Canadians have elected a new, unprecedented parliament with the neoconservative Tories forming a majority government and the left-wing New Democratic Party taking the official opposition role. Stephen Harper has presided over a string of short-lived Parliaments that dissolved in various forms of acrimony, generally resulting from his attempts to pass extremist no-compromise legislation without a majority government. Now that Harper has his long-sought majority, it's bound to mean some pretty seismic changes for Canada.
Harper's majority is a pretty fragile one: the opposition vote was split between the NDP and the Liberals in Ontario, and doesn't make for much of a mandate. The poll numbers were low (though not as low as the record rock-bottom turnout in the last election).
Meanwhile, the Canadian Green party has its first MP: Elizabeth May took her home riding despite being shamefully shut out of the national debates organized by the country's major media outlets. May fared better than the Gilles Duceppe (leader of the Bloc Quebecois) and Michael Ignatieff (leader of the Liberals), both of whom lost in their home ridings.
The Conservatives were leading or elected in 165 seats, up from 143 at dissolution and comfortably ahead of the bare 155 needed to form a majority government.
The NDP was leading or elected in 103 seats, more than double its best historical tally. The Liberals were on track to be reduced to the lowest seat count in their history, leading or elected in just 35 seats.
New political era begins as Tories win majority, NDP grabs Opposition
(Image: Globe and Mail)
