Susan, thanks again for these summaries.

In our electoral system, the way votes split is critical to the outcome. It is possible to win a majority (with near-dictatorial powers) with only 35% of the vote. The Conservative vote will probably be about the same as the last few elections (35-40%), but this time they may have fewer seats, which would open the possibility of them being pushed out by an NDP/Liberal coalition. This is probably Don's big fear, but I doubt that would change much about Canada's investment climate. While the NDP are left leaning, I wouldn't exactly call them socialists - and they would require the centrist Liberals for support.

This is just my view, but I don't give the Conservatives as much credit for Canada's economic circumstances as some people do. They inherited a large budget surplus, which they quickly squandered. Most people don't realize it, but they had already created a deficit before the recession. When the recession hit, they didn't even notice we were in one - the Liberals and NDP had to force them into the stimulus spending which helped minimize the recession.

Tomorrow should be an interesting day in Canada!