Fall
2015
Grains
West
36
ELECTIONS
’06
’07
’08
’09
’10
POLICIES&
LEGISLATION
IMPORTANT
EVENTS
Jan. 23:
Stephen Harper’s Conservatives defeated Paul Martin’s Liberals towin aminority government. The Conservatives took 124 seats to the
Liberals’ 103, the BlocQuébécois’s 51 and theNDP’s 29, with one independent seat. This was the first Conservative government since 1988.
Feb. 6:
Harper appointed Chuck Strahl, Chilliwack–Fraser CanyonMP, as minister of agriculture and agri-food.
Strahl took over for Liberal Andy Mitchell, who was at the post during the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis, which
included an unsuccessful half-billion-dollar bailout.
’06
’11
’07
’08
’09
’10
July 1:
The federal government lowered the GST to six per cent (to be lowered further to five per cent by Jan. 1, 2008).
Dec. 12:
The House of Commons passed the Conservatives’ Federal Accountability Act.
May 3:
The House of Commons passed the Conservatives’ Fixed Election Dates Act, which provides for elections every four years unless a
government is defeated in the House of Commons.
Aug. 14:
Harper shuffled his cabinet, and Gerry Ritz, Battlefords–Lloydminster MP, became the new agriculture and
agri-food minister.
Oct. 14:
The Conservatives returned to office with a stronger minority of 143 seats. The Liberals took 77, the Bloc Québécois 49, the NDP
37 and independents two.
Dec. 4 to Jan. 26, 2009:
Parliament was prorogued at Harper’s request to prevent a non-confidence vote that would have installed a coa-
lition government.
Dec. 30 toMarch 3, 2010:
Parliament was prorogued once again.
June 17:
The mandatory long-form census was eliminated, prompting the resignation of Statistics Canada headMunir Sheikh in July.
May 2:
Conservatives returned to office, this time with a majority government of 166 seats. The NDP takes 103, Liberals 34, Bloc 4,
Greens 1. This marks the first time in history the NDP earns more than 45 seats.
HARPER’S 10-YEAR TENURE:
