2008 Canadian federal election
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308 seats in the House of Commons 155 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opinion polls | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 58.8% ( 5.9pp) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on October 14, 2008, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by Governor General Michaëlle Jean on September 7, 2008.
The election resulted in a second but stronger minority government for Harper's Conservatives. While they were a dozen seats away from a majority government, the Liberal Party led by Stéphane Dion lost 18 seats as the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois made some gains. Following the election, the Liberals and New Democrats tried to form a coalition government and topple the Conservatives from power, but were unsuccessful in doing so.
Results
| Party | Leader | Candidates | Votes | Seats | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | ± | % | Change (pp) | 2006 | 2008 | ± | G | L | ||||||
| Conservative | Stephen Harper | 307[b] | 5,209,069 | 165,002 | 37.65 | 1.38 | 124 | 143 / 308 |
19 |
25 | 6 | |||
| Liberal | Stéphane Dion | 307[c][d] | 3,633,185 | 846,230 | 26.26 | -3.97 | 103 | 77 / 308 |
26 |
5 | 31 | |||
| New Democratic | Jack Layton | 308[e] | 2,515,288 | 74,309 | 18.18 | 0.70 | 29 | 37 / 308 |
8 |
11 | 3 | |||
| Bloc Québécois | Gilles Duceppe | 75 | 1,379,991 | 173,210 | 9.98 | -0.51 | 51 | 49 / 308 |
2 |
1 | 3 | |||
| Green | Elizabeth May | 303 | 937,613 | 273,545 | 6.78 | 2.30 | ||||||||
| Independent | 71 | 94,844 | 12,984 | 0.69 | 0.13 | 1 | 2 / 308 |
1 |
1 | – | ||||
| Christian Heritage | Ron Gray | 59 | 26,475 | 1,677 | 0.19 | – | ||||||||
| Marxist–Leninist | Anna Di Carlo | 59 | 8,565 | 415 | 0.06 | – | ||||||||
| Libertarian | Dennis Young | 26 | 7,300 | 4,298 | 0.05 | 0.03 | ||||||||
| Progressive Canadian | Sinclair Stevens | 10 | 5,860 | 8,291 | 0.04 | -0.05 | ||||||||
| Communist | Miguel Figueroa | 24 | 3,572 | 550 | 0.03 | 0.01 | ||||||||
| Canadian Action | Connie Fogal | 20 | 3,455 | 2,647 | 0.02 | -0.02 | ||||||||
| Marijuana | Blair Longley | 8 | 2,298 | 6,873 | 0.02 | -0.05 | ||||||||
| neorhino.ca | François Gourd | 7 | 2,122 | 2,122 | 0.02 | New | ||||||||
| Newfoundland and Labrador First | Tom Hickey | 3 | 1,713 | 1,713 | 0.01 | New | ||||||||
| First Peoples National | Barbara Wardlaw | 6 | 1,611 | 410 | 0.01 | – | ||||||||
| Animal Alliance | Liz White | 4 | 527 | 455 | – | – | ||||||||
| Work Less | Conrad Schmidt | 1 | 425 | 425 | – | New | ||||||||
| Western Block | Doug Christie | 1 | 195 | 899 | – | -0.01 | ||||||||
| People's Political Power | Roger Poisson | 2 | 186 | 186 | – | New | ||||||||
| Total | 1,601 | 13,834,294 | 100.00% | |||||||||||
| Rejected ballots | 94,799 | 3,255 | ||||||||||||
| Turnout | 13,929,093 | 979,610 |
58.83% | 5.84 | ||||||||||
| Registered voters | 23,677,639 | 623,024 | ||||||||||||
Notes
- ↑ Only contested seats in Quebec.
- ↑ The Conservatives chose not to field a candidate in Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, as the incumbent Independent MP André Arthur consistently sided with them in votes in the House.
- ↑ The Liberals opted not to field a candidate in Central Nova, so as not to oppose Elizabeth May in her campaign for a Green seat.
- ↑ Lesley Hughes of Kildonan—St. Paul was nominated as a Liberal, but lost party support after the nomination deadline and continued to run as an independent; she was listed as a Liberal on the ballot.[4][5]
- ↑ Includes Julian West (Saanich—Gulf Islands) and Andrew McKeever (Durham), who withdrew their candidacies but still appeared on the ballot.
References
- ↑ Report of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada on the 40th general election of October 14, 2008 (PDF). Ottawa: Elections Canada. 2009. ISBN 978-0-662-06476-3. ISSN 0846-6351.
- ↑ "Table 11: Voting results by electoral district". Elections Canada. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
- ↑ "Table 12: List of candidates by electoral district and individual results". Elections Canada. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
- ↑ "Dion drops candidate over 9/11 remarks". The Toronto Star. September 26, 2008.
- ↑ "Both Conservatives, NDP gain in Manitoba". CBC News. October 15, 2008. Retrieved March 15, 2020.