Manning has described the night of October 30, 1995, as his "worst night in Ottawa and federal politics", as the results came in on the referendum vote. When the final ballots had been counted, Quebecers rejected the sovereignty association option by the narrowest of margins – the No option receiving 50.58 percent of the 4,671, 008 votes cast, only 54,288 more than the total Yes vote. From Manning's perspective, the Chrétien government and the 35th Parliament had barely escaped going down as the federal government and parliament that presided over the disintegration of Canadian confederation.