For Canadians are different from Americans, and we like it that way. We don’t think we’re exceptional; in fact, it’s rather important to us that we’re not, because that would imply that other nations are below par, which would be quite rude. We are a vast, cold country with a small population of about 36 million (Mr. Harper canceled the mandatory census, so we’re not sure about the number), and it is essential for Canadians to connect with and help one another. Mr. Trudeau understands that; Mr. Harper did not.

Mr. Harper fatally referred to “old-stock Canadians,” which was taken to mean “white” in a young country that has been peopled by immigrants, with many more being welcomed to come here. In his victory speech, Mr. Trudeau said definitively “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian,” a charming contrast to Mr. Harper’s classifications of lesser citizens.

It’s also too easy to say that Mr. Harper was dour and that the younger Mr. Trudeau was cheerful. Mr. Harper spent government money on a grand scale while cutting business and personal taxes. But money doesn’t come first here. We’re ambitious. We pay healthy taxes to support a national single-payer health care system, the jewel of our country.

We want more. As drug prices soar, we need a universal drug plan, too. It will have to be paid for, and a national plan will provide it in the cheapest and most efficient way. Mr. Harper wouldn’t do that. While handing out a great deal of pork, it sometimes seemed he killed more useful spending out of doctrinaire spite.

Take guns, and you may. We have rifles and other long guns but spend time alone with them in the woods to kill wild animals. What other purpose would there be for rifles? Our gun control included a national long-gun registry that assisted battered women and local police forces; Mr. Harper killed it, saying it was an invasion of privacy.

Mr. Trudeau is different. He is a better match for Canadians’ vision of themselves: peaceable, educated, emotionally stable, multicultural.

Mr. Harper always seemed like the unpopular kid standing on the sidelines planning his revenge on a nation. He wasn’t brilliant, he was cunning. He took his revenge. We’re done.