Canadian Election Results - The Day After

The Canadian election results of May 2nd, 2011 were historic. Anger and want for change motivated the voters. Federally the country elected a majority Conservative government after consecutive minority governments. The NDP moved to official opposition status for the first time ever and the 104 seats were the most they had ever won. The biggest change came in Quebec with the separatist BQ getting wiped off the map. Federalists Canada-wide can rejoice that a loud voice to break up the country has been silenced. Not only did the BQ win only four seats, down from 49 in 2008, but party leader Gilles Duceppe lost his seat in parliament. Duceppe as a result, has stepped down as leader. Michael Ignatieff, head of the Liberal Party of Canada, also lost his seat. Expect Ignatieff to make a decision in the days to come. If his party is behind him, someone will step aside so that he may sit in Parliament. Or, we may have a Liberal leaders conference.

Last night, before the results started coming in I projected different results. I am pleased I was wrong. Considering the political strengths and weaknesses this was the best possible scenario. A majority government, a new look opposition party and, of course the BQ returns to the fringes where they belong. The Liberals were going nowhere under Ignatieff. The downfall for them started at the end of the Jean Chretien era but took a big hit under Stephane Dion. Under a new leader they will rebound, perhaps even to opposition party status in four years. Four years! No elections for four years. And you can probably start calling Quebec the swing province. I would bet the NDP will lose a large number of their seats in four years. Four years now, we may be tired of the rulings Conservatives. Considering the circumstances this was the best possible result.

The breakdown is as follows:

CONSERVATIVE 167

NDP 102

LIBERAL 34

BLOC QUEBECOIS 4

GREEN 1

INDEPENDENT 0

Media Coverage of the Elections

Switching to the television network coverage, the big three networks in Canada provided wall to wall coverage starting at approximately 9PM eastern time and broadcasted late into the night. Due to the laws governing the release of election results, each outlet across the country was forbidden to release information until all the polls were closed. The tweet the vote movement on Twitter attempted to spread the word sooner. And the CBC may have broken the Election Canada law by airing their feed from Newfoundland and Labrador in Toronto shortly after 9PM last night. CBC went off the air briefly following this.

What happened to the local coverage? I can only speak for the Montreal market. None of the three stations had any sustained television coverage. I flipped the three local English stations throughout the night, Global kept to the National feed, CTV's Lloyd Robertson stumbled through the coverage all night. And a nervous sounding Peter Mansbridge did a credible job at the CBC. I could have missed it on the other networks but the CBC was the only one of the three to cut away to the local affiliate, where Montreal anchor Andrew Chang raced through the local results in small amount of time he was allotted. The local coverage on CTV consisted of cutaways to the Toronto anchor desk. This is information I want, but what happened to Montreal?

Each one of the French stations provided the coverage of the province but this is the first time in my memory that the English stations did not provide any coverage. I stopped watching at 11:45PM local time.

The CTV's Lloyd Robertson announced his retirement a few months back. The 78-year old anchor is winding down his career and this is his last election as a full time anchor. Robertson stumbled through the results throughout the night and even made reference to being put in handcuffs. Did he giggle at one point? Robertson has always been a brilliant announcer but may have stayed one election too long. 

The CBC's Peter Mansbridge, Mister Smooth, the perfect voice, has always excelled in the 'Live' environment. Last night, while he stood out as out as the best of the announcers, strangely, he looked nervous and unsure at times. 

Election Results Across Canada