Harper wins Tory minority government
Jan. 23rd, 2006 10:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ciroccojNo, not all the votes have been counted, but the election's pretty much done.
Total Elected and Leading so far...
Here's the post on CBC.ca:
Harper wins Tory minority government
Last Updated Mon, 23 Jan 2006 22:52:48 EST
CBC News
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper will become Canada's next prime minister, as Canadians have elected a Tory minority government and ended a 12-year reign of Liberal rule.
Nationwide, the Tories are currently leading or elected in 121 ridings, the Liberals in 101, the Bloc in 50 and 28 for the NDP.
The NDP also made major gains, leading or elected in 30 ridings, up 11 from the 2004 vote.
In Quebec, where they were shut out in 2004, the Tories were leading in 10 ridings, eight from the Bloc and two from the Liberals.
In vote-rich Ontario, the Liberals, who captured 75 seats in 2004, are leading or elected in 57 ridings. But the Tories increased their support and are leading or elected in 38 ridings, a gain of 14. The NDP is leading in 11 ridings, up four.
The province, a Liberal stronghold, has 106 seats and is considered the key to victory.
Both Liberal Leader Paul Martin and Conservative Leader Stephen Harper campaigned heavily in the strategic province.
The Greater Toronto Area continued to be painted mostly Liberal red, though, with candidates from the party either leading or declared elected in 35 ridings, compared to four for the Conservatives and four for the NDP.
In Quebec, the Bloc is elected or leading in 50 of the province's 75 ridings, followed by the Liberals with 14 seats. But the Tories were leading or elected in 10 ridings. In 2004, the Bloc received 54 seats, followed by the Liberals with 21.
Early the campaign, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe, who appeared to set an electoral goal of 50 per cent of the popular vote, focused his attacks on Martin. But with polls suggesting Conservative popularity soaring in the province, Duceppe began slamming Harper.
In the Atlantic provinces, the Liberals, who won 22 seats in the June 2004 election, had elected or were leading in 19 of the region's 32 ridings. The Conservatives, who were hoping to make bigger inroads in the region, were elected or leading in nine ridings, only a gain of two. But they did increase their popular support by 4.5 per cent since the June 2004 vote. The NDP maintained their seat count of three. In the last election, the Liberals took 22 seats, while the Tories picked up seven.
Former Tory turned Liberal Scott Brison, the public works minister, Geoff Regan, minister of fisheries and oceans and Conservative MP Peter MacKay, the party's deputy leader, were among the prominent candidates re-elected in the region.
All four major party leaders held on to their ridings.
* LIVE ANALYSIS: CBC.ca's Reality Check Team on election day developments
Many political observers have credited Harper for running a smooth campaign.
He regularly pumped out policy announcements throughout the unusually long 56-day campaign, leaving the Liberals mostly to react.
Martin campaigned on his record as finance minister and his implementation of eight consecutive balanced budgets. He also promised to lower personal income taxes, create a national child-care plan, ban handguns, subsidize post-secondary students and ban the federal use of the notwithstanding clause.
But he spent the last weeks of the campaign going after Harper. He accused him of having an extreme right-wing agenda that would threaten the rights of minorities and take away a woman's right to choose.
Unlike the 2004 election, the Tories were also able to keep their so-called controversial MPs in check. Indeed, reporters complained the party was purposely keeping some candidates away from the media spotlight.
In this campaign, it was the Liberals who were often in damage control mode.
In the early weeks of the campaign, Martin spokesman Scott Reid said parents would spend Harper's child-care subsidy on "beer and popcorn." Later, the Ontario vice-president of the party resigned after he compared NDP candidate Olivia Chow to a dog.
Martin was also questioned about a series of attack ads, in particular one that suggested Harper would post armed soldiers on the streets of Canadian cities.
And just last week, Martin again was on the defensive, having to declare Harper's patriotism after Canadian Auto Workers head Buzz Hargrove, who endorsed the Liberals, suggested the Tory leader was a separatist.
As Martin was forced to contend with the fallout of the sponsorship scandal, his party was hit with two RCMP probes, one into a possible government leak on income trusts and another into alleged illegal spending through the now-defunct unity lobby Option Canada. Opposition parties jumped on the investigations claiming it was proof of what they called more corruption in the Liberal ranks.
... and I am so freaking relieved.
No, I don't want a Tory government. But a minority has to work with the other parties in order to stay in power, so they actually can't steamroll their way through all obstacles, safe in the knowledge that they've got five years to do as they wish.
And in some ways, the Liberal fall from power is not a bad thing. There is such a thing as too much corruption in government. As a friend of ours pointed out, this at least puts in new politicians who will have to spend a few years getting to know their way around the system well enough to be able to be corrupt. Small mercies, you know?
Now I just have to get used to saying "Prime Minister Harper."
Gack. ::choke:: That's not going down so well.
