The GTA has returned to its red roots, booting out a host of Conservatives elected in 2011 and delivering a majority government to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau.

Click on a riding to read the Star news report.

The red wave that rolled across much of Canada on Monday night started in the Atlantic provinces. But Toronto and the suburban 905-belt, with a bolstered 54 seats of Canada’s 338 total, was largely responsible for the dramatic crash of Stephen Harper and his hard-right majority government.

Olivia Chow, who fell flat in an attempted comeback against Liberal MP Adam Vaughan in Spadina-Fort York, told supporters the riding was “united in a goal — to get rid of Stephen Harper. We heard it over and over and over.”

Vaughan’s prediction that the party would “paint the whole city red” also seemed to be coming true as the polls started rolling in.

Etobicoke, ground zero for Ford Nation, where Stephen Harper and brothers Rob and Doug Ford hosted thousands at a Conservative rally days ago, swung solidly behind Trudeau.

Etobicoke Centre MP Ted Opitz, elected in the 2011 blue wave that saw the Conservatives take 32 of 47 GTA seats, was decisively defeated in a rematch with Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj.

Another high-profile GTA Conservative to go down to defeat was Chris Alexander, the citizenship and immigration minister. Alexander, a former high-profile diplomat who became the focus of voter anger over Canada's response to the Syrian refugee crisis, was topped in a rematch in Ajax-Pickering with Liberal Mark Holland, whom Alexander had beat by a slim margin in 2011.

In Etobicoke North, Liberal incumbent Kirsty Duncan easily fended off a challenge from Conservative newcomer Toyin Dada.

In Scarborough, also a base of Conservative support in 2011, former Toronto police chief Bill Blair recaptured Scarborough Southwest for the Liberals, handily beating NDPer Dan Harris. Harris failed to use Blair’s record with G20 policing and the Liberals’ support for the C-51 anti-terrorism bill to fend off the challenge.

In Scarborough North, former TDSB chair Shaun Chen took the new riding that had previously been Liberal territory, defeating Rathika Sitsabaiesan who took Scarborough-Rouge River for the NDP in 2011.

Former Liberal cabinet minister John McCallum was headed back into office in the newly redistributed riding of Markham-Thornhill with an early lead.

“At the end of the day this election was much less about economic policy and much more about the kind of Canada we want,” McCallum, who defeated Conservative Jobson Easow, a local entrepreneur, told cheering supporters.

In Eglinton-Lawrence, Marco Mendicino, a lawyer with no political experience, was on track to upset Conservative Finance Minister Joe Oliver.

Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland took University-Rosedale Monday night after a much-watched race against NDP newcomer Jennifer Hollett. Hollett’s campaign was bolstered on Sunday by a last-minute rally with NDP leader Thomas Mulcair — though that appearance wasn’t enough to propel her to victory.

Conservative Transport Minister Lisa Raitt managed to win the new riding of Milton in the face of a fierce nation-wide Liberal sweep that toppled some of her cabinet colleagues.

In Parkdale-High Park, Liberal Arif Virani toppled Peggy Nash, 64, one of the NDP’s high-profile members. She had served as the NDP’s finance and industry critic and ran for the leadership in 2012.

Her NDP caucus mate Matthew Kellway fell in Beaches-East York to young corporate lawyer Nathaniel Erskine-Smith.

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Liberal Jennifer O’Connell rode the Liberal wave, gaining an early lead over Conservative incumbent Corneliu Chisu in the redrawn riding of Pickering-Uxbridge.

In Don Valley West, Liberal candidate Rob Oliphant toppled incumbent Conservative John Carmichael after losing the seat in 2011.

“He is going to make Canada proud again to be Canadian,” Oliphant said of prime minister-designate Trudeau. “We will be held accountable by you and we're going to have a great time doing it.”

Liberal newcomer Ahmed Hussen swept York South-Weston from NDP incumbent Mike Sullivan with a lead of about 50 per cent. The win makes Hussen the first Somali-Canadian member of Parliament.

“We feel like finally, after 25 years, we are Canadian,” said supporter Abokar Hassan, who is from Somalia, at the victory party on Lawrence Ave. West.

At press time, Liberal Pam Damoff appeared to have beaten Conservative Effie Triantafilopoulos in a tight race in Oakville North.

Deb Schulte has been elected the first MP for the new King-Vaughan riding, giving the Liberals a region that has recently skewed Conservative.

"I am so honoured and humbled that the constituency of this riding has put their faith in me," she said. "I want to acknowledge the amazing team of volunteers and supporters that made this opportunity to serve possible."

The Conservatives could take cold comfort in holding on to some seats.

Myer Siemiatycki, a Ryerson University politics professor, said "it certainly looks like the red tide is sweeping the GTA.

"Mr. Harper has run out of time and his political signals to the electorate were utterly rejected. In the end, the vote coalesced around the party that people thought could beat Stephen Harper, and the Liberals can thank the GTA for helping them do just that."

With files from Star staff

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