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After two consecutive terms in a minority government (2006-2008, 2008-2011), Stephen Harper led the Conservative Party to a majority government with 166 seats and 39.62% of the popular vote on May 2, 2011. By rejecting the budget proposed by Harper’s minority government and adopting a motion of non-confidence asserting that the Harper government was in contempt of Parliament, the opposition parties forced the elections.

In the Conservative Party platform entitled “Here for Canada: Stephen Harper’s low tax plan for jobs and economic growth,” Harper’s Conservatives focused on furthering the economic recovery from the Great Recession of 2008. They hoped to obtain a strong mandate to implement the next phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, to eliminate the deficit by 2014-2015, and its “tough on crime” agenda for “law-abiding Canadians”. Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party designed a platform with 143 pledges, some of which appealed to very specific market segments according to a political marketing strategy. In Québec, Harper appealed to Quebec nationalists with the slogan “Notre région au pouvoir” (Our Region in Power).