The pro-sovereignty Bloc Quebecois held its ground in Quebec on Monday night with 51 seats, while the Conservatives made crucial gains in a province that shut them out in 2004.

The Bloc won 51 of 75 ridings at stake in Quebec, three less than they held at dissolution, compared with 13 secured by the Liberals and 10 seats for the Conservatives, mainly in rural Quebec.

Most of the Conservative gains came at the expense of the Liberals, who held 21 seats at dissolution, while the Tories were unable to elect a single candidate in Quebec in 2004.

This time out, the Bloc also took about 42 per cent of the popular vote, down from nearly 49 per cent in 2004, despite boasts from the sovereigntists who predicted they would take more than 50 per cent, which would in turn serve as a springboard in the push for independence.

As for the Tories, they took 25 per cent of the popular vote Monday, up from 8.8 per cent in the last election.

Meanwhile, the Liberals took 21 per cent on Monday, down from 33.9 per cent in 2004.

Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe avoided the fact that his party's performance was less successful than in 2004 in his speech to cheering supporters.

Duceppe said that while the Bloc and the Conservatives would unite to work on common issues, he warned that values conveyed by the rest of Canada would never take precedence over "Quebec values."

The Bloc leader also downplayed sovereignty in his address.

"Like I said all during the campaign, this election was not a referendum election," Duceppe said. "The future of Quebec wasn't played out tonight.

"But the Quebec vote and the Canadian vote show is clearly that we're not going in the same direction. Each is taking his own path. In the long run, to fully express its difference, Quebec must assume all of its powers as a sovereign country."

Key ridings and candidates

Among the high-profile candidates, Liberal Leader Paul Martin won in his Montreal riding of LaSalle-Emard, despite internal party polls from the Bloc that had suggested it was within striking distance of defeating Martin; as did Liberal Irwin Cotler, who served as justice minister, in the traditionally safe riding of Mount Royal.

Meanwhile, Liberal Stephane Dion, who served as environment minister in the last government, won in Saint-Laurent--Cartierville as did Transport Minister Jean Lapierre.

Quebec economic development minister Jacques Saada lost his riding, while newcomer Liberal candidate Marc Garneau also lost to the Bloc's incumbent Meili Faille in the riding of Vaudreuil-Soulanges.

In Jeanne-Le Ber, the Bloc's Thierry St-Cyr eked out a narrow win over the Liberal opponent Liza Frulla, who served as heritage minister in Martin's government.

Conservative candidates who have won seats include: Josee Verner, chair of the Tory Quebec caucus, in Louis-Saint-Laurent; as well as Steven Blaney, who beat Bloc incumbent Real Lapierre in Levis-Bellechasse; and Lawrence Cannon, a one-time provincial cabinet minister in the provincial Liberal government of Robert Bourassa, who secured a seat in Pontiac.

Jean-Pierre Blackburn, a cabinet minister in the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney, also won in Jonquiere-Alma.

"I am especially proud tonight of the fact that both anglophones and francophones worked together to bring about real change in Quebec," Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said in his victory speech.

"Our government will build a new and dynamic voice for federalism in Quebec," said Harper, who has promised to address the fiscal imbalance between the provinces and the federal government.

Independent candidate, and former radio shock jock, Andre Arthur was elected in the riding of Portneuf-Jacques-Cartier, knocking off the Bloc candidate.

Conservative gains

Harper's Tory campaign received a glowing report from former prime minister Brian Mulroney.

"It would be appropriate and good for Canada if we had the opportunity to elect someone like Mr. Harper who is from Alberta but who understands Quebec, understands its important cultural and political role in Canada," Mulroney said, appearing on CTV News, before Harper was called Canada's prime minister-designate.

"Believe me... for a Conservative leader, since Louis Riel, to win seats in Quebec is a tough assignment. Some very good men and women have failed in the past."

The Conservatives, who had been considered dead and buried in the Quebec political race, came up from nowhere, as federalist voters disillusioned with the ruling Liberals switched political allegiances.

The Quebec election race

Early in the campaign, Martin upped the stakes by declaring the vote a "referendum election," warning Quebecers the election of Bloc members would be the first step toward another ballot on sovereignty.

Though Martin's predecessor Jean Chretien regularly tried to polarize the Quebec electorate along federalist-separatist lines, the tactic was seen as a gamble for Martin as the Liberals were trailing badly in the Quebec opinion polls in the aftermath of the sponsorship scandal.

But Duceppe refused to equate the election with a vote on national unity, saying the political future of Quebec was a provincial matter that came down to whether they still wanted Liberals.

"That an absolute majority of Quebecers support sovereigntist candidates doesn't mean they voted for sovereignty," Duceppe said during the campaign.

"You cannot tell people before the election to give sovereigntists their confidence in order to defend Quebec's interests and once they do it say that they voted for sovereignty. That's not how it is. That's not being rigorous. I was never like that and I will never be like that."

Liberals rocked by implied scandal

Despite the Liberal attempts to liken the vote into an election into a referendum plebiscite, polls showed a growing surge of Conservative support as the Liberals continued to be rocked by implied scandal.

First, the party was buffeted by charges that a federal announcement on income trusts was leaked to traders, and most recently into allegations that the federal Liberals broke Quebec election laws during the 1995 referendum.

The latter has fuelled antagonism in Quebec, where hostility had already been stoked by the sponsorship scandal.

Indeed, Tory support showed a surge during the post-holiday phase of the campaign.

Although polling shows support sagged in the week leading up to the vote, the party showed more strength than any time in the past decade.

According to a poll heading into the vote, conducted by The Strategic Counsel for CTV and The Globe and Mail, the Bloc held 48 per cent support, while the Tories held 25 per cent, the Liberals had 14 per cent, the NDP had 7 per cent, and the Greens held 6 per cent.

The Tory campaign received an unexpected endorsement from Montreal's federalist daily La Presse earlier in January, when the newspaper gave its editorial support to the Conservative party.

"Obviously we've picked up a lot of support in Quebec in the course of the campaign," Harper said of the endorsement.

"Those results are encouraging. While I would agree with you it's been a long time since Quebecers have voted for a non-Quebecer, the fact of the matter is it has also been a long time since a Quebec newspaper endorsed a non-Quebecer."

Indeed, La Presse has supported Tories in the past, notably during the Mulroney era.

But Mulroney was a Quebecer, and since Pierre Trudeau, the newspaper has only supported Quebec federalist leaders over non-Quebecers.

Regardless of the final seat count in Quebec, the results underscore a seismic shift in the province, indicating the Conservative party has, for now, become a viable federalist alternative in the province.

In 2004, the Bloc won 54 seats out of 75 possible seats, its strongest electoral showing since the party's first election in 1993, while the Liberals won 21 seats and the Conservatives and NDP failed to win any seats at all. At dissolution, the Bloc maintained its majority with 53 seats, compared to the Liberal's 21, and one vacant spot.

In 2000, the party won 38 seats, scarcely a majority of available seats, compared with the Liberal's 35 seats and one Conservative.

In 1997, the Bloc secured 44 of Quebec's 75 seats while the Liberals won 26 and the Progressive Conservatives won 5.