The traditional labels that parties get are out of date it seems to me. For example what gov't has spent more than Harper? And the NDP parties in the west (Sask) have been some of the most efficient anywhere in the country. Ontario won't soon forget the tax and spend excesses of 1990-'95 . I guess it all comes down to the particular group at the head of the party in that period and the circumstances that matter. The only constant is change.