Maybe it鈥檚 the dirt.

Maybe it鈥檚 the weeds that grow out of the dirt, taking the nutrients away from all the plants that are supposed to be there, working hard and producing something worthwhile.

Or maybe it鈥檚 the stuff we put on veggies and flowers to try and make them grow better.

I鈥檓 not sure which of those it is鈥� or maybe all of them.

But there鈥檚 something about gardening that makes me think of politics.

This past weekend Canada鈥檚 Conservatives managed to steer themselves away from electing one of several Donald Trump clones who wanted to lead their party.

Phew!

Much as I鈥檇 like to believe Canadian voters are more politically savvy than our American counterparts, I also firmly believed Americans couldn鈥檛 possibly be foolishly ignorant enough 鈥� in this day and age 鈥� to elect as their president a reality television buffoon with no actual political experience, no actual campaign platform, no actual economic vision, no human decency, no respect for women, no understanding of the complexities of government, no familiarity with their blessed constitution, no鈥� oh heck, no brains.

Since that also sums up most of the power-seekers who were expecting to run Canada through the Conservative Party, I guess ending up with someone described as 鈥淪tephen Harper with a smile鈥� is as good as we can expect to get out of the bottom of a box of Crackerjacks.

But if you鈥檙e afraid that the country will be plunged into a cold bucket of social conservatism just as soon as the next writ drops and Canadians 鈥� not just die-hard party Conservatives 鈥� go to the polls, consider this. Andrew Scheer 鈥渨on鈥� the leadership by less than a full percentage point after 13 鈥� count them: 13 鈥� ballots.

With that narrowest of victories, he now has the job of selling the Conservative Party to Canadians who recently dumped the prime minister that he is most being compared to.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must be shaking in his boots鈥� or more likely, doing the jitterbug in his softest leather shoes.

At the other end of the table, the leadership candidates seeking to replace Tom Mulcair at the helm of the federal NDP have begun debating at each other.

For those who think Mulcair was a step down from the late Jack Layton, you really need to dig a lot deeper.