Harper ends 12 years of Liberal
dominance
 |
Stephen Harper -- Canada's 22nd Prime
Minister |
OTTAWA - To surprise of
many, Stephen Harper did it.
The leader of a party that appeared destined
for permanent opposition just two and a half years ago, has defeated
the mighty Liberal Party and Prime Minister Paul Martin.
It's the first time the Conservatives have tasted power at the
federal level in more than 12 years.
But Harper has been given a limited mandate, winning just 124 seats,
about 31 fewer than is needed for a majority.
The most surprising development in this campaign was the resurgence
of Conservative popularity in Quebec. Many had doubted the Tories
would win more than one seat before the election started, but Harper
and the Tories elected 10 MPs in ridings that were supposed to be
easy romps for the Bloc.
If there is a downside to the Harper win it is his party's inability
to win support in the country's three largest cities -- Toronto,
Montreal and Vancouver.
The U.S. has its red and blue states, and Canada appears to have
developed a similar split between rural and urban.
But it's not all negative. In the Ottawa region, the
Conservatives made gains winning two seats that had been held by
Liberals for years.
Overall, the election results show positive signs for almost all
parties.
Although it's not a majority, the Tories are in and no longer can
the Liberals make baseless accusations about how the country would
be totally different with them in charge.
For the Liberals, they lost power but they avoided the near wipe out
that many had predicted. And Martin has avoided creating a crisis in
his party by immediately announcing his intentions to not lead the
party in another election. For the Liberals it is an opportunity for
renewal.
NDP Leader Jack Layton is also a winner. Unlike pass NDP leaders who
cooperated with a Liberal minority, Layton and his party did not
lose seats in the subsequent election.
The only party that may have had a bad night is the Bloc Quebecois.
The Tory gains knocked out some popular Bloc MPs, including Odina
Desrochers and Richard Marceau. However, this could be offset by the
gains the Bloc made in Montreal, defeating Liza Frulla and Pierre
Pettigrew.
POLITICSWATCH'S ELECTION NIGHT STORIES
Tory minority
( January 24, 2006)
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper will become the 22nd prime
minister of Canada after his party won a minority government in Monday night's
federal election campaign. Prime Minister Paul Martin has conceded to Harper
and has announced he won't lead the Liberals in the next election.
Top Story: Networks give Tories a
minority
NDP : NDP makes gains, Liberal heavyweights go
down
Atlantic: Liberals hang on to key
seats in Atlantic Canada
Martin resigns
(January 24, 2006)
Prime Minister Paul Martin accepted defeat at the polls on
Tuesday morning and caused a gasp among his supporters in Montreal when he
announced he is stepping down as party leader.
Critics wrong
about Harper
(January 24, 2006)
Prime Minister designate Stephen Harper was a title many
snickered at in Ottawa as recently as eight weeks ago. PoliticsWatch looks back
at what some of Harper's critics had to say about his chances of winning.
POLITICSWATCH'S RIDINGS TO WATCH
Newfoundland
and Labrador
Newfoundland
and Labrador (7 ridings)
(Posted December 5, 2005)
Quebec
West
Montreal (9 ridings)
(Posted November 23, 2005)
Western
and Northern Quebec (10 ridings)
(Posted November 28, 2005)
Ontario
Central
Toronto (10 ridings)
(Posted November 17, 2005)
Northern
Ontario (10 ridings)
(Posted November 21, 2005)
B.C.
Vancouver
and the Northern Mainland (11 ridings)
(Posted November 11, 2005)
B.C
Interior (9 ridings)
(Posted November 15, 2005)
TERRITORIES
Territories
(3 ridings)
(Posted December 21, 2005)
:: PoliticsWatch
Story of the Election to Date |
|
>
Lobbyists can still get government grants under Harper
plan (January 13)
> Martin disowns Liberal candidate (January 13)
> Martin says he approved attack ads (January 12)
> Campaign
Nuggets Day 45: Belinda goes ballistic (January 12)
> Campaign
Nuggets Day 44: Private health care won't stop Martin's
notwithstanding plan (January 11)
> Clock ticking for Liberals (January 11)
> Who would be in a Harper cabinet? (January 10)
> Martin, Layton, Duceppe go after Harper in debate
(January 10)
> Campaign
Nuggets: Secrets of Option Canada revealed (January 9)
> Martin defends grant under investigation
(January 6)
> Campaign
Nuggets: Liberal asks opposition to stop making
corruption allegations (January 6)
> Campaign Nuggets Day 38: Spy vs Spy on the campaign
trail (January 5)
> Harper reaches out to Layton (January 5)
> Ask the RCMP, PM tells reporters (January 4)
> Campaign Nuggets Day 37: Brison says Tories not
entitled to "Entitlements" ad (January 4)
> Market watcher doubts ITscam will affect confidence
in Canada (January 3)
>
Campaign Nuggets Day 36: Harper defends use of lobbyists
(January 3)
>
Campaign Nuggets Day 23: PM says Liberals back on
government payroll better work next week (December 21)
>
Campaign Nuggets Day 22: Layton: Toronto a one-party
state (December 20)
> NDP asks U.S.
