Monday, May 02, 2011

Conservatives Win Outright Majority In Canada

It looks like the Conservative party in Canada will get a majority of seats in the Canadian parliament and be able to form a government for four uninterrupted years.
According to the latest from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Conservatives have 156 seats outright. Two over majority. And lead in 10 more. If that holds up, they should end up with 166 seats.
The stunner of the night is the surging left-wing New Democratic party and they are going to be the opposition party as they have 98 seats and are leading in six more. If that holds, they will have 104 seats in parliament. Most of the ND gains are at the expense of the Bloc Quebecois, the Quebec separatist party. They will be reduced to three seats in the upcoming parliament. And the ND also gained in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario.
The losers are the venerable Liberal party. Not as far to the left as the ND, they suffered the most humiliating defeat ever as they are assured of a minimal of 29 seats and lead in five. If they win the five outstanding, that will boost their anemic numbers to 34 seats.
For a detailed look at the key battleground areas of this election, The National Post has a handy guide here. It appears that the Conservatives gained a lot in Ontario and its gains are in and around the largest city, Toronto.
This is a very important election for Canada. In it, Quebec has rejected the separatism of the Bloc Quebecois for the outright leftism of the New Democratic Party. The same ND party has made enough gains outside Quebec to become the opposition party. The Liberal party is now a shell shocked hull of it old self. It is a distant third party. And the Conservatives will have an outright majority for the first time since they reorganized the old Progressive Conservatives and Reform party in the mid 1990s. And this party is a different one from that party. It is more decidedly conservative. And now in outright majority will govern accordingly.

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