Canadian general election, 2008

Canadian federal election, 2008

← 2006 October 14, 2008 (2008-10-14) 2011 →
← outgoing members elected members →
308 seats in the House of Commons of Canada 155 seats were needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	58.8% (5.9pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Stephen Harper Stéphane Dion Gilles Duceppe Party Conservative Liberal Bloc Québécois Leader since March 20, 2004 December 2, 2006 March 15, 1997 Leader's seat Calgary Southwest Saint-Laurent—Cartierville Laurier—Sainte-Marie Last election 124 seats, 36.27% 103 seats, 30.23% 51 seats, 10.48% Seats before 127 95 48 Seats won 143 77 49 Seat change 16 18 1 Popular vote 5,209,069 3,633,185 1,379,991 Percentage 37.65% 26.26% 9.98% Swing 1.38pp 3.97pp 0.50pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Jack Layton Elizabeth May Party New Democratic Green Leader since January 24, 2003 August 27, 2006 Leader's seat Toronto—Danforth Ran in Central Nova (Lost) Last election 29 seats, 17.48% 0 seats, 4.48% Seats before 30 1 Seats won 37 0 Seat change 7 1 Popular vote 2,515,288 937,613 Percentage 18.18% 6.78% Swing 0.70pp 2.30pp
Prime Minister before election Stephen Harper Conservative Prime Minister-designate Stephen Harper Conservative

Stephen Harper
Conservative

Stephen Harper
Conservative

The 2008 Canadian federal election (more formally, the 40th Canadian General Election) was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008. The election, like the previous one in 2006, yielded a minority government under the Conservative Party of Canada, led by the incumbent Prime Minister, Stephen Harper.

The election call resulted in the cancellation of four federal by-elections that had been scheduled to occur in September.

In 2007, Parliament passed a law fixing federal election dates every four years and scheduling the next election date as October 19, 2009, but the law does not (and constitutionally cannot) limit the powers of the Governor General to dissolve Parliament at any time, such as when opposition parties bring down the government on a vote of confidence. In this election there was no loss of a non-confidence vote, but the Prime Minister asked the Governor General to call an election. The Governor General granted the Prime Minister's request.

64.7% of eligible voters cast ballots in the 2006 federal election. The Conservative Party received the most votes of any single party, with 36% of the vote, and won 124 seats (127 at dissolution). The Liberal Party won fewer seats than in 2006 — 103 seats (96 at dissolution), and 30% of the vote. The Bloc Québécois lost three seats, lowering its total to 51 seats (48 at dissolution), with 10.5% of the vote. The NDP retained its seats held at the dissolution of Parliament, and won 11 more, making its total 29 seats (30 at dissolution), with 17.5% of the vote. The Green Party received 4.5% of the vote, a minimal increase from the previous election, but did not win any seats (1 at dissolution). Independents and other parties constituted 1% of the total vote with one independent winning a seat.

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Wikipedia