CONSERVATIVE MAJORITY REPORTED

WELL I GOT MY WISH.THE CONSERVATIVES HAVE GOT A MAJORITY BY THE REPORTS.

ITS 1:13AM MAY 3,11 AND HARPER IS GIVING HIS MAJORITY SPEECH.

HERE ARE THE STANDINGS AS OF RIGHT NOW WILL UPDATE TOMORROW HOW THE FINAL STATS ARE.

CONSERVATIVES 166 SEATS MAJORITY IN CANADA
NDP 102 SEATS
LIBERALS 35 SEATS
BLOC QUEBECOIS 4 SEATS
GREENS(ENVIROMENTAL CASES) 1 SEAT-IST EVER IN PARLIAMENT

TOTAL SEATS 308 SEATS - 155 NEEDED FOR A MAJORITY.

UPDATED AS OF 9:30AM TUESDAY MAY 3,2011-FINAL

CONSERVATIVES 167 SEATS MAJORITY
NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY 102 SEATS (QUEENS OFFICIAL OPPOSITION PARTY)
LIBERALS 34 SEATS
BLOC QUEBECOOIS 4 SEATS
ENVIROMENTALCASE GREENS 1 SEAT

Canada's Conservatives win coveted majority By Rob Gillies, Associated Press – MAY 3,2011 9:30AM

TORONTO – Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper won his coveted majority government in elections that changed Canada's political landscape, with the opposition Liberals and Quebec separatists suffering a shattering defeat.Harper, who took office in 2006, has won two elections but until Monday's vote had never held a majority of Parliament's 308 seats, forcing him to rely on the opposition to pass legislation.Harper has deliberately avoided sweeping policy changes that could derail his government, but now has an opportunity to pass any legislation he wants with his new majority.While Harper's hold on Parliament has been tenuous during his five-year tenure, he has managed to nudge an instinctively center-left country to the right. He has gradually lowered sales and corporate taxes, avoided climate change legislation that would harm Alberta's oil sands sector, promoted Arctic sovereignty, upped military spending and extended Canada's military mission in Afghanistan. He has also staunchly backed Israel's right-wing government.Elections Canada reported results on its website, giving the Conservatives 167 seats, which will give Harper four years of uninterrupted government.

We are grateful, deeply honored, in fact humbled by the decisive endorsement of so many Canadians, Harper told elated supporters at the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary, Alberta.The leftist New Democratic Party became the main opposition party for the first time in Canadian history with 102 seats, tripling their support in a stunning setback for the Liberals who have always been either in power or leading the opposition.It's a historic night for New Democrats, NDP leader Jack Layton told a delirious crowd in downtown Toronto.Harper was helped by the NDP surge, which split the left-of-center vote in many districts, handing victory to Conservative candidates, especially in Ontario, where the Liberals were decimated in their last national stronghold.Former colleagues of Harper say his long-term goals are to shatter the image of the Liberals — the party of former Prime Ministers Jean Chretien, Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau — as the natural party of government in Canada, and to redefine what it means to be Canadian.Harper, who comes from the conservative western province of Alberta, took a major step toward that goal on Monday night as the Liberals suffered their worst defeat in Canadian history — dropping to 34 seats from 77.Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff congratulated Harper and New Democrat leader Jack Layton and accepted responsibility for the historic defeat.Democracy teaches hard lessons, and we have to learn them all, Ignatieff told a somber gathering in Toronto.Ignatieff, who even lost his own seat in a Toronto suburb, said, I will play any part that the party wishes me to play as we go forward to rebuild.Stephen Clarkson, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, said the 52-year-old Harper should now be considered a transformative figure in Canadian history.It's a sea change,Clarkson said.

