The Latest: Conservatives say Harper steps down as leader
TORONTO (AP) - The latest on the Canadian elections Monday pitting embattled Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau. (All times eastern):
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12:15 a.m.
A party statement says Stephen Harper has stepped down as leader of Canada's Conservative party after a crushing defeat.
Canadians voted for a sharp change in their government Monday, returning a legendary name for Liberals, Trudeau, to the prime minister's office and resoundingly ending Conservative Harper's near-decade in office.
Justin Trudeau, the son of late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, became Canada's new prime minister after his Liberal Party won a majority of Parliament's 338 seats.
The Conservative party statement says Harper instructed the party to appoint an interim leader.
Harper united the right and became the Conservative party's first leader. As prime minister he nudged Canada to right.
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10:40 p.m.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is projecting a majority government for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal party.
Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper had faced a tough re-election battle against Trudeau, the son of late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
Justin Trudeau, a 43-year-old former school teacher and member of Parliament since 2008, will be the second youngest prime minister in Canadian history.
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9:45 p.m.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. projects that Justin Trudeau will be Canada's next prime minister.
The election pitted the son of one of Canada's most famous politicians against Stephen Harper, the Conservative prime minister who has led the country for almost a decade
Trudeau, a 43-year-old former school teacher and member of Parliament since 2008, is the son of the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. He would become the second youngest prime minister in Canadian history.
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9:35 p.m.
Polls for more than three quarters of the seats in Canada's elections are starting to report after closing down in provinces such as Ontario and Quebec - where the election could be decided.
The last closings will be in Canada's Pacific Coast province of British Columbia at 10 p.m. EDT (0200 GMT).
Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper is facing a tough re-election battle against front-runner Justin Trudeau, the son of one of Canada's most famous politicians .
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8:45 p.m.
A former senior Conservative cabinet minister says Canada's Atlantic region is seeing a sea of change and it's not what the Conservatives hoped for.
Peter MacKay helped unite the right in Canada and previously served as defense and foreign minister in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government before stepping down earlier this year ahead of the election. He made the remarks to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper faces a tough re-election battle against front-runner Justin Trudeau.
Trudeau's Liberals got an early boost from voters in Atlantic Canada as polls closed across the country's easternmost time zones Monday.
The governing Conservatives held 13 of Atlantic Canada's 32 seats and the New Democratic Party held six when the election was called but Liberals were leading in 30 of the region's districts in early vote counting.
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8 p.m.
Polls have closed throughout Canada's Atlantic region.
It will be a while before the rest of the country catches up, however, with the last of the polls closing in Canada's Pacific Coast province of British Columbia at 10 p.m.
In races in Newfoundland and Labrador, Liberal candidates are being elected or are leading in six of the province's seven districts.
Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper faces a tough re-election battle against front-runner Justin Trudeau.
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7:05 p.m.
Polls have closed in Canada's Atlantic Coast province of Newfoundland, where the governing Conservatives are expected to be shut out of the province's seven races.
Polls remain open in the rest of the country and the last polls close in Canada in the Pacific Coast province of British Columbia at 10 p.m.
Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper faces a tough re-election battle against front-runner Justin Trudeau.