Respected columnist for the Toronto Star, Chantal Hebert, pointed out recently how closely aligned politically Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff have become.

The Liberals and the Conservatives jointly wrote the current marching orders of the Afghan mission. Their Canada-U.S. agenda has never been as similar. Six months later, the Liberals have yet to say how their plan to deal with the recession would differ from Stephen Harper’s. The two parties are working together on EI reform.

Ms. Hebert says that this is leading to a stable policy environment, a positive development for some, even though the House of Commons is unstable politically.

But for those people who are seeking an end to the military mission in Afghanistan, this kind of “stability” will result in billions more public dollars wasted and countless lives ended or shattered because of the bipartisan support for this failing mission.

Ms. Hebert points out that minority governments have tended to pull politics to the Left, but it is clear that unlike Stephane Dion, Michael Ignatieff sees the Liberal Party’s growth potential among Conservative voters. As a result, he will tilt his party to the Right, and therefore Canadians could be fighting and paying for the war for a very long time.