Poll shock for Canada's liberal party
The Liberal Party lost its outright control of Canada’s Parliament early today but easily won the largest share of seats and will now try to lead the North American country’s first minority government in 25 years.
Though dogged by scandal, and pressed by a newly-unified Conservative Party, the Liberals prevailed by largely holding their ground in Ontario, the most populous province.
Projections by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation suggested the Liberals might win roughly 140 seats overall, short of the 155 needed to singlehandedly control the 308-seat House of Commons, but far more than the 90 to 100 seats the Conservatives were projected to win.
In Quebec, the Bloc Quebecois, which advocates independence for the French-speaking province, did well at the Liberals’ expense. The Bloc increased its share of Quebec’s 75 seats from 33 to more than 50.
The final polls taken before the election suggested the Liberals and Conservatives were deadlocked, and many analysts had predicted the Conservatives would win the most seats.
Thus the results, giving the Liberals a comfortable plurality, were a relief to Paul Martin, the 65-year-old Liberal leader who replaced Jean Chretien as prime minister last year.
The Liberals had won three straight landslide victories under Chretien, and there were signs during the campaign that many Canadians were disenchanted with the party and its recent entanglement in a financial scandal.
However, the results suggested a widespread reluctance to turn over power to the Conservatives’ relatively-untested leader, Stephen Harper, whose stances on tax cuts and social issues prompted concerns about unwelcome change.
