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The Biggest Story of 2011 for Me? The Historic Federal Election

For the, the once mighty Liberal Party of Canada was neither the government or official opposition. Layton became the first New Democrat to be sworn in as Her Majesty's Official Leader of the Opposition, another historic moment brought to us by May 2nd's election.
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2011 was a year of elections for Canada with Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Yukon all going to the polls in general election, while Alberta and British Columbia found themselves with new Premiers due to leadership elections.

But no election had as much impact as Canada's May 2nd federal election.

The combined message voters delivered rocked conventional wisdom of Canadian politics and gave us a result like we have never seen before.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May saw her party shed considerable public support during the campaign period, but was successful in her bid to wrestle a seat in the House away from the second Conservative cabinet minister she has challenged for their job. She is the first Green MP elected to Canada's House of Commons.

For the first time since Confederation, the once mighty Liberal Party of Canada was neither the government or official opposition. Their leader Michael Ignatieff lost his own seat while leading the Liberals to the worst electoral result the party has ever seen.

Ignatieff became the second Liberal leader in a row not to become Prime Minister, a distinction he and Stephane Dion share with Edward Blake, who resigned in 1872 and is the only other Liberal leader not to become Prime Minister.

Jack Layton saw his party fortunes rise dramatically as the NDP gained 66 new MPs. Layton became the first New Democrat to be sworn in as Her Majesty's Official Leader of the Opposition, another historic moment brought to us by May 2nd's election.

Much of Layton's gain was former Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe's pain. The Bloc Quebecois fell victim to the electoral wave dubbed the 'Orange Crush' that swept through Quebec, electing an eclectic bunch of neophytes to Canada's Parliament. Like Ignatieff, Gilles Duceppe lost his seat, and his party went from 49 MPs and being the third party, to just four MPs, below the threshold for party status.

And finally, after years of ruthless campaigning for a much coveted majority government, Stephen Harper finally won his, as the Conservative Party formed Canada's first majority government since the 2000 election, and the first Conservative Majority since 1988.

Canada's May 2nd election and the impact it had on the year have made it the biggest story to me for 2011.

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