Just shy of a majority

Not enough to secure a full mandate, but the Conservatives led by Harper have made a strong showing, it looks like 145 seats, 10 shy of a full majority. It was clear that given the turmoil of late especially in financial markets it would be very difficult to gain a full mandate. But the win is still striking in overall context, the Liberals are in big trouble and we should expect leader Dion to get the boot in a few months further fracturing the party. Near historic lows for seat numbers here, they got walloped - The Conservatives have nearly doubled the Liberal seat return.

All this seems all the more surprising to me in light of the Obama craze in the USA, the eco craze, the difficult Afghan mission which does not enjoy any popular support on the left, and Canada’s strong liberal lean.

Of note: the NDP under Layton spun wheels and went nowhere. The Greens? So far not a single seat including their leader. The Bloc in Quebec wholly unimpressive with little movement tallying about 50 seats while Harper’s large 24 seat cabinet holds with only a single seat loss in Quebec which is impressive. Turn out in the 50s, shameful. It’s called Democracy, use it or lose it folks.

Full election seat breakdowns via CTV / Bell Globemedia

Good to see Canada will have continued strong leadership, fiscal responsibility, and open eyed foreign policy under the Conservatives, as a dual citizen it’s a dual win for me for both Canada & Israel.