Almost every day, with each successive poll, Stephen Harper is turning Canada's political landscape upside down. Canadians are mostly liberal, with progressive social views, who think budgets should be balanced and that US President George W. Bush was wrong about Iraq. Nevertheless, many voters seem ready to elect as their national leader a man who believes none of these things. How has this happened? Canada's fragmented political system has five significant parties that are all over the ideological map. One party can theoretically form a government with as little as a third of the popular vote. Also, voters are restless after the scandals and blunders of 11 years of Liberal Party rule. But Mr Harper deserves a lot of credit. This is his first national campaign as head of a new Conservative Party and he has surprised many with his leadership style. Low-key, avoiding mistakes and reining in his more extreme colleagues, he has crept ahead of the more experienced Prime Minister Paul Martin in the polls. With some adroit sleight-of-hand, Mr Harper has also advanced his party's right-of-centre agenda. The latest move came this week when he said Canada's hate-crime laws may need to be changed. Mr Harper never used the 'h' word, but the changes would make it easier for church and 'family values' groups to criticise homosexuality and same-sex marriages. His agenda has echoes of Mr Bush and Ronald Reagan. He wants deep tax cuts and increased military spending, while balancing the books. Impossible, chided The Globe and Mail. 'It makes nonsense of conservatism,' its editorial said, 'to ram through tax cuts that you cannot finance.' When he ventured into the unfriendly environment of Quebec, Mr Harper spoke serviceable French and denied he would dismantle Canada's policy of bilingualism. Urbanites make fun of Mr Harper's drab wardrobe and his old-fashioned haircut, but the Conservative leader knows the Canada of 2004 is not the Canada of the 1970s. Back then, Canadians were intoxicated with the flair of Pierre Trudeau. Today, they want something different. They want serious, sober government, a health system that works, moral probity and friendly relations with the US. Mr Harper has promised all this and more. Much of his social and economic agenda may go against the Canadian grain, but pollsters say the country seems ready to take a chance on change. The election will be held on June 28.