However, the sovereigntist party failed to garner more than 50% of the popular vote, which early polls during the election campaign had indicated was a strong possibility.

In Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, independent candidate and former radio host André Arthur defeated incumbent Guy Côté of the Bloc.

In Vaudreuil—Soulanges, the Liberal star candidate and former astronaut Marc Garneau failed in his bid to unseat the incumbent Bloc MP Meili Faille.

Also of note, out of every Canadian federal election held since Confederation in 1867, the Liberals attained their lowest historical share of the popular vote, with only 20.7%.

In Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, Wayne Marston of the NDP defeated Tony Valeri, who held the position of leader of the government in the House of Commons.

Tony Clement, a former provincial cabinet member, defeated Mitchell, the federal agriculture minister, in Parry Sound-Muskoka.

Olivia Chow, the wife of NDP leader Jack Layton, defeated Liberal MP Tony Ianno in Trinity—Spadina.

The Conservatives did not win any seats in the city of Toronto but dominated the smaller urban and rural portions of central, eastern and southwestern Ontario.

In Winnipeg South, Conservative Rod Bruinooge won by 110 votes over Liberal Treasury Board President Reg Alcock.

Actress Tina Keeper defeated incumbent Bev Desjarlais, who ran as an independent after losing her party's nomination for opposing same-sex marriage.

Penny Priddy won the Surrey North seat that independent Chuck Cadman held before his July 2005 death.

The Liberals also picked up the Newton—North Delta seat with Sukh Dhaliwal winning the riding, which had been held by scandal-ridden Conservative Gurmant Grewal.

Svend Robinson, the controversial former NDP MP who had left politics after admitting to stealing a ring in 2004, failed in his bid to return to Parliament.

The four British Columbian ministers in Paul Martin's Cabinet (Raymond Chan, Ujjal Dosanjh, David Emerson and Stephen Owen) all retained their Lower Mainland seats.

However, in Western Arctic (the Northwest Territories), NDP candidate Dennis Bevington defeated Liberal incumbent Ethel Blondin-Andrew.