I heard some comparisons of former prime minister Harper to Richard Nixon.  Some say this led to his downfall and dragged the party with him.

The similarity to Nixon is based on the senate fiddling, what he did know,did not know and the belief he lied about his involvement. However unlike Nixon, the Harper allegations were never proven.

How big a factor is the leader?

Are elections won or lost based on the populations trust and respect for the leader or is it the parties platform.  Probably a mix of both things.  That being said for Canada’s latest election clearly the lack of trust in the conservative parties leader led to the downfall.

Over time those with positional power can become arrogant.  Years of people trying to please you can lead to a false sense of security and a sense of omnipotence.   In democracies, once the majority of the voters percieve the leader has become arrogant and untrustworthy they toss them out.

This is what happened to Harper.

Will life in Canada change significantly

Many of the things that impact most of us,  job,  the economy, inflation are impacted by a wide multitude of factors and although governments have impact and influence on these things there is a limit to they ability to effect change.

Trudeau and his collegues in the liberal party have been offered the opportunity to create change, which was one of their platform promises, now it will be interesting to see how much they can change and how fast.

Personally I am looking forward to the legalization of marajuana and the associated government tax revenues.  But I am not holding my breath.