And they're off

The polls are open, with the Liberals at 17 in the Maritimes, 10 Conservatives, 4 NDP, and 1 Independent (Bill Casey).

21:40: Still Liberal strength showing (20 Liberals leading or elected against 11 Tories, the rest unchanged.

21:43: Elizabeth May is now speaking to her supporters in New Glasgow, having conceded the race to Tory Peter McKay.

21:46: CTVGlobal predicts a Conservative minority government. (Ooops. Sorry about that CTV!)

21:50: The Conservatives are starting to catch up to early Liberal gains: currently 39 Liberal, 39 Conservative, 13 NDP, 5 BQ and 1 Independent.

21:55: Now showing 82 Conservatives, 65 Liberals, 23 NDP and 18 BQ. Very early results in Central Canada.

22:00: Polls closing in the west. 103 Tory, 70 Grit, 29 BQ and 24 NDP.

22:05: 117 Tory 71 Grit, 35 BQ, 27 NDP, and 2 Independent.

22:10: Tony Clement is now speaking to his supporters after being declared elected in his riding of Muskoka-Parry Sound.

22:15: Potential Liberal leadership contender Bob Rae has been declared elected in Toronto Centre, and Stephane Dion has been declared elected in his own riding. My local MP, Jim Flaherty, has been re-elected here in Whitby-Oshawa.

22:30: Oddly, Global seems to be avoiding showing the leading and elected figures, concentrating on the the percentage of the popular vote.

22:40: Of course, no sooner do I mention it than Global switches over to seat counts: 142 Tory, 77 Grit, 47 BQ, 32 NDP and 3 Independent.

10:45: Former Tory, now Liberal Garth Turner appers to have lost his seat in Halton.

10:50: The pile-on begins . . . Kevin Newman points out that Dion is the only federal leader to have lost seats in this election. Expect much, much more if the current numbers hold up over the night.

10:55: More Ontario numbers coming in: Peter Kent and Lois Brown appear to be taking former Liberal seats in the 905 region. Michael Ignatieff retains his seat in Toronto for the Liberals. Jack Layton and Olivia Chow have retained their seats for the NDP.

11:00: The numbers of elected and leading seats seems to be stabilizing now: 145 Tory, 76 Grit, 50 BQ, 35 NDP, and 2 Independent.

11:05: Tears and anguish being reported from Garth Turner headquarters. Kevin Newman: "You can always depend on Garth Turner to tell it the way he believes it is."

11:15: Surprisingly, Colin Carrie appears to be winning for the Tories in Oshawa, despite being targeted by the CAW.

11:20: Early report from Dion headquarters is that he'll be directly addressing the question of leadership in his speech, but will not resign (at least not tonight).

11:30: Ralph Goodale somehow survives as a rare Liberal in western Canada.

11:35: Justin Trudeau is holding on to a 1,000 vote lead in the riding of Papineau over the incumbent BQ MP Vivian Barbot.

11:45: Gilles Duceppe is now speaking, thanking his party for their support and congratulating his opponents. Almost simultaneously, the cameras cut away to Justin Trudeau's headquarters, where he's just been declared the winner in Papineau.

12:00: Jack Layton speaks to his supporters from his riding in Toronto.

12:05: Waiting for Stephane Dion to address his supporters . . .

Update, 15 Oct.: Sorry about that . . . the laptop battery gave out just before Dion's speech, and I was barely able to stay awake through the end of Harper's victory speech.