The federal government called an early election after being in office for just over three years (with a maximum allowed mandate of five years). The governing Liberal Party of Canada won a third consecutive majority government, winning more seats than the previous election. The Canadian Alliance made some minor gains, such as electing two Members of Parliament (MPs) from the province of Ontario. The Bloc Québécois, New Democratic Party and the Progressive Conservatives all lost seats. The 1993 and 1997 federal elections involved the issue of vote-splitting, between the Reform Party and the PC Party; this would repeated with the Alliance Party and the PC Party movements, which in Canada's First Past the Post system allowed many Liberal candidates with a plurality of votes to win.