Harper foes, take heart. The NDP rank-and-file made good on the party's Opposition promise at last weekend's leadership convention. Both the process and the outcome have left Canada's progressive majority stronger and wiser in many obvious and also subtle ways.

The voting results are a hope elixir. How fantastically different this convention was from the surreal electoral choices we keep seeing south of the border and, sadly, in our own city. Isn't it nice to know that real democracy, in the hands of the country's biggest concentration of social equality advocates, adds up to collective brilliance? That kind of faith renewed packs the energy that might just get new people interested in voting.

Quebec. The NDP membership's primary concern is that the party hold its 58 Quebec seats in the next election: this determined the outcome of the leadership campaign that began officially September 15, 2011, and ended March 24. Party members sensed that Thomas Mulcair understands Quebec, could appeal to Quebecers, and believed he was the best choice to lead the party into the next election.