogs Angry in the Great White North.

The results aren’t in yet, but the gloating has already begun. Canada’s “shattered left wing” is being swept aside by the “conservative revolution”.

Or so we’re being told. By conservatives.

Assuming that the Tories will in fact win (it ain’t over til the, well, you know), what does it say about what Canadians want? Is this truly a conservative revolution?

The entire campaign revolved around Liberal corruption. The Libs were struggling with but overcoming Adscam. It wasn’t until the RCMP announced an investigation into possible insider trading in the finance ministry that the corruption charges really started to stick. Throw in a couple high-profile Liberal screwups (beer and popcorn) and the Libs started sinking.

So if the Conservatives win, they will clearly have a mandate to clean up government. The problem is that the Tories may win on ethics, but they will govern as if their mandate was much broader. That is when the truth of the claim that Canada is undergoing an American-style “conservative revolution” will be tested.

There’s no doubt that Canada’s conservatives are inspired by their American counterparts, so expect to hear more of the strident “liberal media – activist judges – four more years!” conservative call in the years ahead. But conservatives face an uphill battle here, a country that is fundamentally more liberal and open than the US.

The hard part for the Tories, after all, is just beginning. It’s easy to criticize, far harder to govern. Easy to bash the establishment, harder to defend the establishment, hardest of all to BE the establishment.

It’s especially difficult when faced by a chorus of opposition. Reports of the death of Canadian liberalism are greatly exaggerated, as the heralds of the “conservative revolution” will soon find out. Canadians everywhere are looking forward to having someone new to rake over the coals.

So enjoy your honeymoon with Canada while it lasts, neo-cons. The bill for all the champagne is already in the mail.

I duck out of my home office for a second and step outside to get my mail. Along with a couple of bills there’s a nice-looking flyer for a retirement home (delivered contrary to the large NO FLYERS label on our mailbox). It says “Winter is Here” in bold letters on a background of a snowy winter scene.

I look around.

The sun is shining and the air is warm. Birds chirp in a nearby bush. In our garden weeds are growing happily. Scattered clumps of tulips and daffodils are sprouting.

A large red and black beetle strolls across the sunbaked porch and heads for the flowerbox, where more plants are sprouting. I feel like laying back and getting a tan.

This is southern Ontario on January 19, 2006.

Whatever happened to winter?