With the election of a majority Conservative government, Canadians have opted for what must have seemed to many of them to be the promise of political and economic stability. Much of this will turn out to be an illusion. We are challenged to ask what the next several years are likely to bring as Harper extends his command and control approach to governing this country. To begin, the deficit will take at least a decade or more to be eliminated, as opposed to the four years being put forward. Harper also will appoint four of the nine members of a progressively more conservative Supreme Court. All the opposition parties will be ignored since a majority gives Harper a completely free hand to do as he pleases. The politics of fear and loathing has won the day in this country, and its masters will continue to attack the reputations of those who show the strength of their convictions. People who otherwise might have disagreed with the Conservatives are now even less likely to speak out. Intimidation and public humiliation are now understood to be the reward for those to dare to speak the truth. This parliament will no longer have to worry about what people think as right-wing ideology and manufactured census data will routinely become the measure for funding. None of this is new to the Conservative party which for the past several years has systematically undermined many of our democratic freedoms, or has attacked or vilified those brave enough to oppose them. One day, perhaps a year or two from now, Canadians will wake up and recognize just how repressive their government has become, just how much it has hidden from sight or the things it has done in secret. Our democracy has entered a very dark period in its history, one likely to be affected for a generation or more.