Total Elected and Leading so far...
| Party | Elected | Leading | Vote Share |
| CON | 94 | 30 | 36.32% |
| LIB | 73 | 29 | 31.22% |
| BQ | 45 | 5 | 9.50% |
| NDP | 14 | 16 | 17.67% |
| IND | 1 | 0 | .47% |
| OTH | 0 | 0 | 4.73% |
Here's the post on CBC.ca:
Harper wins Tory minority government
Last Updated Mon, 23 Jan 2006 22:52:48 EST
CBC News
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper will become Canada's next prime minister, as Canadians have elected a Tory minority government and ended a 12-year reign of Liberal rule.
Nationwide, the Tories are currently leading or elected in 121 ridings, the Liberals in 101, the Bloc in 50 and 28 for the NDP.
The NDP also made major gains, leading or elected in 30 ridings, up 11 from the 2004 vote.
In Quebec, where they were shut out in 2004, the Tories were leading in 10 ridings, eight from the Bloc and two from the Liberals.
In vote-rich Ontario, the Liberals, who captured 75 seats in 2004, are leading or elected in 57 ridings. But the Tories increased their support and are leading or elected in 38 ridings, a gain of 14. The NDP is leading in 11 ridings, up four.
The province, a Liberal stronghold, has 106 seats and is considered the key to victory.
Both Liberal Leader Paul Martin and Conservative Leader Stephen Harper campaigned heavily in the strategic province.
The Greater Toronto Area continued to be painted mostly Liberal red, though, with candidates from the party either leading or declared elected in 35 ridings, compared to four for the Conservatives and four for the NDP.
In Quebec, the Bloc is elected or leading in 50 of the province's 75 ridings, followed by the Liberals with 14 seats. But the Tories were leading or elected in 10 ridings. In 2004, the Bloc received 54 seats, followed by the Liberals with 21.
Early the campaign, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe, who appeared to set an electoral goal of 50 per cent of the popular vote, focused his attacks on Martin. But with polls suggesting Conservative popularity soaring in the province, Duceppe began slamming Harper.
In the Atlantic provinces, the Liberals, who won 22 seats in the June 2004 election, had elected or were leading in 19 of the region's 32 ridings. The Conservatives, who were hoping to make bigger inroads in the region, were elected or leading in nine ridings, only a gain of two. But they did increase their popular support by 4.5 per cent since the June 2004 vote. The NDP maintained their seat count of three. In the last election, the Liberals took 22 seats, while the Tories picked up seven.
Former Tory turned Liberal Scott Brison, the public works minister, Geoff Regan, minister of fisheries and oceans and Conservative MP Peter MacKay, the party's deputy leader, were among the prominent candidates re-elected in the region.
All four major party leaders held on to their ridings.
* LIVE ANALYSIS: CBC.ca's Reality Check Team on election day developments
Many political observers have credited Harper for running a smooth campaign.
He regularly pumped out policy announcements throughout the unusually long 56-day campaign, leaving the Liberals mostly to react.
Martin campaigned on his record as finance minister and his implementation of eight consecutive balanced budgets. He also promised to lower personal income taxes, create a national child-care plan, ban handguns, subsidize post-secondary students and ban the federal use of the notwithstanding clause.
But he spent the last weeks of the campaign going after Harper. He accused him of having an extreme right-wing agenda that would threaten the rights of minorities and take away a woman's right to choose.
Unlike the 2004 election, the Tories were also able to keep their so-called controversial MPs in check. Indeed, reporters complained the party was purposely keeping some candidates away from the media spotlight.
In this campaign, it was the Liberals who were often in damage control mode.
In the early weeks of the campaign, Martin spokesman Scott Reid said parents would spend Harper's child-care subsidy on "beer and popcorn." Later, the Ontario vice-president of the party resigned after he compared NDP candidate Olivia Chow to a dog.
Martin was also questioned about a series of attack ads, in particular one that suggested Harper would post armed soldiers on the streets of Canadian cities.
And just last week, Martin again was on the defensive, having to declare Harper's patriotism after Canadian Auto Workers head Buzz Hargrove, who endorsed the Liberals, suggested the Tory leader was a separatist.
As Martin was forced to contend with the fallout of the sponsorship scandal, his party was hit with two RCMP probes, one into a possible government leak on income trusts and another into alleged illegal spending through the now-defunct unity lobby Option Canada. Opposition parties jumped on the investigations claiming it was proof of what they called more corruption in the Liberal ranks.
... and I am so freaking relieved.
No, I don't want a Tory government. But a minority has to work with the other parties in order to stay in power, so they actually can't steamroll their way through all obstacles, safe in the knowledge that they've got five years to do as they wish.
And in some ways, the Liberal fall from power is not a bad thing. There is such a thing as too much corruption in government. As a friend of ours pointed out, this at least puts in new politicians who will have to spend a few years getting to know their way around the system well enough to be able to be corrupt. Small mercies, you know?
Now I just have to get used to saying "Prime Minister Harper."
Gack. ::choke:: That's not going down so well.
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-24 04:18 am (UTC)*hugs*