authorities to investigate NYSE trading (December 19)
> First series
of leaders debates (December 16)
> Campaign Nuggets Day 18: Notwithstanding the debate
confusion ... (December 16)
> Campaign
Nuggets Day 17: Copps says Martin opposed Kyoto (December
15)
> Iran: The most
important non-election issue (December 15)
> Campaign
Nuggets Day 16: Harper promises elected Senate (December
14)
>
Harper asked to explain position on Iraq (December 13)
> Campaign
Nuggets Day 15: Bashing better than a Buzz for Martin (December
13)
>
Harper's use of lobbyists criticized (December 12)
> Campaign
Nuggets Day 14: Food for thought on beer, popcorn and
Skittles (December 12)
> Campaign
Nuggets Day 11: PM in White House dog house (December 9)
> Martin proposes handgun ban (December 8)
> Campaign
Nuggets Day 10: Seniors group denies being leaked
finance info (December 8)
> Harper urges
Liberals not to destroy income trust documents
(December 7)
> Campaign Nuggets Day 9: Layton proposes Belinda
bill (December 7)
> Layton getting
lost in strategic shuffle (December 6)
> Campaign
Nuggets Day 8: eBay pulls plug on vote-buying
auction (December 6)
> Campaign
Nuggets Day 7: PM says Lapierre was just reacting
(December 5)
> Elections Canada sees no problems with Blogs during
election (December 2)
> Campaign
Nuggets Day 4: Is Harper George W. Bush's late Christmas
gift? (December 2)
> Duceppe's
Dream Team (December 1)
> Campaign
Nuggets Day 3: Financial Times criticizes free-spending
PM (December 1)
> Campaign
Nuggets Day 2: Oh, you mean that Omni (November 30)
> Opposition parties question patriotism of Martin's
family company (November 30)
> Conservatives
on wrong side of every national issue (November 29)
>It's
official: January 23 is election day (November 29)
>Harper says he will revisit gay marriage (November
29)
>Martin government defeated (November 28)
>Gomery Parliament comes to an end (November 25)
> Harper alleges Liberals worked with organized crime
in Adscam (November 24)
> "Mr. Volpe is a sleazebag" (November 24)
> ElectionWatch 2006 -- Confidence motion tabled (November
23)
> On eve of election, Liberals get tougher on
lobbyists (November 23)
> Adscam whistleblower to run for Tories (November
23)
> Martin plays hidden agenda card (November 22)
> Opposition parties pass motion calling for early
election (November 21)
> Minority Parliament appears to be in final days (November
19)
> Senior Tory unaware of plan to cut GST (November
18)
> MacKay fears Liberals will pull the plug (November
17)
>
Layton tables motion calling for an election (November
17)
> Goodale introduces
retroactive tax cut (November 14)
> Martin calls opposition motion untenable (November
14)
>
ElectionWatch (Updated November 14)
>
Non-confidence vote 101 (November 14)
> Opposition
leaders plot strategy (November 11)
> Martin doesn't have democratic authority to make
election promises, says Harper (November 10)
> Harper, Duceppe supportive of Layton's election
motion (November 9)
> Harper won't rule out supporting estimates (November
8)
>
Layton opens door to early election (November 7)
> Legislative Update: Opposition parties free to
bring forward confidence motions (November 4)
> Layton ups threats (November 2)
> Gomery exonerates Martin, blames Chretien,
Pelletier, Gagliano (November 1)
> Legislative Update: Gomery unlikely to bring down
the House (October 28)
> Layton calls meeting with Martin
disappointing (October 25)
> Martin says he's meeting, not bargaining, with
Layton (October 24)
> Martin says Yes to Layton (October 20)
> What Gomery read over the summer (October 14)
> Another session of scandal (October 11)
> Harper won't defeat government on energy bill
(October 5)
> Government delays confidence votes six weeks
(October 4)
> Harper says election timing up to Layton
(September 22)
> PM dares
Harper to work "hand-in-hand" with
Duceppe (September 16)
> Gomery delay means pre-election budget on the
way (September 12)
> Tory caucus prepares for sneak Liberal attack
(September 6)
> Will gas prices cost Liberals at the polls?
(August 31)
> PM denies writing off Quebec (August 25)
> How the West can be won (August 25)
> New TV ads show Harper being Harper (August
23)
> NDP prefers post-Gomery election (August 22)
> Liberal ministers invade Canada's North
(August 5)
> Martin dares Harper to make same-sex marriage an
election issue (June 29)
> Martin survives (May 19)
> "Betrayal" (May 17)
> Tories, Bloc shutdown Parliament (May 12)
> Harper, Duceppe demand vote, Martin says wait a
week (May 11)
> Motions
recommending Liberals resign passes (May 10)
> NDP saves Liberals from confidence vote (May
2)
> Harper declares war (April 27)
> Liberals, NDP reach budget deal (April 26)
> Embattled PM tries to buy time (April 21)
> Opposition puts forward non-confidence motion:
Martin to address the nation (April 20)
> Looking to avoid confidence vote, Liberals yank
opposition days (April 18)
> PM calls on Harper not to force an election
(April 8)
> Brault's tsunami of Liberal corruption (April
7)
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