LIVE CHAT REPLAY: Election night

Several CBC journalists -- including Rex Murphy, Kady O'Malley, Rosemary Barton, Terry Milewski, James Cudmore, and Amanda Lang -- took part in a special election night live chat Monday to share their campaign trail stories and field some of your questions. Members of the Power and Politics expert panel also provided in-depth analysis as the election results began coming in. And more than 500,000 readers watched. You can watch the replay of the chat in the widget above.

Some highlights:

• Shortly before 9 p.m. ET, the CBC's Hannah Thibedeau and Rex Murphy discussed some of the campaign's key moments - including the fact that "no one wanted to talk foreign affairs - even with Canada in Libya," Murphy said.
  
  
• CBC News's parliamentary reporters chimed in shortly after 9 p.m. ET, discussing the moments they found the most memorable. "For the Bloc, one key moment and image of the campaign came Monday morning, April 18th when Gilles Duceppe commented on a poll," said James Fitz-Morris. "In the 10 years I've been covering the Bloc, I can't think of another time he's done that."
  
  
• The final polls closed at 10 p.m. ET, and the CBC projected a Conservative government.
  
  
• Former Liberal communications director Scott Reid and former Conservative advisor Tom Flanagan joined the chat for a conversation about the results. "It's a very harsh outcome for Liberals," Reid said. "Obviously, I'm seeing a lot of friends going down."
  
  
• "I want to [say] I feel the Liberals' pain -- and I'm not joking," Flanagan said. "I went through defeat in 2004 and I didn't sleep for three weeks. I kept replaying all my mistakes in my mind. Hang in there, Scott."
  
  
• CBC projected a Conservative majority government at 10:51 p.m. ET. "The crowd in the Telus centre is over the moon," said the CBC's Louise Elliott.
  
  
• At 11 p.m. ET, the CBC's Chris Hall and David Taylor joined the discussion to talk about what the parties will do next.
  
  
• Taylor called Michael Ignatieff's concession speech "A nice speech. Better than Dion's bye-bye in 2008. But good heavens, what it must feel like to be the Liberal leader who took his party to this."
  
  
• The chat was opened up to reader comments at midnight ET. "Elizabeth May is an example of what you can accomplish even in the face of overarching party politics," said commenter Scott. "Every time a small party or independent takes a seat, democracy is just a bit stronger."
  
  
• Ignatieff was officially declared defeated at 12:51 a.m. ET. "He lost his own riding," said the CBC's James Cudmore. "Holy moly."
  
  
• Stephen Harper addressed supporters shortly after 1 a.m. ET. "He won, fair and square," said commenter Perry. "I may not be his biggest fan but he deserved congrats none the less."
  
  
• At 1:26 a.m. ET, we published an unscientific survey asking which party leader gave the best speech. Stephen Harper led with 38 per cent, followed by Jack Layton at 34 per cent.