Stephen Harper at last has a governing majority after a dramatic election defeat for the LIberals, and even more stunningly, the separatist Bloc Quebecois.

Having governed so successfully in minority governments I wonder whether he'll find it hard to control his party's hubris now they at last have a majority. 

The near elimination of Bloc Q reminds me that pre-emptive pessimism may avoid disappointment, but that does not make it reliable.

Some years ago Canada seemed to be headed to permanent decline. Pandering to Bloc Q had sapped morale, the left controlled the Canadian media and intellectual life, and the dry economics of Stephen Harper were seen as doomed to rejection.

I'm optimistic that New Zealand will similarly  confound the pessimists though I'm not sure yet whether we've found our Stephen Harper.