Oct
15
Harper win election
Filed Under General |
Stephen Harper’s Conservatives won a muscular minority mandate Tuesday night as Canadian voters entrusted the prime minister with the levers of government in tough economic times — but not a blank cheque.
The outcome saw the Liberals sink to their lowest level of popular support since the election of 1867 — and surely means a third change of leadership in five years for what was long dubbed Canada’s natural governing party.
Aided by vote-splitting in Canada’s most populous province, the Tories climbed to within a dozen seats of a majority. They did it without significantly boosting their share of the popular vote.
The Conservatives won 143 seats, up from 124 in the last election, while the Liberals were down to 76 from 103. The NDP was up by eight seats to 37, and the Bloc Quebecois shed one seat to 50. Two Independents also won.
In terms of vote share, the Conservatives got 38 per cent, the Liberals 26, the NDP 18, the Bloc 10, and the Greens 7.
Voter turnout was just 59 per cent, the lowest in federal election history.