Canadians have returned a minority Conservative Party government. The Conservatives won 143 of 308 seats, with 37.4% of the vote nationally. They needed 155 seats for a bare majority. In most provinces, the Conservatives won a clear majority of seats, but Canadians in the two most populous provinces - Ontario and Quebec - did not back them. The Conservatives won the largest minority of seats in Ontario and ran 3rd in Quebec. More than half of all Canadians live in these two provinces, so if you don't win them, you don't win a majority.
The First Past the Post voting system threw up the usual upside-down results.
The Bloc Quebecois won 10% of the vote nationally and 50 seats - all in Quebec - where they won a clear majority of seats.
The New Democratic Party (NDP) won 18.2% of the vote nationally, but only 37 seats.
The Greens got over 940,000 votes nationally or 6.4% of the total vote. That's 50% more than in 2006 and two thirds of what the Bloc got this time out. But the greens won no seats as Green support is accross the country rather than regionally based.
The total turnout was 59.1%, putting the shares of each party into perspective. Even the Conservatives, with 37.4% of the vote are only supported by barely 20% of ALL Canadians. The rest have even less support.
In Alberta, no party other than the Conservatives won more than 13% of the vote and no seats. The turnout was a dismal 52%. Low even by Canadian standards. If you aren't a Conservative there, there is no point in wasting time voting.
Overall, 65.4% of Canadians voted for parties other than the Conservative party, but won slightly more than 50% of all the seats.
The election result leaves Canada more or less where it was 6 weeks ago prior to the election being called, with a minority Conservative government required to seek support from three opposition parties who have more in common with each other than with the Conservatives.
Conceivably, those three parties could form a government if they chose to. But the main stumbling "bloc" there is the separatist Bloc Quebecois who have little interest in working constructively for the good of a united Canada.
Canada's balkanisation, disunity and dysfunction under First Past the Post continues.
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