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Feb 19,2006 - Feb 26,2006 |
Conservative Stephen Harper wins minority government
Tories 124, Liberals 103, Bloc 51, NDP 29
By Angelo Persichilli
Originally Published: 2006-01-29
Many had forecast a minority government, and so it went. Actually, the margin of victory has been very narrow, but sufficient to bring to an end 13 years of Liberal rule and give Stephen Harper's Conservative Party a shot at governing the country.
There was no landslide and Grits managed to contain Tory gains, but this happened partly to the detriment of the NDP, which gained seats but not as many as its leader Jack Layton might have hoped.
A particularly disappointing performance came from Bloc Québecois. The separatist party continues to dominate the Francophone province in terms of seats won, but Gilles Duceppe managed to lose ground even on what the Bloc had obtained in previous elections, losing a handful of seats.
Conservatives won 124 MPs (+24); Liberals conserved 103 (-31). The Bloc got 51 (-4); the NDP won 29 (+10).
Percentage-wise, Tories got 36.5%, Grits 30.1%, Bloc 10.5%, NDP 17.4%.
The first leader to comment was Prime Minister Paul Martin who handed the lead of the country to Stephen Harper with a phone call as soon as the results became known.
Martin also said that he does not intend "to lead the party in another election."
The result is almost a mirror image of 2004, when Liberals came out leading by a narrow margin over Conservatives.
Taken together, Liberals and NDP have more seats than Conservatives, but Martin dismissed any hint that he may be tempted to ask the Governor General to form a new minority government with support from the NDP.
As regards Harper, he's won an important victory, especially considering that a few months ago he was seen as a losing leader, soon to be replaced. Anyway, in the light of the expectations of the past weeks, several people feel a bitter aftertaste; they had expected a wider margin. Particularly disappointing was the result in Toronto; once again, the city remains a Liberal stronghold.
NDP has increased its seats in Ottawa, and Jack Layton's wife Olivia Chow will now join him on the benches, having defeated - at her third attempt - Italian-Canadian Tony Ianno. Two other Italian-Canadian Liberal ministers have also lost their races: Tony Valeri in Hamilton and Liza Frulla in Montréal.
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