The Liberal Party won a third consecutive majority government in the national elections in Canada on Nov. 27.

The victory for Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and his Liberals produced the first three-time consecutive term leader since 1945. Chrétien has led the nation since 1993.

The Liberals won 173 seats in Parliament. The labor-backed New Democratic Party retained official party status by winning 13 seats – one over the required number. The renamed Canadian Alliance took 66 seats. The Bloc Québécois fell to 37 seats. The Progressive Conservative Party dropped to 12 seats.

Photo courtesy NDP

NDP Leader Alexa McDonough

When Parliament was dissolved, the Liberals held 161 seats, the Alliance held 58, the Bloc Québécois had 44, the NDP had 19, and the Progressive Conservatives had 15. Four independents completed the count of 301 seats in the House of Commons.

All the party leaders retained their seats – Chrétien of the Liberals in Saint-Maurice in Quebec; Stockwell Day of the Alliance in Okanagan-Coquihalla in British Columbia; Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe in Laurier-Ste-Marie in Quebec; Alexa McDonough of the NDP in Halifax, Nova Scotia; and the Tories' Joe Clark in Calgary Centre, Alberta.

According to reports, voter turnout was low for Canada at 63 percent. The Liberals took 41 percent of the popular vote, the Alliance 25 percent, the Tories 12 percent, the Bloc 11 percent, and the NDP 9 percent.

The NDP lost three seats in the Atlantic region, where it had won eight of its 19 seats in the 1997 election.

McDonough campaigned on the issues of health care, which the Liberals have cut by some $13 billion since 1995, and what to do with the federal surplus, which the Liberals want to divest through tax cuts, but the NDP wants to invest in services. The NDP also advocates home care for seniors; a national prescription drug program; and a national child care program.

Following the election, McDonough said: "We return to the fight of our lives" against the Liberals on these issues. "We will not allow the Liberals to forget their promises to the people of Canada."

Chrétien, whose party won 100 of the 103 seats in Ontario, tied the Bloc in Quebec with 37 seats, and picked up eight seats in the Atlantic region. He said: "We have a mandate from all across Canada. We intend to use this majority to make sure that Canada will progress in the 21st century."