Federal election: Liberal tide, decimated NDP mark changed Quebec landscape - Action News
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Federal election: Liberal tide, decimated NDP mark changed Quebec landscape

Quebecers are waking up to a dramatically redrawn electoral map, with the Liberals making surprise gains in the province as Justin Trudeau's party marched to a big majority victory.

Liberals' 40 seats represent Quebec best result for party since 1980

RAW: Excerpt from Justin Trudeau's victory speech

9 years ago
Duration 0:50
Justin Trudeau reminds everyone that "a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian."

Quebecers are waking up to a dramaticallyredrawn electoral map, with the Liberals makingsurprise gains in the province as Justin Trudeau's party marched to a big majorityvictory.

Speaking atMontreal's Queen Elizabeth hotel, Trudeau told acrowd of supporters that Canadians had sent a message they want "real change."

Here'swhat happened and what it means for the province.

Seat breakdown for Quebec

  • Liberals:40 (compared with sevenlast time)
  • NDP:16(compared with 59 last time)
  • Conservatives: 12 (compared with five last time)
  • Bloc Qubcois:10 (compared with four last time)

Riding maps were redrawn for this election, andQuebec hadthree new seats up for grabs, for a total of 78.

Red tide

The Liberals' 40 seats represent the best result for the party in the province since 1980, when Pierre Elliott Trudeau's Liberals won 74 of 75 seats.

It appears the party has finally overcome the voters' backlash fromthesponsorship scandal,which has haunted the party in Quebec since itsurfaced ahead of the 2006 federal election campaign.

Trudeauwon his own seat, thenorthend Montrealriding ofPapineau,in a landslide.

The Liberals also wonback seats fromthe NDP in severalMontrealridings that havetraditionally voted red,includingtwo West Island ridingsandHonor-Mercierin the northeast.

More say in Ottawa?

Last night wasthe first time sinceBrianMulroney'sProgressiveConservativesvictory in 1988 that a majority ofQuebec seats went to the party that formed government.

In the years since, the Bloc has been the leading voice for the province in Ottawa until the NDP wave of 2011.

In his victory speech, Trudeau addressed the crowd in French, saying Quebecershad made the decisionto re-engage with Canada by voting Liberal.

"We have chosen to trust one another and to invest in our future,"Trudeau said.

The outcome representsa major departure for the province.

Orange crushed

NDP Leader TomMulcairwas able to hold on tohis own seatin the Montreal riding of Outremont, butthe NDP only won 16 seats in the province overall.

The result isa major disappointment for the party. In 2011 theywon59 seats in Quebec andnearly obliteratedthe BlocQubcois.

Mulcair put on a brave face in his concession speech, telling supportershis partyhas a strong future in the province.

"Tonight, we've demonstrated that in Quebec, NDP roots continue to develop and going forward the NPD will always be, for Quebecers, a real choice," he said.

Conservatives make gains (in Quebec)

Despite major losses nationally (and Stephen Harper stepping down as leader), theConservatives were able to make some inroadsin Quebec.

The party won 12 seatsup from a total of five in the last election.

The Conservatives had also made a push to gain a presence on the island ofMontreal, with Stephen Harper opening his campaign in the traditionalLiberal stronghold ofMount Royal. But they were unable to win the riding, withAnthony Housefather taking the seatfor the Liberals.