Trying to spin this as a "loss" for the PCs is a bit of a stretch... they increased their seat count by near 20 (still waiting for final results) while also increasing their popular vote. The Liberals took a major dive in both those categories.
The stock market fall definitely hurt the ruling party as they were comfortably in the lead prior to that and were flirting with majority territory. Having said that, the Green Shift is an idiotic plan.
It will be interesting to see what happens next. Dion has said before the election that he would not step down no matter what, and has May. If they both stay on and fight for their leadership, the other parties are sure to pick up more of the vote next time. If Dion drags out the leadership and fights it, the party is doomed. They have basically no money now (are actually in significant debt after this election) and are still fighting a major lawsuit. They still haven't paid back all the sponsorship scandal money either. They can't afford another election anytime soon, and if they prop up the PCs over and over again, their base support will bleed.
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