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Results of the 2008 Canadian federal election

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2008 Canadian federal election
Canada
← 2006 14 October 2008 2011 →
Turnout58.8%
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
Conservative Stephen Harper 37.65% 143 +16
Liberal Stéphane Dion 26.26% 77 −18
Bloc Québécois Gilles Duceppe 9.98% 49 +1
New Democratic Jack Layton 17.48% 37 +7
Green Elizabeth May 6.78% 0 −1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Analysis of results by riding, together with comparisons from previous election and at dissolution.
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Stephen Harper Stephen Harper
Conservative
Stephen Harper
Conservative
Stephen Harper

The 40th Canadian federal election was held on October 14, 2008.

The Conservative Party of Canada, led by Stephen Harper, won a minority government. The Conservatives won 143 seats. The Liberal Party of Canada, won 77 seats. The separatist Bloc Québécois won 49 seats and the social-democratic New Democratic Party won 37. Two independent candidates won a seat, one each in Nova Scotia and Quebec.

Vote Total

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Rendition of party representation in the 40th Canadian parliament decided by this election.
  Conservatives (143)
  Liberals (77)
  Bloc Québécois (49)
  New Democrats (37)
  Independent (2)
National Results[1]
Party Seats Votes %
Conservative 143 5,209,069 37.65
Liberal 77 3,633,185 26.26
Bloc Québécois 49 1,379,991 9.98
New Democratic 37 2,515,288 18.18
Independent 2 89,387 0.65
Green 0 937,613 6.78
Christian Heritage 0 26,475 0.191
Marxist–Leninist 0 8,565 0.062
Libertarian 0 7,300 0.053
Progressive Canadian 0 5,860 0.042
No Affiliation 0 5,457 0.039
Communist 0 3,572 0.026
Canadian Action 0 3,455 0.025
Marijuana 0 2,298 0.0166
Rhinoceros 0 2,122 0.0153
Newfoundland and Labrador First 0 1,713 0.0124
First Peoples National 0 1,611 0.0116
Animal Alliance 0 527 0.0038
Work Less 0 425 0.0031
Western Block 0 195 0.00141
People's Political Power 0 186 0.00134
Total 13,834,294 100.00%

Vote and seat summaries

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Popular vote
Conservative
37.6%
Liberal
26.2%
NDP
18.2%
Bloc Québécois
10%
Green
6.8%
Others
1.2%


Seat totals
Conservative
46.43%
Liberal
25%
Bloc Québécois
15.9%
NDP
12%
Independents
0.65%

Gains and losses

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A visual representation of the seat changes occurring from 2006 to 2008.
Elections to the 40th Parliament of Canada – seats won/lost by party, 2006–2008
Party 2006 Gain from (loss to) 2008
Con Lib BQ NDP Ind
Conservative 124 22 (2) 1 (1) 2 (2) (1) 143
Liberal 103 2 (22) 2 1 (9) 77
Bloc Québécois 51 1 (1) (2) 49
New Democratic 29 2 (2) 9 (1) 37
Independent 1 1 2
Total 308 6 (25) 31 (5) 3 (1) 3 (11) (1) 308

The following seats changed allegiance from the 2006 election:

Results by electoral district

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Results by province

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Party name BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PE NL NU NT YT Total
Conservative Seats: 22 27 13 9 51 10 6 3 1 0 1 - - 143
Vote: 44.4 64.6 53.7 48.8 39.2 21.7 39.4 26.1 36.2 16.5 34.8 37.6 32.8 37.6
Liberal Seats: 5 - 1 1 38 14 3 5 3 6 - - 1 77
Vote: 19.3 11.4 14.9 19.1 33.8 23.7 32.4 29.8 47.7 46.6 34.8 13.6 45.3 26.2
Bloc Québécois Seats:           49               49
Vote:           38.1               10.0
New Democrat Seats: 9 1 - 4 17 1 1 2 - 1 - 1 - 37
Vote: 25.0 12.7 25.6 24.0 18.2 12.2 21.9 28.9 9.8 33.9 27.6 41.5 9.0 18.2
Green Vote: 9.4 8.8 5.6 6.8 8.0 3.5 6.2 8.0 4.7 1.7 8.4 5.5 13.0 6.8
Independent / No affiliation Seats: 1 1         2
Vote:     0.6   6.6;           0.7
  Total seats: 36 28 14 14 106 75 10 11 4 7 1 1 1 308

Atlantic provinces

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The Liberals won 17 seats in the Atlantic Provinces, the Conservatives ten, the NDP four, and Independent one. This is a swing of one seat from the Liberals to each of the other parties.

