CANADIAN ELECTION UPDATE:
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper will become Canada’s next prime minister, as Canadians have elected a Tory minority government and ended a 12-year reign of Liberal rule.
Nationwide, the Tories are currently leading or elected in 121 ridings, the Liberals in 101, the Bloc in 50 and 28 for the NDP.
The Tories appeared to make significant gains in Ontario and Quebec, leading or elected in at least two dozen seats in Central Canada.
The NDP also made major gains, leading or elected in 30 ridings, up 11 from the 2004 vote.
In Quebec, where they were shut out in 2004, the Tories made major inroads, leading or elected in 10 ridings, eight from the Bloc and two from the Liberals.
In vote-rich Ontario, the Liberals, who captured 75 seats in 2004, are leading or elected in 57 ridings. But the Tories increased their support and are leading or elected in 38 ridings, a gain of 14. The NDP is leading in 11 ridings, up four.
Interestingly, Portugal saw a Socialist defeat yesterday.
And Capt. Ed Morrissey — who can claim a major role in this development with his breaking of the publication ban on the Gomery investigation — has been liveblogging, though heavy traffic has made his site inaccessible at times: “Based on the polls done before the election, that’s a better showing than I expected for the Liberals, but there is still no doubt that tonight has been a debacle for Martin and his party.”
UPDATE: Mark Steyn has a wrapup, and David Warren has thoughts on Canada’s political situation in general. Damian Penny writes: “We’ve been waiting 12 years for this.”
And Kate McMillan is already celebrating. Meanwhile, Publius has thoughts, and Newsbeat 1 is, as always, on top of the story. There’s lots more at NealENews, too.
Steve Janke, I have to say, seems more happy than “Angry in the Great White North” tonight.
And here’s the AP story, whose first paragraph suggests that the Canadian press may not be overjoyed. Actually, most of the paragraphs give that impression.
Too bad! “The Internet has also brought a new class of people into politics — I would almost say a new generation who aren’t accustomed to the old rules.”
MORE: Over at GayPatriot, an observation that anti-Americanism may be the last resort of scoundrelous regimes, but it’s one that hasn’t been working very well lately.
And Ann Althouse writes: “I suppose I’m one of those Americans who don’t spend much time thinking about Canada. I know it’s up there, disapproving of us, like a sanctimonious older sibling. But I like the idea of this change.”