Hot sectors in a tepid recovery
The energy, finance, technology and healthcare industries are expected to be the hottest areas for dealmaking in 2010. Full Article | Full Coverage
FACTBOX-Canadian governments since 1993
Dec 1 (Reuters) - Canada's three opposition parties signed a historic agreement on Monday to work together to bring down Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority Conservative government over its economic policies.
A proposed coalition government, to be headed by Liberal leader Stephane Dion, would include the left-of-center New Democratic Party with support from the separatist Bloc Quebecois.
Combined, the three opposition parties have 163 members of the 308-member House of Commons, versus 143 for the Conservative Party.
Here is a recent history of governments in Canada.
Oct 14, 2008 -- Conservatives led by Stephen Harper are reelected with more MPs than before, but still hold a minority. Conservatives get 37.6 percent of popular vote. Liberals, led by Dion, lose seats, falling to 77, and their share of the popular vote drops to 26.3 percent.
January 2006 -- Conservative Party led by Harper ends more than 12 years of Liberal rule by winning 124 seats versus 103 for Liberals. Conservatives take 36.3 percent of popular vote, beating the Liberals' 30.2 percent.
June 2004 -- Liberals led by former Finance Minister Paul Martin win with 135 of 308 seats and 36.7 percent of the popular vote. Harper's Conservative Party, a new group bringing together former right-wing rivals, wins 99 seats, and 29.6 percent of popular vote.
November 2000 -- Canada's last majority government and a third straight win for Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien. The Liberals take 172 of 301 seats and 40.8 percent of popular vote. Two right-of-center parties, the Alliance and Progressive Conservatives, split the vote.
June 1997 - The Liberals led by Chretien are reelected with a majority, 155 seats in a 301-seat House of Commons, as the Western Canada-based Reform Party finishes a distant second and the Progressive Conservatives finish fifth.
October 1993 -- Chretien's Liberal Party drubs the unpopular Progressive Conservatives and their leader, Kim Campbell, who followed former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Only two Conservatives are elected in the 295-member Parliament. (Compiled by Lynne Olver; Edited by Jeffrey Jones)