Newfoundland and Labrador

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Buoyed by the so-called "ABC Campaign", spearheaded by popular Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams, the Liberals won six seats and the NDP one. The Avalon and St. John's South—Mount Pearl seats changed hands from the Tories to the Liberals. The St. John's East seat changed from the Tories to NDP, as Norman Doyle retired. The change in Avalon was a crushing blow as the incumbent Fabian Manning was soundly defeated by the Liberals' Scott Andrews.

Results in Newfoundland and Labrador (Preliminary)[2]
Party Seats Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Votes % +/-
Liberal 6 1 91,025 46.75 +3.92
New Democratic 1 4 2 65,680 33.73 +20.16
Conservative 2 5 32,261 16.57 -26.13
Green 5 1 3,259 1.67 +0.77
Newfoundland and Labrador First 1 1 1 1,713 0.88 *
Progressive Canadian 1 578 0.30 *
Independent 1 179 0.09 *
Total 194,695 100%

Prince Edward Island

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The three Liberal incumbents have been re-elected. In the fourth riding, Egmont, incumbent Liberal Joe McGuire retired, and the seat went to the Tories.

Results in Prince Edward Island
Party Seats Second Third Fourth Fifth Votes % +/-
Liberal 3 1 35,372 47.67
Conservative 1 3 26,877 36.22
New Democratic 4 7,233 9.80
Green 3 1 3,488 4.70
Independent 1 1,101 1.5
Christian Heritage 1 124 0.2
Total 74,195 100%

Nova Scotia

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All incumbents were re-elected, except in Halifax where the retiring Alexa McDonough was replaced by another New Democrat, Megan Leslie, and in West Nova the incumbent Liberal Robert Thibault was defeated by Tory Greg Kerr. Elizabeth May of the Green Party was defeated in the riding of Central Nova, which was a battle between her and incumbent cabinet minister Peter MacKay.

Results in Nova Scotia
Party Seats Second Third Fourth Fifth Votes % +/-
Liberal 5 2 2 1 130,038 29.8
Conservative 3 3 5 113,799 26.1
New Democratic 2 5 4 126,127 28.9
Independent 1 2 28,698 6.6
Green 1 9 35,022 8.0
Christian Heritage 1 4 1,946 0.5
Canadian Action 1 196 0.0
Marxist–Leninist 1 182 0.0
Total 436,008 100%

New Brunswick

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The Liberal Green Shift was most unpopular in New Brunswick. Three ridings previously held by the Liberals switched to the Tories; Fredericton, Miramichi, and Saint John. In the other seven ridings the incumbent was re-elected.

Results in New Brunswick
Party Seats Second Third Fourth Fifth Votes % +/-
Conservative 6 3 1 145,132 39.4
Liberal 3 6 1 119,197 32.4
New Democratic 1 1 8 80,525 21.9
Green 10 22,683 6.2
Marijuana 1 330 0.1
Canadian Action 1 168 0.1
Total 368,035 100%

Quebec

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The Bloc Québécois played obstruction in preventing the Conservatives from achieving a majority. Fifteen battleground ridings were in Quebec, with only three changing hands. The BQ lost the riding of Papineau to the Liberals, but gained the riding of Louis-Hébert from the Tories. A recent recount saw the Liberals take the riding of Brossard—La Prairie from the BQ, slightly strengthening their position.[3]

Results in Quebec
Party Seats Votes % +/-
Bloc Québécois 49 1,379,565 38.1
Liberal 14 859,634 23.7
Conservative 10 784,560 21.7
New Democratic 1 441,136 12.2
Green 0 126,299 3.5
Independent 1 23,106 0.6
Marxist–Leninist 0 2,753 0.1
neorhino.ca 0 2,263 0.0
Communist 0 393 0.0
Christian Heritage 0 265 0.0
Marijuana 0 183 0.0
Total 3,620,362 100%

Ontario

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Twenty battleground ridings were in Ontario alone, and the Conservatives took the ridings of Brant, Oakville, Huron—Bruce and Halton from the Liberals, where the NDP took Thunder Bay—Superior North, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, Sudbury and Nickel Belt from the Liberals. The Liberals themselves lost 16 seats in Ontario.

Results in Ontario (99.99% of polls)
Party Seats Votes % +/-
Conservative 51 2,019,362 39.2 +4.1
Liberal 38 1,741,200 33.8 -6.1
New Democratic 17 938,400 18.2 +1.2
Green 0 411,444 8.0 +3.4
Independent 0 13,029 0.3 +0.14
Christian Heritage 0 12,907 0.3
Progressive Canadian 0 4,911 0.1
Marxist–Leninist 0 3,556 0.1
Libertarian 0 3,212 0.1
Communist 0 1,508 0.0
Marijuana 0 1,448 0.0
Canadian Action 0 1,165 0.0
First Peoples National 0 650 0.0
Animal Alliance 0 529 0.0
Total 5,153,321 100.0

