Megan, this may have been explained in the previous posts about how results could shake out, but what do those results actually mean? It looks like the Liberals have the majority, but is it too small a majority to do anything or ?

The Liberals have a plurality, not a majority. t /pedant

The expectation is that they will try to form a majority with the NDP and/or the Bloc Quebecquois. However, nobody expects the coalition to last very long, hence Megan's crack about when the next election will be.

155 votes is a majority in the House. So while the Liberals will form the government, they will have to get the support one of the other parties, to get motions and bills passed. It will likely be the NDP, perhaps on some occassions, the Bloc Quebecois.

This is good for these minority parties because it means they have the bargaining power to push for their policies and initiatives. There was a minority Liberal gov't in 1972 that was very good for social programs.

It's bad because minority governments are always unstable. If a vote in the House of Commons is a declared a confidence vote, and the party that has formed the gov't loses, they resign, and the Governor General can call a new election or ask another party to form the Government.

There's some good info about Minority governments here.

One of the things that causes instability in minority governments is that the party with the largest chunk gets tired of the necessary deal-making and calls for an election when they think they have enough support to gain a majority.

The suggestion this morning was made that the Liberals will simply govern without a coalition per se, and attempt to garner sufficient support on a case-by-case basis on the issues that could draw a vote of non-confidence.

Any party that triggers an election call soon is likely to face voter backlash, so pundits were predicting this morning that the current situation could last two or even three years.

ETA: sense. more caffeine needed.

Am so happy that the world did not end. I wish the Liberals or NDP had just one more seat. Ah well, the Bloc is probably as far left as the NDP for social programs anyway.

What I really can't believe is that the voter turnout was lower than last time. People are crazy! What are they telling themselves? "Well, the polls have two parties statistically tied, but I won't vote because it wouldn't make a difference." I call for remedial math classes for the whole damn country.

In other news, my friend is now married. The shower and wedding went really well, but I am now sleep deprived because of all the partying. I should have gone to bed early last night to recuperate, but there was that pesky election.

What was the voter turnout, 'Ouise?

Not Ouise, but I heard the turnout was 60.4%, down from 61.x% last time.

Not Ouise

60% in the US would be tremendous turnout.