Canada's ruling Conservatives won a major victory in Monday's elections based on preliminary results, enabling them to move forward with their pro-business agenda.
"Canadian politics has changed dramatically tonight," Jason Kenney, immigration minister in the last Conservative government, told Reuters. "Canadians have gotten what they want: a stable majority which will focus on governing and economic growth and responsible fiscal policy."
Winning 40 percent of the vote, provisional results show that Conservatives will have 166 seats in Parliament, putting them well above the 155 seats they needed to be the majority party, Reuters states.
This is the first time Canadian Prime MinisterStephen Harper has won a majority of seats in Parliament.
Conservatives ran on plans to balance the budget and introduce a string of tax cuts. They also emphasized the need to win a majority in Parliament to bolster the economy.
"The victory in the national election," Bloomberg reports, "ends seven years of minority governments that have fueled government spending, and may make it easier for Harper to open up industries to foreign investment. Throughout the campaign, Harper said he needed a majority to secure the country’s recovery."
The official opposition will now be the left-leaning New Democratic Party, which provisional results showed won around 103 seats.
The election faced a new media controversy Monday when Twitter users posted results before all polls closed, the Canadian Press reports.
Results from the East of the country leaked on Twitter before polling stations closed in western Canada. A 73-year-old election law prohibits the transmission of results until the polls have all closed.
It remains to be seen how Elections Canada will handle the Twitter episode.
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