Prairie provinces

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Manitoba

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Results in Manitoba
Party Seats Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Votes % +/-
Conservative 9 4 1 228,051 48.8
New Democratic 4 5 4 1 112,247 24
Liberal 1 5 7 1 89,313 19.1
Green 2 12 31,723 6.8
Christian Heritage 10 4,189 0.9
Independent 2 1 575 0.1
Communist 1 1 1 394 0.1
First Peoples National 1 212 0.0
People's Political Power 2 185 0.0
Total 466,889 100%

Saskatchewan

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All seats were retained by their incumbent parties. The closest race was Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar. There, the incumbent Carol Skelton did not seek reelection, giving the NDP high hopes that well-known farmers' activist Nettie Wiebe might re-establish a federal NDP presence in Parliament from the province. The seat was retained by Conservative Kelly Block in a close two-way race to keep the NDP shut out in Saskatchewan - despite the fact that their proportion of the popular vote there was in fact higher than any other province outside Atlantic Canada.

Results in Saskatchewan
Party Seats Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Votes % +/-
Conservative 13 1 224,927 53.7
New Democratic 12 2 107,289 25.6
Liberal 1 1 10 2 62,209 14.9
Green 2 12 23,279 5.6
Christian Heritage 1 1 479 0.0
First Peoples National 1 282 0.0
Canadian Action 1 169 0.0
Independent 1 134 0.0
Libertarian 1 74 0.0
Total 418,842 100%

Alberta

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Arguably the Conservatives' power base, Alberta's Tory incumbents were all re-elected except for the riding of Edmonton—Strathcona, which the NDP narrowly took that riding with 442 votes.

Results in Alberta
Party Seats Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Votes % +/-
Conservative 27 1 820,855 64.6
New Democratic 1 14 7 6 161,409 12.7
Liberal 8 9 11 144,364 11.4
Green 4 11 11 2 111,505 8.8
Independent 1 4 1 19,995 1.6
  No affiliation 1 4,837 0.4
Christian Heritage 4 1 2 3,434 0.3
Libertarian 3 1 1,184 0.1
Canadian Action 2 1 1,051 0.1
Marxist–Leninist 2 3 907 0.1
Communist 2 509 0.0
First Peoples National 1 244 0.0
Total 1,270,294 100.0

British Columbia

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The Conservatives regained the seats lost in the 2006 election and held on to seven of the ten battleground ridings. They took the ridings of West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country from the Greens and Richmond from the Liberals.

Results in British Columbia
Party Seats Votes % +/-
Conservative 22 796,757 44.4
New Democratic 9 467,335 26.1
Liberal 5 346,795 19.3
Green 0 168,723 9.4
Christian Heritage 0 3,378 0.2
Independent 0 3,123 0.0
Libertarian 0 2,912 0.2
Marxist–Leninist 0 1,355 0.0
Communist 0 835 0.0
Canadian Action 0 759 0.0
Progressive Canadian 0 425 0.0
Work Less 0 423 0.0
Marijuana 0 358 0.0
Western Block 0 195 0.0
Total 1,793,373 100%

Territories

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Liberal candidate in the Yukon and the NDP candidate in Western Arctic (the Northwest Territories) won re-election.

However, in Nunavut the Liberal candidate Kirt Ejesiak was defeated by Conservative Leona Aglukkaq to give the modern Conservatives their first elected member from the territories.

Results in Nunavut
Party Seats Votes % +/-
Conservative 1 2,815 34.9
Liberal 0 2,349 29.1
New Democratic 0 2,228 27.6
Green 0 669 8.3
Total 8,068 100%
Results in the Northwest Territories
Party Seats Votes % +/-
New Democratic 1 5,669 41.4
Conservative 0 5,146 37.6
Liberal 0 1,858 13.6
Green 0 752 5.5
First Peoples National 0 252 1.8
Total 13,677 100%
Results in the Yukon
Party Seats Votes % +/-
Liberal 1 6,715 45.8
Conservative 0 4,788 32.7
Green 0 1,881 12.8
New Democratic 0 1,276 8.7
Total 14,511 100%

Incumbent MPs defeated

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Conservative gains

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Liberal gains

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NDP gains

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Bloc Québécois gains

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Open seat gains

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Conservatives

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Liberals

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New Democrats

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Defeated cabinet ministers and party leaders

