Stephen Harper wins majority government in Canada; Jack Layton takes NDP to official opposition status

While the coverage goes very late, here are the highlights of the 2011 Canadian federal election, via CanadianCrossing.com:

Stephen Harper became the first Conservative PM to win a majority since Brian Mulroney and only the 3nd conservative with a majority since 1930. Jack Layton became the first NDP leader to finish as high as second, and so the NDP will be the official opposition party. Michael Ignatieff became the first Liberal Party leader to finish as low as third ever. Gilles Duceppe, the longest current standing party leader, won’t be after the Bloc Quebecois fell to about 2 seats.

Kim Campbell was the last party leader to lose the riding as well; Campbell inherited the PM chair as the Progressive Conservatives went down to 2 seats in 1993. Ignatieff (Etobicoke-Lakeshore in Ontario) and Duceppe (Laurier-Sainte-Marie in Quebec) lost their ridings as well.

Elizabeth May was a party leader who won her seat, the first elected MP from the Green Party, in the Saanich-Gulf Islands riding in British Columbia. And the Greens will have about as much vocal power as the Bloc Quebecois.

For more details, click on the rest of the story.