Canada's first Conservative government in more than a decade was sworn in on Monday but the administration's fragile minority position will limit its ability to push through much in the way of radical change.
The right-wing Conservatives won the January 23 election by promising to clean up government after 12 years of Liberal rule. They also want to cut taxes, clamp down on crime and boost defence spending.
"Our mission is clear. We will restore faith and trust in our public institutions as we keep Canada strong and united," new Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement.
Harper, a 46-year economist, is the country's 22nd prime minister and the fifth youngest person to take up the job since Canada gained independence from Britain in 1867.
He campaigned against what he said were Liberal corruption and excess and arrived for the formal ceremony in a family minivan rather than the usual prime ministerial limousine.
But he faces a daunting task. His party controls a little more than a third of the seats in the House of Commons, where the Conservatives have no natural allies and could easily be defeated by the opposition parties.
Harper's long-term agenda includes gradually transferring more money and power from Ottawa to the 10 provinces, an idea that is opposed by the Liberals and the left-leaning New Democrats.
He also plans to allow a free vote on whether to scrap laws legalising gay marriage, another election promise that, although largely symbolic, is likely to generate a great deal of controversy.
The official swearing-in ceremony on Monday morning was partially overshadowed by the defection of former Liberal Industry Minister David Emerson to the Conservatives, bringing Harper's novice cabinet some much-needed experience.
Emerson's appointment as trade minister means the Conservatives now have 125 of the 308 seats in the House of Commons, compared with 102 for the Liberals.
Harper also named a 27-member cabinet on Monday, down from the almost 40 ministers who served under outgoing Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin.
Only one new member of the cabinet - Rob Nicholson - had any previous experience in the last federal Conservative government, which fell in October 1993.
The new finance minister is Jim Flaherty, who held the same post in Ontario's provincial government, while Harper's deputy, Peter MacKay, becomes foreign minister.
Earlier in the day, Martin formally handed in his resignation to Governor General Michaelle Jean, the representative of Queen Elizabeth, Canada's head of state.
Martin had taken over in December 2003 with hopes of spending a decade in power but quickly fell foul of a government corruption scandal, which eventually brought down his minority government in November 2005.
Harper's ascent to the country's top job is his reward for uniting Canada's two squabbling right-wing opposition parties in late 2003. He was elected leader of the revamped Conservative Party in March 2004.