I knew it was happening. And I have opinions, and actually some knowledge. But not enough.
Here are my comments:
The Bloc Quebecois are far too single issue to actually have a chance of succeeding in anything but a spoiler status, and I feel that even in Quebec they are not going to poll particularly well.
The Liberals have left a bad taste in everyone's mouth, from the Adscam affair and failure to be strongly for any one set of ideals. Nonetheless they are the strongest single party, for anyone not possessed of strong and extreme opinions, and will probably be the largest single party in the new Parliament. But I doubt strongly they will get a majority.
The NDP are too far left to suit most Canadians, though their recent swing towards less stridency should benefit them. I expect them to pick up more than a few seats from moderately-left ridings.
The Conservatives had been positioning themselves as "Bushist Republicans with a Canadian accent" for far too long for their present "We're really not that extreme" campaign to convince many people. Nonetheless, there is something of a conservative backlash, resulting from the years of Liberal government that were less than inspiring. I expect them too to pick up more seats, mostly in the Prairie Provinces, but a few in Ontario and Quebec.
I don't see any of the smaller parties gaining any seats, or at least not more than one.
Result: Liberals with far less than a majority, Conservatives a strong second, NDP and BQ holding the balance of power. Probably the Government will end up as a Liberal/NDP coalition; a Liberal/BQ or Conservative/BQ coalition are less likely but possible scenarios.
