| The polls are coming to a close in the western-most reaches of Canada right about now, where voters have gone to the polls to decide the fate of the first Conservative (minority) government since 1993.
Canadian PM Stephen Harper figured that he could squeeze out a majority government with this fall election call, but he hasn't had the smoothest campaign. In his favor, the Liberals aren't exactly burning down the house, either. If I were a betting man, I'd say he retains his minority -- with losses in Quebec and a few modest gains elsewhere. But we'll see.
Wikipedia has a good list of races to watch here.
Results are available at CBC.ca and Elections Canada.
UPDATE: Yup, it's another Conservative government -- but it's not yet clear whether he'll have enough for a majority or not.
UPDATE (12:41AM): Well this is something -- in my home riding of Edmonton-Strathcona, the NDP candidate has pulled ahead of the longtime Conservative incumbent by 1 vote with 200 of 223 polls counted. It would be stunning if the Conservatives lost a seat in Alberta.
12:46AM: Wow, NDPer Linda Duncan is up by 164 votes now with 18 polls outstanding.
1:34AM: Duncan wins! Oh man, what an amazing finish. And you have got to love this:
Shortly after Conservative incumbent Rahim Jaffer gave his victory speech Tuesday evening, his campaign handlers yanked him from the party as it became clear the race wasn't over, that New Democrat Linda Duncan had pulled ahead in the polls.
Haw-haw! |
