the ndp had a major windfall, emerging as a truly national party for the first time in its 50-year history. they won 103 seats—more than double their previous high (when they won 43 seats in 1988). much of this was due to a breakthrough in quebec, a province where they had been more or less nonexistent for the better part of their history. from only one seat at dissolution, the ndp took 59 of 75 seats there, dominating montreal and sweeping quebec city and the outaouais. by comparison, the ndp had only won one other seat in quebec in its entire history prior to 2011 (and had held only one other seat, via a floor-crossing). it had not even been fully organized in the province since 1990, when its quebec wing seceded to preach sovereigntism. the 59 seats won by the ndp in quebec is the most won by any party in that province since the progressive conservatives won 63 seats there in 1988. in several cases, ndp candidates in quebec won handily even though they didn't even actively campaign.