Canadians reclaim their country from Stephen Harper: Siddiqui thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/10/22/canadians-reclaim-their-country-from-stephen-harper-siddiqui.html “Ideology doesn’t hobble most Canadians the way it does Americans. A liberal or a progressive conservative could vote for a Bill Davis, a Brian Mulroney or a Jean Chrétien. In 2011, I endorsed Jack Layton.” It appears that Haroon Siddiqui is back as a regular columnist. If so; welcome back. He was always one of my favourite columnists –for good and bad.  In today’s column I can find nothing to criticize. Like a Blue Jay; he hit the ball right into the park. His comment, quoted above, is right on the mark. We are different from most Americans –and from most other counties in our ability to tolerate and absorb different cultures and traditions –religious and social. We might not like it, but we “defend their right to be different” –to paraphrase a comment usually attributed to Voltaire. We seem to have avoided –largely –the polarization observed in the U.S. Probably, our style of governance has much to do with that. I too, voted for Layton. I also supported Mulcair in the beginning. I liked his style; and I was somewhat taken aback by some rather foolish statements and poor choices made by Trudeau in the early part of the race. e turned out to be a fast learner; though no doubt profiting from some rather serious N.D.P. mistakes; particularly in Quebec. There, the niqab was a real wedge issue; but rather than switching to the Harper; they –mostly –chose Trudeau as the alternative; voting strategically to oust the Conservative Napoleon wannabe. The saddest and almost maudlin moment was when he brought in the Ford mafia to help bailing his sinking ship. Politics don’t get more revoltingly bathetic than that. Ultimately, it matters little. Nero fiddled, but Rome didn’t burn. A new political day is born.