The Liberals Will Form A Majority Government In Canada

Justin Trudeau is the prime minister-designate after taking his party from third place to first.

Here's What's Going on

  • In a major comeback, the Liberals will form a majority government, with Justin Trudeau as prime minister. The party started the campaign in third place in the polls.
  • The Liberals dominated in Atlantic Canada, winning all 32 seats.
  • The Conservative Party of Canada will form the official opposition, after having ruled the country for close to a decade. The party announced that Stephen Harper will step down as leader.
  • The left-leaning NDP finished in third place. They were leading the polls when the election started.

Updates

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Justin Trudeau took the stage in Montreal and declared that "Canadians chose change. Real change."

Trudeau continued his campaign themes of hope and positivity in his speech.

"A positive, optimistic, hopeful vision of public life isn't a naive dream — it can be a powerful force for change, " he said.

Trudeau spoke of growing the economy, creating jobs, strengthening the middle class, and helping "less fortunate Canadian families work their way into the middle class."

He also spoke of the importance of having a "nation to nation" relationship with indigenous peoples, and working with the provinces.

"Have faith in yourselves and in your country," he said. "Know that we can make anything happen if we set our minds to it and work hard. I am not the one who made history tonight -- you are."

Trudeau ended his speech by emphasizing the importance of Canada's diversity, and of building an inclusive society.

"Have faith in your fellow citizens, my friends," he said. " ... they know in their heart of hearts that a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian."

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"The disappointment you feel is my responsibility, and mine alone," said Conservative party leader Stephen Harper in his concession speech. As he spoke, his party released a statement saying that Harper would step down as leader.

"The people are never wrong," Harper said about the night's result.

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With the NDP in third place, Tom Mulcair has given his concession speech in Montreal. Our politics editor predicts he will not remain as party leader.

Mulcair doesn’t resign as leader tonight, but will within a week or so. No way he stays on with 35 seats.

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The Canadian Press is reporting that Stephen Harper will resign as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, but will remain an MP.

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Trudeau will soon take his place on the world stage.

Anxiously awaiting Putin's reaction to being dethroned as the High Priest of Global Shirtlessness

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BuzzFeed Canada's Emma Loop reports from a gloomy NDP event in Montreal.

The mood, overall, is glum at the third-place NDP's event. The room at Montreal's convention centre is barely half full, with a couple hundred supporters scattered across the hall.Party operatives are trying to spin the results as positive, and maintain that leader Tom Mulcair ran a solid campaign. But the results are undeniably poor for the party that entered the election leading in the polls.While supporters try to find as many opportunities to cheer as possible — applauding whenever one of the three massive television screens show an NDP candidate leading in a riding — others say they are disappointed.
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The view that Trudeau will have tonight during his victory speech.

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"I have mixed emotions overall, but it's democracy at work," says NDP supporter.

NDP supporter Tyler Fraser, 30, reacts to the party's poor results. #elxn42

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We've got 11 alternate names for our new Liberal overlords.

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Image of the night so far.

Cananda is coming together with @JustinTrudeau. #elxn42

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CTV News is also out in front predicting that the Conservative Party of Canada will form the official opposition. No other networks have called this yet.

BREAKING: #CTVElection desk declares Conservative Party the Official Opposition. https://t.co/fqSVSOrNal

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Unsurprisingly, things are quiet at the NDP event in Montreal.

The scene at NDP HQ. People starting to fill room, listen quietly to results, many with arms crossed. #elxn42

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The CBC, Global, CTV and The Globe And Mail are all projecting a Liberal government. It's still unknown whether it will be a minority or majority.

CBC News projects a #Liberal government. #elxn42

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Everybody get ready.

The polls have closed from Quebec to Alberta. Results are going to start changing, rapidly. Get ready. #elxn42

Meanwhile in Montreal.

"Happiest man in Canada" says @petermansbridge watching #elxn42 returns

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A striking change from 2011.

Atlantic Canada, 2011 vs. 2015. Follow our live coverage: https://t.co/jrWfqGQIdw #elxn42

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Things are still quiet at the NDP event in Montreal. BuzzFeed Canada's Emma Loop is there all night.

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The results are totally heartbreaking for the NDP so far. In Nova Scotia they knew there was a good chance they would lose Robert Chisholm's seat. But Megan Leslie and Peter Stoffer — two extremely popular incumbents who previously won by huge margins — were thought to be safe. So far all three are going down. In Newfoundland it's the same story. Ryan Clearly is losing badly and only Jack Harris, who is trailing narrowly, has a chance to hold on. These are all strong MPs with high profiles, and are devastating losses for the NDP
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Two conservative cabinet ministers have been defeated in Atlantic Canada, according to CBC.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt and Fisheries Minister Gail Shea defeated. #elxn42

Key NDP seats have also gone to the Liberals.

Anybody have Peter Stoffer losing by 15%, Robert Chisholm by 38%, Megan Leslie by 18%? Margins for the Liberals are stunning.

This is what Liberal domination in Atlantic Canada looks like.

This is what Atlantic Canada looks like right now. https://t.co/jZflLCuxs2 #elxn42

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So far, the Liberals have basically swept Atlantic Canada. Two Conservative cabinet ministers — Gail Shea and Bernard Valcourt — appear to have lost their seats, while the Liberals lead in Peter MacKay's old seat.
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Here's how the vote change is shaping up in Atlantic Canada, according to CBC. Big, big gains for the Liberals.

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Liberal candidate Seamus O'Regan has been declared the winner in the Newfoundland riding of St. John's South-Mount Pearl.

(He's on the left.)

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Here's our Election Coverage Scavenger Hunt, just to keep things interesting.

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Newfoundland polls are almost closed. Here's what time polls close across the country.

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Canadians go to the polls Monday after the longest-running campaign season in modern history.

The vote is largely expected to be a referendum on Prime Minister Stephen Harper, 56, and his conservative policies. Harper, who has been prime minister since 2006, is running for a rare fourth term.

His main opposition is Justin Trudeau, 43, the son of one of Canada's past Prime Ministers, the late Pierre Trudeau, who largely served from 1968 to 1984. The younger Trudeau started the campaign in third place in the polls, but has seen an upswing in support that now has him in the lead.

Here are BuzzFeed Canada's guides to the Liberal platform, the Conservative platform, and the platform of the New Democratic Party, whose leader is Thomas Mulcair.

Trudeau — who, if he becomes prime minister would be the second-youngest in Canada's history — has led Harper in the polls leading up to Monday. Final polls close at 10 p.m. Eastern Time. The official Elections Canada site will carry live results starting at 7 p.m.

Trudeau spent the final days of the campaign trying to make his case to undecided voters. Harper attempted to shore up support and voter turnout in more conservative Canadian districts, the AP reported.

Here's a lightning-quick primer on the biggest issues with BuzzFeed Canada political editor Paul McLeod:

Pretend I'm someone who's not from Canada and haven't been following the elections. What are some of the biggest issues?

MCLEOD: Canada's economy is practically hooked up via an IV to the price of oil so plummeting crude prices are causing a lot of havoc. We're probably back in a recession. Also there's the environment and whether we should build new oil pipelines.

Then there are the scandals. The sweet, sweet scandals. Basically one of our two chambers of Parliament, our unelected Senate, has been a factory of expense fraud over the past couple years. They might bring the Conservative government down with them.

Oh and both of our major opposition parties are promising to radically overhaul our electoral system, so that's fun. But above all this election is a referendum on our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper.

Correction: Trudeau is the second-youngest prime minister in the nation's history. An earlier version of this article said that, if he won, he would be the youngest.

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