Canada

Note: Prime Minister Stephen Harper had Parliament suspended from December 4, 2008, until January 26, 2009, to avoid a no-confidence vote set for December 8 that could have toppled his minority Conservative government.

Note: In the early elections to the House of Commons on October 14, 2008, the Conservative Party of Canada was credited with winning 143 seats; the Liberal Party of Canada, 77; the Quebec Bloc, 49; the New Democratic Party, 37; and independents, 2. Despite their improvement in relation to the 2006 results, the Conservatives again failed to achieve a legislative majority, and Prime Minister Harper announced another minority government on October 30. With Prime Minister Harper's government facing a no-confidence vote in the House of Commons, on December 4 Governor General Michaëlle Jean, ...