"A change of government, not a change of country," was how Stephen Harper, the Conservative leader, described his party's victory to some 2,000 cheering supporters in his Calgary riding (constituency) in the early hours of January 24th. As he had throughout a seven-week campaign, he was at pains to deny his opponents' portrayal of him as a far-right clone of George Bush. Yet in some ways he sold his achievement short. True, a Liberal minority government will be replaced by a Conservative one with even fewer seats-just 124 of the 308 in the House of Commons. But Mr Harper's clever campaign has taken his party back to power after a dozen fractious years in the wilderness. Its arrival in government signals incremental policy change and— perhaps more importantly-shifts in Canada's political geography.
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