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2006 Canadian federal election
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 39th Parliament of Canada.
New details of the sponsorship scandal were released through the Gomery Commission, and the three opposition parties aimed to bring down Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority government, contending that it was corrupt. On November 28, 2005, Martin's government was defeated on a motion of non-confidence. A day later, Martin met with Governor General Michaëlle Jean to dissolve parliament, triggering an unusual winter election.
The Conservative Party, that was formed in 2003 from the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance, scored its first-ever victory as they won the greatest number of seats in the House of Commons, winning 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004. Due to the emerging details of the sponsorship scandal, as well as a unified right-of-centre party, the Tories led by Stephen Harper went on to end over 12 years of Liberal rule. Harper formed the smallest minority government in Canadian history (in terms of proportion of seats), becoming prime minister. The New Democratic Party experienced a modest boost in support whereas the Bloc Québécois' seat count nearly stayed the same. This is the most recent election in which the winning federal party did not win New Brunswick and Ontario. This is also the most recent election to have been a direct rematch of the previous one, as none of the four major parties saw a change in leadership between the 2004 and 2006 elections.
This unusual winter general election was caused by a motion of no confidence passed by the House of Commons on November 28, 2005, with Canada's three opposition parties contending that the Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin was corrupt. The following morning Martin met with Governor General Michaëlle Jean, who then dissolved parliament, summoned the next parliament, and ordered the issuance of writs of election. The last set January 23, 2006, as election day and February 13 as the date for return of the writs. The campaign was almost eight weeks in length, the longest in two decades, in order to allow time for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Recent political events, most notably testimony to the Gomery Commission investigating the sponsorship scandal, significantly weakened the Liberals (who, under Martin, had formed the first Liberal minority government since the Trudeau era) by allegations of criminal corruption in the party. The first Gomery report, released November 1, 2005, had found a "culture of entitlement" to exist within the Government. Although the next election was not legally required until 2009, the opposition had enough votes to force the dissolution of Parliament earlier. While Prime Minister Martin had committed in April 2005 to dissolve Parliament within a month of the tabling of the second Gomery Report (which was released on schedule on February 1, 2006), all three opposition parties—the Conservatives, Bloc Québécois, and New Democratic Party (NDP)—and three of the four independents decided that the issue at hand was how to correct the Liberal corruption, and the motion of non-confidence passed 171–133.
Most observers believed only the Liberals and the Conservatives were capable of forming a government in this election, although Canadian political history is not without examples of wholly unexpected outcomes, such as Ontario's provincial election in 1990. However, with the exception of the Unionist government of 1917 (which combined members of both the Conservatives and the Liberals), at the Federal stage, only Liberals or Conservatives have formed government. With the end of the campaign at hand, pollsters and pundits placed the Conservatives ahead of the Liberals.
Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberals hoped to recapture their majority, and this appeared likely at one point during the campaign; but it would have required holding back Bloc pressure in Quebec plus picking up some new seats there while also gaining seats in English Canada, most likely in rural Ontario and southwestern British Columbia. Towards the end of the campaign, even high-profile Liberals were beginning to concede defeat, and the best the Liberals could have achieved was a razor-thin minority.
Stephen Harper's Conservatives succeeded in bringing their new party into power in Canada. While continuing weaknesses in Quebec and urban areas rightfully prompted most observers to consider a Conservative majority government to be mathematically difficult to achieve, early on, Harper's stated goal was to achieve one nonetheless. Though the Conservatives were ahead of the Liberals in Quebec, they remained far behind the Bloc Québécois, and additional gains in rural and suburban Ontario would have been necessary to meet Stephen Harper's goal. The polls had remained pretty well static over the course of December, with the real shift coming in the first few days of the New Year. That is when the Conservatives took the lead and kept it for the rest of the campaign.
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2006 Canadian federal election AI simulator
(@2006 Canadian federal election_simulator)
2006 Canadian federal election
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 39th Parliament of Canada.
New details of the sponsorship scandal were released through the Gomery Commission, and the three opposition parties aimed to bring down Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority government, contending that it was corrupt. On November 28, 2005, Martin's government was defeated on a motion of non-confidence. A day later, Martin met with Governor General Michaëlle Jean to dissolve parliament, triggering an unusual winter election.
The Conservative Party, that was formed in 2003 from the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance, scored its first-ever victory as they won the greatest number of seats in the House of Commons, winning 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004. Due to the emerging details of the sponsorship scandal, as well as a unified right-of-centre party, the Tories led by Stephen Harper went on to end over 12 years of Liberal rule. Harper formed the smallest minority government in Canadian history (in terms of proportion of seats), becoming prime minister. The New Democratic Party experienced a modest boost in support whereas the Bloc Québécois' seat count nearly stayed the same. This is the most recent election in which the winning federal party did not win New Brunswick and Ontario. This is also the most recent election to have been a direct rematch of the previous one, as none of the four major parties saw a change in leadership between the 2004 and 2006 elections.
This unusual winter general election was caused by a motion of no confidence passed by the House of Commons on November 28, 2005, with Canada's three opposition parties contending that the Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin was corrupt. The following morning Martin met with Governor General Michaëlle Jean, who then dissolved parliament, summoned the next parliament, and ordered the issuance of writs of election. The last set January 23, 2006, as election day and February 13 as the date for return of the writs. The campaign was almost eight weeks in length, the longest in two decades, in order to allow time for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Recent political events, most notably testimony to the Gomery Commission investigating the sponsorship scandal, significantly weakened the Liberals (who, under Martin, had formed the first Liberal minority government since the Trudeau era) by allegations of criminal corruption in the party. The first Gomery report, released November 1, 2005, had found a "culture of entitlement" to exist within the Government. Although the next election was not legally required until 2009, the opposition had enough votes to force the dissolution of Parliament earlier. While Prime Minister Martin had committed in April 2005 to dissolve Parliament within a month of the tabling of the second Gomery Report (which was released on schedule on February 1, 2006), all three opposition parties—the Conservatives, Bloc Québécois, and New Democratic Party (NDP)—and three of the four independents decided that the issue at hand was how to correct the Liberal corruption, and the motion of non-confidence passed 171–133.
Most observers believed only the Liberals and the Conservatives were capable of forming a government in this election, although Canadian political history is not without examples of wholly unexpected outcomes, such as Ontario's provincial election in 1990. However, with the exception of the Unionist government of 1917 (which combined members of both the Conservatives and the Liberals), at the Federal stage, only Liberals or Conservatives have formed government. With the end of the campaign at hand, pollsters and pundits placed the Conservatives ahead of the Liberals.
Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberals hoped to recapture their majority, and this appeared likely at one point during the campaign; but it would have required holding back Bloc pressure in Quebec plus picking up some new seats there while also gaining seats in English Canada, most likely in rural Ontario and southwestern British Columbia. Towards the end of the campaign, even high-profile Liberals were beginning to concede defeat, and the best the Liberals could have achieved was a razor-thin minority.
Stephen Harper's Conservatives succeeded in bringing their new party into power in Canada. While continuing weaknesses in Quebec and urban areas rightfully prompted most observers to consider a Conservative majority government to be mathematically difficult to achieve, early on, Harper's stated goal was to achieve one nonetheless. Though the Conservatives were ahead of the Liberals in Quebec, they remained far behind the Bloc Québécois, and additional gains in rural and suburban Ontario would have been necessary to meet Stephen Harper's goal. The polls had remained pretty well static over the course of December, with the real shift coming in the first few days of the New Year. That is when the Conservatives took the lead and kept it for the rest of the campaign.