The prime minister couldn’t score the breakthrough in Quebec he needed to lead his party to a majority. But his opponents will have to grudgingly call him a winner. After all, he picked up seats in Ontario and has a stronger minority. His campaign, which began with incremental, cold efficiency, was hammered in the home stretch -- in no small thanks to the faltering economy. Harper may have fought off the Big Red Machine once again. But after his third crack at the bat many will be asking if it’s time to look for a leader with the muscle to hit the ball into majority territory.

While the Liberal party leader held steady in many ridings, he saw big chunks of support in Ontario go to the Tories and NDP. With his party back on the opposition benches, the Grits will not be happy and Dion will have to fight to keep himself planted in the leader’s seat. Will Dion now consider what many commentators have suggested: forming a coalition government with the NDP?

Layton never did get the prime minister job that he applied for, nor did he make the big gains he had hoped for. His party made inroads in Ontario, and picked up seats across the North. But the orange wave he was waiting for in B.C. never materialized. The NDP platform was based on putting families first and Layton ran a textbook campaign, but the party was up only one percentage point in popular support from the last election.

Separatism, modus operandi of the Bloc, was completely off the election campaign table. The party never reached the height of support indicated in the polls. But they hung on to what they had – thanks to the unpopularity in Quebec of the Tory promises to cut arts funding and get tougher on young offenders. And with the Bloc leader’s strong showing in the French language debate, Duceppe remains a potent opposition leader -- all the while keeping his opponents on the left at bay.

No big surprise that the Green Party leader failed to unseat Defence Minister Peter MacKay. Central Nova has long been a Tory throne – with MacKay’s father Elmer winning six times. Even so, May garnered considerable support, and managed to spice up an otherwise predictable televised leader’s debate. Despite her loss, May told CTV: “I’m not going anywhere” and will continue to lead her party.

There will be a new Trudeau on Parliament Hill. In a tough fight, the eldest son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau beat out Bloc Quebecois incumbent Vivian Barbot, who unseated Liberal cabinet minister Pierre Pettigrew by a slim margin in the last election. The Papineau riding is the poorest one in Quebec, made up largely of new immigrants and new Canadians. This was Trudeau’s first shot at federal politics, and more than a few Liberals have called him the future of the party.

In a tight race, Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy beat out NDP incumbent Peggy Nash. The Parkdale-High Park seat has see-sawed between the two parties, with Nash beating out a Liberal incumbent in 2006. Kennedy, a former Liberal leadership contender, has been called Stephane Dion’s “kingmaker” for crossing the floor and throwing his support behind Dion, allowing him to take the party leadership. Some expect Kennedy to again throw his name in the hat for the Liberal leadership next time around.

Shipping out is the Canadian Minister of International Trade. He was first appointed to Harper’s cabinet in 2006 -- despite not being an elected member of the Conservative party. Appointed to the Senate, Fortier needed to win the Vaudreuil-Soulanges riding in order to satisfy the Conservative Party base, which would prefer their ministers to be of the elected kind.

Known as the booted blogger from the Conservative caucus, Turner turned to the Liberal party despite reportedly being courted by Elizabeth May and her Green Party. But going with the Grits proved to be a gamble that flopped. Will Turner, who’s also known for his cheeky web broadcasts on MPtv, turn his attention towards a journalism career? It worked for Mike Huckabee south of the border.

With another Liberal leadership convention on the horizon, and the Grits sitting in the opposition benches after another election, Ignatieff needed to win his riding to keep his leadership dreams alive. After Dion’s disappointing performance, will the party turn to the former Harvard professor to be head of the class?

The widow of late MP Chuck Cadman won the coveted riding of Surrey North in the sprawling suburb south of Vancouver. There was no incumbent as the NDP’s Penny Priddy decided not to run again. Cadman ran despite her allegation in a biography of her late husband that Tory party officials offered him a bribe on his deathbed, in order to topple the minority Liberals government at the time.

After scrubbing his last election attempt, former astronaut Marc Garneau can finally blast off into the world of Canadian politics. In 2006, Garneau ran as a “star” candidate in Vaudreuil-Soulanges, but lost the riding to the Bloc’s Meili Faille. This time Westmount-Ville-Marie proved to be fertile ground and now Garneau takes one small step for the Liberal party as an elected representative.

A likely victim of the “Anyone but Conservative” movement in Newfoundland and Labrador, the province’s only remaining Conservative MP (Avalon) is officially out. That leaves Conservative Premier Danny Williams without any federal representation in his province -- not that he minds. Williams, a harsh critic of Harper’s government, was a vocal proponent of the ABC strategy.

Despite being wrapped up in a scandal involving sensitive documents and details of a steamy affair with Julie Couillard, Bernier sailed smoothly to victory in Beauce. Could this signal a return to cabinet for the former Minister of Foreign Affairs?

Controversial floor-crosser Khan was rocked by the voters of Mississauga Streetsville as they rejected his new allegiance to the Conservative party and instead voted in Liberal Bonnie Crombie. In 2006, when Khan was still a Liberal party member, he received a special appointment from Prime Minister Stephen Harper on issues relating to then Middle East and Afghanistan. When Dion refused to permit Khan to continue his role, he crossed the floor and joined the Tories.

Wong immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong 30 years ago, and is now the elected representative for Richmond, which lies to the south of Greater Vancouver. Her win in this key battleground riding steals a seat away from Liberal Raymond Chan and paints it Tory blue, bolstering Harper’s Western stronghold.

Leona Aglukkaq, a former territorial minister and star candidate for the Tories, beat out Liberal candidate Kirt Ejesiak in Nunavut to win Canada’s largest riding. It marked the only Tory victory in the North, with the Liberals winning in the Yukon and the NDP taking it in the Western Arctic. The NDP’s Paul Irngaut was not far behind in the race and Liberal incumbent Nancy Karetak-Lindall did not run again. All three candidates are Inuit.