Martin defies skeptics with strong minority win
(CTV.ca News Staff)

Defying expectations, Prime Minister Paul Martin has led his Liberals to a
fourth-consecutive mandate. Short of a majority, however, they'll be
governing as a minority in a fractured Parliament.

"An election is a time to pass judgment," Martin said to a
cheering throng of supporters in Montreal late Monday night. And the
message in this regard was unmistakable: Canadians expected and expect more
from us."

Acknowledging the sponsorship scandal that almost cost him the election,
Martin added, "As a party and a government we will do better. We will
be working hard every day to gain your confidence."

He also said he was up to the challenge of a minority government.
"This is the first minority government in a generation. It is
unfamiliar terrain," Martin said.

Stopping short of admitting he will turn to Jack Layton's NDP for support,
as expected, the Liberal leader said he's prepared to do what it takes to
form an effective government. "We are up to the challenge and we will
embrace it. We will make it work. We will make it work for all
Canadians."

Most of Martin's cabinet kept their seats, including Deputy Prime Minister
Anne McLellan, Veterans Affairs Minister John McCallum and Foreign Affairs
Minister Bill Graham. In total, the Liberals took 135 seats. That is far
more than the 97 projected for Stephen Harper's Conservatives, but not the
155 needed for a majority government.

The NDP nearly doubled its seats to 21, while the Bloc Quebecois dominated
in Quebec, winning about 54 of 75 ridings. An Independent candidate in
British Columbia took one seat.

While polls showed the Liberals and Conservatives in a dead heat, the
popular vote showed the Liberals captured 37 per cent support, compared to
30 per cent for the Conservatives. The NDP got 11 per cent of the vote and
the Bloc 12.

Reporting from Montreal, CTV's Roger Smith said the Liberals were buoyed by
the distribution of seats. "They were very happy that their numbers,
with the NDP, would put them over the top on any given issue," Smith
told CTV. "Not because they want any kind of formal coalition with the
NDP. It just means on certain issues they will be safe."

In his victory address, NDP Leader Jack Layton didn't talk about any sort
of coalition with the Liberals. Instead, he repeated his message that
Canadians want the NDP to take a central role in government.

"Minority Parliaments have given Canadians good government,"
Layton told supporters in Toronto. "New Democrats responsibly played
our parts in those victories, and we will responsibly play out part in
victories to come."

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper told supporters in Calgary that until
there is a majority government, the fight is not over. "We will accept
the verdict of the Canadian people, but we will remind the government they
have been sent a message... and they will be held accountable," he
said.

The Liberal win is bitter sweet. Minority governments don't usually last
very long because they have a hard time getting bills passed. So unless the
Liberals form a coalition with another party, another election may be on
the horizon.

Just hours into the election, the results coming out of Atlantic Canada
pointed to a Liberal victory. They took 22 ridings, while the Conservatives
won seven seats and the NDP three. That result wasn't as surprising as
those in vote-rich Ontario, where the Liberals took the lead, despite polls
that suggested the province was a horse race between Martin and Harper's
parties.

Many Conservative candidates blamed the Liberal attack ads for lower-than
expected seats. "The negative advertising and attack style ads ...
sadly had an impact here in Atlantic Canada," said Conservative Deputy
Leader Peter MacKay.

CTV's Tom Clark said that Harper's musings about a transition and a
majority government also hurt him. "Canadians were saying, 'Not so
fast. There are still a few weeks left and after all, we the voters get to
make this decision,'" Clark said.

Even with the negative campaigning and musings of a majority government,
Martin did not bring his Liberals to the massive majority that so many had
predicted just months ago. But that was before the $100-million sponsorship
scandal, and a budget by the provincial Liberals in Ontario that brought in
health-care premiums. The anger was reflected in diminishing poll numbers
that, however, never materialized. "The pollsters did a big favour for
Paul Martin. He's now exceeded expectations by a long way," said CTV's
Craig Oliver.

The Green Party did not win a seat, but it did secure enough votes to
qualify for funding, setting it up for future campaigns. "We knew this
was going to happen!," Green Party leader Jim Harris said in an
interview with The Canadian Press. "Right off the bat we won 2.9 per
cent of the vote in Atlantic Canada, after running just four candidates
there in 2000. And the numbers just went up and up as we moved west."


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