Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have won a minority government in Canada with most stations reporting at this time. The Conservatives’ win ends 12 years of a Liberal government plagued by allegations of scandals in recent months.

Most major Canadian TV networks began to project a Conservative win at approx 3:30 a.m. UTCFile:Stephen Harper voa.jpg

Below are the current results for polls reporting, which are still subject to frequent change. Please note this includes both officially elected and leading candidates at this time.

This ends an unusually bitter campaign, with the Conservative and Liberals both launching harsh attack commercials against each other.

In response to the defeat, former prime minister Paul Martin has stepped down as leader of the Liberal party.

This early election stemmed from the ruling Liberal Party government’s loss in a motion of no confidence. The Liberal government has faced strong opposition from the NDP, Conservatives and Bloc Québécois as a result of an embarrassing sponsorship scandal.