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Party Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Nunavut Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon Total
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
Conservative 820,855 64.6% 796,757 44.4% 228,051 48.8% 145,132 39.4% 32,304 16.5% 5,146 37,6% 113,799 26.1% 2,806 34.8% 2,019,362 39.2% 26,877 36.2% 784,560 21.7% 224,927 53.7% 4,758 32.8% 5,205,334 37.6%
Liberal 144,364 11.4% 346,795 19.3% 89,313 19.1% 119,197 32.4% 91,084 46.6% 1,858 13.6% 139,038 29.8% 2,359 29.2% 1,741,200 33.8% 35,372 47.7% 859,634 23.7% 62,209 14.9% 6,567 45.3% 3,629,990 26.2%
Bloc Québécois n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 1,379,565 38.1% n/a n/a n/a n/a 1,379,565 10.0%
New Democratic 161,409 12.7% 467,335 26.1% 112,247 24.0% 80,525 21.9% 66,171 33.9% 5,669 41.5% 126,127 28.9% 2,228 27.6% 938,400 18.2% 7,233 9.8% 441,136 12.2% 107,289 25.6% 1,306 9.0% 2,517,075 18.2%
Green 111,505 8.8% 168,723 9.4% 31,723 6.8% 22,683 6.2% 3,274 1,7% 752 5.5% 35,022 8.0% 675 8.4% 411,444 8.0% 3,488 4.7% 126,299 3.5% 23,279 5.6% 1,880 13.0% 940,747 6.8%
  Independents and no affiliation 19,995 1.6% 2,707 0.2% 575 0.1% n/a n/a 179 0.1% n/a n/a 28,698 6.6% n/a n/a 13,029 0.3% 1,101 1.5% 23,106 0.6% 134 0.0% n/a n/a 89,524 0.7%
Christian Heritage 3,434 0.3% 3,378 0.2% 4,189 0.9% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 1,946 0.5% n/a n/a 12,907 0.3% 124 0.2% 265 0.0% 0.1% 479 n/a n/a 26,722 0.2%
Marxist–Leninist 907 0.1% 1,355 0.1% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 182 0.0% n/a n/a 3,556 0.1% n/a n/a 2753 0.1% n/a n/a n/a n/a 8,753 0.1%
Libertarian 1,184 0.1% 2,912 0.2% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 3,212 0.1% n/a n/a n/a n/a 74 0.0% n/a n/a 7,382 0.1%
Progressive Canadian n/a n/a 425 0.0% n/a n/a n/a n/a 584 0.3% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 4,911 0.1% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 5,920 0.0%
Communist 509 0.0% 835 0.1% 394 0.1% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 1.508 0.0% n/a n/a 393 0.0% n/a n/a n/a n/a 3,639 0.0%
Canadian Action 1,051 0.1% 759 0.0% n/a n/a 168 0.1% n/a n/a n/a n/a 196 0.0% n/a n/a 1,165 0.0% n/a n/a n/a n/a 169 0.0% n/a n/a 3,508 0.0%
Marijuana n/a n/a 358 0.0% n/a n/a 330 0.1% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 1,448 0.0% n/a n/a 183 0.0% n/a n/a n/a n/a 2,319 0.0%
neorhino.ca n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 2,263 0.1% n/a n/a n/a n/a 2,263 0.0%
  Newfoundland and Labrador First n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 1,801 0.9% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 1,801 0.0%
First Peoples National n/a n/a n/a n/a 212 0.1% n/a n/a n/a n/a 252 1.8% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 282 0.1% n/a n/a 1,640 0.0%
Animal Alliance n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 529 0.0% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 529 0.0%
Work Less n/a n/a 423 0.0% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 423 0.0%
  Western Block n/a n/a 195 0.0% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 195 0.0%
People's Political Power n/a n/a n/a n/a 185 0.0% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 185 0.0%
Total 1,270,294 - 1,793,373 - 466,889 - 368,035 - 195,397 - 13,677 - 43,008 - 8,068 - 5,153,321 - 74,195 - 3,620,362 - 418,842 - 14,511 - 13,832,972 -
Sources: Elections Canada

Voter turnout

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Voter turnout was the lowest in Canadian election history, as 59.1% of the electorate cast a ballot.[6] All federally funded parties except for the Greens attracted fewer total votes than in 2006; the Greens received nearly 280,000 more votes this election. The Conservatives lost 167,494 votes, the Liberals 850,000, the Bloc 200,000 and the NDP 70,000.

Region Turnout (%)
Alberta 52.9
British Columbia 61.0
Manitoba 56.8
New Brunswick 62.8
Newfoundland and Labrador 48.1
Northwest Territories 48.6
Nova Scotia 60.7
Nunavut 49.4
Ontario 59.1
Prince Edward Island 69.5
Saskatchewan 59.4
Quebec 61.1
Yukon 63.7

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Elections Canada
  2. ^ Election Canada
  3. ^ CBC (October 24, 2008). "Liberals oust Bloc in suburban Montreal following recount". CBC News. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  4. ^ "Waterloo Region News - Latest Daily Breaking News Stories".
  5. ^ "Waterloo Region News - Latest Daily Breaking News Stories".
  6. ^ "Voter turnout drops to record low". CBC News. October 15, 2008. Retrieved October 15, 2008.
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