Political newbie Mark Carney completed a historical comeback Monday night as the Liberals won a minority government.
Only a few months ago, the Liberals were trailing Pierre Poilievre's Tories by more than 20% in the polls.
Then along came the former Bank of Canada and Bank of England bossman Carney — along with US President Donald Trump musing about Canada becoming the 51st state — and the die was cast.
At time of publication the Liberals were leading and elected in 165 ridings, the Tories 147, the Bloc, 23, the NDP seven and the Greens one. A total of 172 was needed for a majority.
It was the first time Carney had run for political office.
His campaign was based on stirring up fear of Trump. His first assignment will be meeting with Trump to try and find a solution to the trade war.
And Trump was a big part of his victory speech. He called Trump's comments on Canada "not an idle threat."
He spoke to Western Canadians and said he planned to govern for "all Canadians."
"Viv la Canada!"
Other big stories are Poilievre lost his Ottawa-Carelton riding and Jagmeet Singh and the NDP perhaps losing official party status.
An emotional Singh was the first party leader to speak and announced his resignation.
He called it a "disappointing night" and said "we are only defeated if we stop fighting."
At press time the NDP was down to leading and elected in seven seats; last election they won 24.
Singh sets off into the sunset in his Maserati and multi-million-dollar pension.
Singh was even petty enough to kick WS reporter Jarryd Jaeger out of his campaign event.
Poilievre congratulated Carney, but warned he "would still be holding his feet to the fire."
"It's a honour to continue the fight for you."
Poilievre increased the Tory seat count by 20 and popular vote by 8% to 42%. It's the highest Tory popular since 1988.
But his problem may be that he doesn't have a seat anymore.
It was the first time Carney had run for political office.
His campaign was based on stirring up fear of Trump. His first assignment will be meeting with Trump to try and find a solution to the trade war.
The evening started out with the Tories overperforming in Atlantic Canada.
The Liberals were leading and elected in 22 ridings, the Tories in 10.
Last election, the Justin Trudeau Liberals swept all 32 seats. The last time the Tories reached 10 seats was when Stephen Harper won a majority.
The Liberals had a strong performance in Quebec, leading or elected in 41 ridings compared to just 24 for the Bloc. The Tories had 11 ridings and the NDP just one.
In Ontario, it was 64 for the Liberals, 58 for the Tories, and one for the Greens.
Once again, the Peoples Party of Canada and its leader Maxime Bernier were a non-factor, garnering less than 1% of the popular vote at the time of publication.
...more to come