Tories, NDP and Greens all make history
Posted May 3, 2011 6:55 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has sealed his place in the history books, rolling to his third consecutive Conservative election win.
This is the first majority government for the Conservatives since 1988, thanks to a remarkable showing in Ontario.
Harper joins Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, and 1950s-era John Diefenbaker as just the third Tory to prevail in three consecutive federal votes.
In the process, he’s also delivered an historic defeat to Canada’s once “natural governing party,” as Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals tumbled to third place in the seat standings behind the NDP.
The New Democrats, who had hoped to ride a mid-campaign surge of support to an orange revolution, become Canada’s official Opposition for the first time.
The Conservative run started in Atlantic Canada, where the Tories overtook the Liberals in the popular vote and added three of the 12 additional seats needed to ensure solid control of Parliament.
Nationally, the Conservatives had 38 per cent of the vote, compared to 30 per cent for the NDP and 28 for the Liberals.
Jack Layton’s NDP surged to unprecedented levels in Quebec after the leaders’ debate and appeared to gain momentum across Canada in the last two weeks of the campaign.
History was made in the British Columbia riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands, with Green leader Elizabeth May defeating Tory cabinet minister Gary Lunn.
May focused virtually her entire campaign on the riding in her attempt to gain a voice inside the House of Commons, which will be realized.