The New Democrats' gains are being attributed to Layton's strong performance in the debates, a folksy, upbeat message, and a desire by the French-speakers in Quebec, the second most populous province, for a new face and a federalist option after two decades of supporting a separatist party.Voters indicated they had grown weary with the separatist Bloc Quebecois, which had a shocking drop to four seats from 47 in the last Parliament. Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe lost his own seat and immediately resigned. Quebeckers said separatism was still an important force, despite the province's rejection of the Bloc.I would caution anyone to think that the independence movement is dead at any time,said Bruce Hicks, a political scientist at the Universite de Montreal.This is one of those burning embers things. It takes very little to ignite it, but right now it's only embers.The Green party won its first seat ever in the House of Commons with leader Elizabeth May winning in a British Columbia district. The Conservatives got 40 percent of the vote, compared to 31 percent for the NDP and a dismal 19 percent for the Liberals.The NDP's gains marked a remarkable shift in a campaign that started out weeks ago looking like a straight battle between Harper and Ignatieff, a distinguished academic, with the 60-year-old Layton recovering from prostate cancer and a broken hip.Harper counted on the economy to help hand him the majority. Canada has outperformed other major industrialized democracies through the financial crisis, recovering almost all the jobs lost during the recession while its banking sector remains intact. He said he would continue his plan to create jobs and growth without raising taxes.He campaigned in the last few days on a message that the New Democrats stood for higher taxes, higher spending, higher prices and protectionism. He called the election a choice between a Conservative majority and a ramshackle coalition led by the NDP that will not last but will do a lot of destruction.

Harper asked for a majority government at the start of the campaign, Canada's fourth election in the past seven years. In past elections, Harper's Conservatives did not explicitly ask for a majority to avoid raising fears among Canadians that they would implement a hidden right-wing agenda. Canadians can now turn the page on the uncertainties and repeat elections of the past seven years and focus on building a great future for all of us,Harper said.Harper plans to pass a budget and toughen Canada's crime laws when Parliament resumes. He also plans to cut off public subsidies for political parties, something that will further harm the centrist Liberals who have had trouble raising funds.Gerry Nicholls, who worked under Harper at a conservative think tank, has said that having the New Democrats as the main opposition party would be ideal for Harper because it would define Canadian politics in clearer terms of left vs. right. Harper believes the Conservatives will win elections more often than not if the opposition is a social democrat party like the New Democrats.The Conservatives have built support in rural areas and with the Tim Hortons crowd — a reference to a chain of doughnut shops popular with working class Canadians. They also have blitzed the country with TV attack ads, running them even during telecasts of the Academy Awards and the Super Bowl.Ignatieff, a 63-year-old former Harvard professor, was unable to overcome the Conservative attacks and inspire voters. Lawrence Martin, a political columnist for The Globe and Mail newspaper and author of Harperland: The Politics of Control,calls Harper the most autocratic and partisan prime minister Canada has ever had.But to remain in office through the longest period of minority government in Canadian history, Harper had to engage in a constant balancing act. The three opposition parties combined held 160 seats in the last Parliament, while the Conservatives held 143. The Liberals held 77, the New Democrats 36 and the Bloc Quebecois 47.Associated Press Writers Jeremy Hainsworth in Vancouver, British Columbia, Charmaine Noronha in Toronto, and Selena Ross and Sean Farrell in Montreal contributed to this report.

Canadian dollar firms as Conservatives look set to keep power
MAY 3,11

TORONTO (Reuters) – The Canadian dollar firmed on Monday as Canada's ruling Conservatives looked set to retain power in a federal election, though pollsters said it was too early to say if the party would get a majority or stay in power with a minority.The currency firmed as high as C$0.9483 to the U.S. dollar, or $1.0545. The currency had ended the North American session at C$0.9508 to the U.S. dollar, or $1.0517.(Reporting by Jeffrey Hodgson; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Conservatives romp to crushing Canadian election win
By Janet Guttsman and David Ljunggren - MAY 3,11

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada's ruling Conservatives won a crushing victory in Monday's federal election, as the left wing vote split between two parties and the separatist Bloc Quebecois faded to almost nothing.Still provisional results showed the Conservatives had 167 seats in Parliament, well above the 155 they needed to transform their minority government into a majority. They won 40 percent of the vote, more than most pollsters had expected.The results are as they should be, Conservative supporter Fred Biddle said at Prime Minister Stephen Harper's raucous victory party in Calgary. It looks like we are back to a two party system in Canada: Conservatives and all the rest.The Conservatives, describing themselves as the guardians of a surprisingly resilient Canadian economy, had stressed throughout the election campaign that they needed a majority to keep the economy strong.The Canadian dollar firmed as the results emerged, and analysts expected the stock market to follow it up on Tuesday.(A Conservative majority) is likely to be seen as a positive in the world's financial markets for the Canadian dollar,said Jack Spitz, Managing Director of foreign exchange at National Bank Financial.The provisional results showed the left-leaning NDP winning around 103 seats, by far its strongest showing ever, and catapulting itself into the position of Canada's official opposition.

