The Conservative Leader was greeted with a hero's welcome Tuesday as he returned to Ottawa with the brand new title of prime minister-designate.

The leader of the Conservative Party even used the Ottawa Airport's Hangar 11 for his announcement, which is reserved for government officials.

It was his first public appearance since his victory speech Monday night, and Harper and his family were greeted by an excited crowd of supporters.

He told them his transition team has already begun its work under the guidance of former diplomat and chief of staff to Brian Mulroney, Derek Burney.

Harper did not take any questions, and limited his comments to thanking his supporters and announcing the transition is underway.

He said a full press conference will be held Thursday.

"We're all feeling pretty upbeat as you can imagine," Harper said, with his wife and children beside him. "This morning our transition team began its work headed by former ambassador Derek Burney. It has a lot of meetings planned for me this evening and tomorrow and we'll try and bring you all up to date as things unfold."

Burney is a former ambassador to the United States and served as chief of staff to former prime minister Brian Mulroney from March 1987 to January 1989. Burney also played a key role in establishing the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and has had a successful business career, serving as CEO of Bell Canada International and President of the Board of New Brunswick Power.

CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife said Burney was a wise choice.

"Mr. Burney is a very important player in (Ottawa) and I don't think he could have found anyone better to help him with the transition," Fife said.

Prime minister-incumbent Paul Martin submitted his resignation to Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean on Tuesday morning.

Jean has since spoken to Harper and asked him to form the next government.

Monday night, when poll results showed a clear Conservative minority victory, Martin gave a concession speech in which he said he had offered his congratulations to Harper.

Martin also said he would be stepping down as leader of the Liberal Party.

As prime minister designate, one of Harper's first major challenges will be to design a cabinet that is representative of the country, composed of ministers who will hold the trust of the public and the confidence of the House of Commons. With his minority government, Harper will have to form coalitions with other parties on an issue by issue basis.

Cabinet

Finding adequate Quebec representation will also be especially crucial to forming a strong cabinet.

"Probably one of the sweetest moments in the night last night was to actually get a breakthrough in Quebec. It's been a long time coming," said CTV's Rosemary Thompson, reporting from the press conference. "Quebecers have opened their hearts to him and they've elected quite a few seats in Quebec. It's quite a surprise really."

She added, however, that Harper's government will now have to represent those Quebec constituents well, in order to maintain their support.

Former Ontario premier Mike Harris said Harper has a good foothold in Quebec, and as long as he sticks to his priorities he will gain credibility and perform even better in the next election.

"I don't see anything to fear in Stephen Harper, and I think he'll be an excellent prime minister," Harris told CTV's Mike Duffy Live. "I used to say he'd be a better prime minister than a campaigner, but I don't say that anymore. I think he's run a marvelous campaign."

It could be a few weeks before we learn for sure who will be in cabinet.

Harper will have to decide who he wants, and make sure that every region of the country is represented. He is thought to prefer a smaller cabinet of perhaps about 28 people, Fife said.

"Mr. Harper is one of these people that is very cautious and likes to look at things carefully," Fife said. "I think you'll see probably at least two weeks."

However, speculation has already started as to who Harper will pick.

One person that is expected to get a senior cabinet post is Lawrence Cannon, who won the Pontiac riding in Quebec.

"It's expected that he will get a very senior cabinet post -- possibly deputy prime minister -- simply because Mr. Harper wants to show that he's a truly national party and has somebody from Quebec," CTV Question Period's Jane Taber said.

Harper's deputy leader, Peter MacKay, is the former leader of the Progressive Conservative party, and well respected. Taber suggests he could end up with the public security portfolio.

MacKay would only say he is excited to get to work.

"There's a lot of anticipation, excitement around the prospects of getting on with moving the country forward, cleaning up government," MacKay told CTV.

Several other prominent MPs, such as Monte Solberg, also appear to be likely choices for cabinet.

"If Stephen asks me to serve in a cabinet I'd be honoured, but I'm not counting on that. I'll do whatever he asks me to do," said Monte Solberg.

As for prominent women to watch, Rona Ambrose from the Edmonton area is among those at the top of the list. She served in his shadow cabinet.

However, Harper has to be careful about the number of MPs he puts in from the Conservative bastion of Alberta, said Taber.

"Alberta is all blue and he's got to show regional balance, and a gender balance," she said.

The Conservative agenda

In about two weeks, Harper will take office, and some are wondering what will happen when he begins to implement his Conservative agenda.

Last night, in his victory speech, Harper repeated a campaign promise to solve the fiscal imbalance between the provinces and the federal government, and said he would let the Atlantic provinces to keep their offshore resource money.

During the campaign, he promised to cut the GST by two points over the next two years. Harper also said he would pass a new ethics package, implement a crackdown on crime and work with the provinces to establish a medical fund.

He likely won't go outside those key priorities, says CTV's Tom Clark.

"None of the wacky strange stuff that people were talking about -- none of that's going to show up because the next campaign starts this morning," Clark said on CTV's Canada AM.

One of his most controversial plans include a free vote on the same-sex marriage.

Harper, who won a narrow minority, will have to perform a balancing act -- keeping his party happy, while reaching out to others in the House.

NDP Leader Jack Layton, whose party holds 29 seats in the House, said Tuesday the NDP will search for common ground with the Conservative government, but it may not be easy.

"There are clear and profound differences. But in a community we can find solutions, compromises, to pursue results. There are all kinds of objectives... I imagine there are objectives we can pursue together.''

Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe, whose party earned 51 seats in Monday's election, said the burden of proof is on Harper to make good on his promises.

Speaking in Montreal Tuesday, Duceppe said he expects Harper to give Quebec a bigger role on the international stage and to solve the fiscal imbalance -- a major issue for Quebec.

Harper's Tories won 124 seats of Parliament's 308 seats, while the Liberals took 103 seats. The Bloc Quebecois won 51 and the New Democrats 29. One Independent was elected.

The changeover has been relatively clear cut. Martin conceded after the poll results pointed to his defeat. He also announced he will be stepping down as leader of the Liberal party.

"I will continue to represent with pride the people of LaSalle-Emard, but I will not take our party into another election as leader," he told his constituents in Montreal.

Now that Martin has handed in his resignation, procedure dictates that he will speak with Harper to agree on a date to effectively hand over the keys to the Prime Minister's Office.

The actual changeover typically takes place between 10 days to two weeks after the election, and the Liberals will remain in power until the new government is sworn in.

The White House congratulated Harper on his win.

Spokesman Scott McClellan said the Bush administration looks forward to working with the new regime.