It is amazing to see a tripling of the seats for the NDP. It gives me hope for change, said Megan Ciurysek, a 26-year-old Polish-Canadian, who described the result as bittersweet. To have a majority Conservative government is unbelievably disappointing.The NDP gains came largely at the expense of the Bloc and of the once-mighty Liberal Party, which lost more than half its seats in a dismal black eye for party leader Michael Ignatieff, a broadcaster and academic turned politician who never managed to connect with Canadians.The result was a historical low for the Liberals, who saw both their lowest-ever seat total and their smallest share of the popular vote, at just under 20 percent.

PARTY MERGER TALK

The monumental nature of their defeat will prompt more talk about a possible merger with New Democrats to create a unified center-left party capable of defeating the Conservatives.It was not clear that Ignatieff would retain his own seat.Democracy teaches hard lessons and we have to learn them all, he said in a sad address to the party faithful.The Bloc Quebecois were set to win just three seats, a sign perhaps that Quebeckers were fed up with being represented in Ottawa by a party that doesn't want Canada to exist in its present form. Party leader Gilles Duceppe lost his seat.

Before the election the Bloc, the federal offshoot of a party that wants independence for French-speaking Quebec, had 47 seats, a strong majority of seats in the province.It may even give the Canadian dollar an extra boost, given the fact that perhaps that the question of sovereignty is really going to be put on the back burner,said Serge Pepin, of BMO Investments in Toronto.Canadian markets should react relatively positively.In a first for Canada, Green Party leader Elizabeth May had a chance of capturing the party's first seat in the Canadian Parliament, where she would be a vocal critic of a Conservative government that doesn't believe in global warming. Before the election, the Conservatives had 143 seats, compared to 77 for the Liberals and 36 for the New Democrats. There were two independents and three seats were vacant.The Conservatives will now have a four-year term in office, with the next federal election due in 2015.(Additional reporting by Pav Jordan, Jeffrey Jones, Scott Haggett, Randall Palmer, Allan Dowd and Louise Egan; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Canada's Conservatives win coveted majority
By ROB GILLIES, Associated Press - MAY 3,11

TORONTO – Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper won his coveted majority government in elections Monday that also marked a shattering defeat for the opposition Liberals, preliminary results showed.Harper, who took office in 2006, has won two elections but until now had never held a majority of Parliament's 308 seats, forcing him to rely on the opposition to pass legislation.While Harper's hold on the 308-member Parliament has been tenuous during his five-year tenure, he has managed to nudge an instinctively center-left country to the right. He has gradually lowered sales and corporate taxes, avoided climate change legislation, promoted Arctic sovereignty, upped military spending and extended Canada's military mission in Afghanistan.Elections Canada reported preliminary results on its website, giving the Conservatives 164 seats, which will mean four years of uninterrupted government for Harper.It's stunning. We're elated, Conservative lawmaker Jason Kenney said in an interview with CBC. We'll be a government for all Canadians.The leftist New Democrats are projected to become the main opposition party for the first time in Canadian history with 106 seats, in a stunning upset over the Liberals who have always been either in power or leading the opposition.Former colleagues of Harper say his long-term goals are to kill the image of the Liberals — the party of Jean Chretien, Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau — as the natural party of government in Canada, and to redefine what it means to be Canadian.Harper took a major step toward that on Monday night as the Liberals dropped to 35 seats from 77, according to the preliminary results.

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff congratulated Harper and New Democrat leader Jack Layton and accepted responsibility for the historic defeat.I will play any part that the party wishes me to play as we go forward to rebuild, Ignatieff said.Stephen Clarkson, professor at the University of Toronto said Harper will now be considered a transformative figure in Canadian history.It's a sea change, Clarkson said.The New Democrats' gains are being attributed to Layton's strong performance in the debates, a folksy, upbeat message and a desire by the French-speakers in Quebec, the second most populous province, for a new face after growing weary of the separatist Bloc Quebecois.The NDP's gains marked a remarkable shift in a campaign started out weeks ago looking like a straight battle between Harper and Ignatieff, with the 60-year-old Layton recovering from prostate cancer and a broken hip.Harper campaigned on a message that the New Democrats stood for higher taxes, higher spending, higher prices, protectionism. He called the election a choice between a Conservative majority and a ramshackle coalition led by the NDP that will not last but will do a lot of destruction.