Justin Trudeau has secured a third election victory, but his decision to call a snap election was criticised by political opponents – and even allies – after the Canadian prime minister failed once again to win a parliamentary majority.
As of Tuesday morning, the Liberals had won or were leading in 158 seats – short of the 170 needed for a majority. Erin O’Toole’s opposition Conservatives won 119, a result that largely mirrored the outcome of the 2019 election.
“It looks like nobody wanted an election and no one got what they wanted,” said the Toronto Star political columnist Chantal Hébert as results came in.
For the second time in two years, Trudeau has been handed a minority government by Canadians, meaning he will have to reach across the aisle to work with smaller parties in order to govern.
In his victory speech at 1.15 in the morning, Trudeau nonetheless told supporters that Canadians had given him a “clear mandate” to continue governing – but acknowledged that his election gambit had not been popular.
“I hear you when you say that you just want to get back to the things you love, not worry about this pandemic or about an election. That you just want to know that your members of parliament of all stripes will have your back through this crisis and beyond,” he said. “The moment we face demands real important change. You have given this parliament and this government clear direction.”
But the gamble to call a federal election during the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic is likely to produce friction among Liberals. As of Tuesday morning, three of Trudeau’s cabinet ministers had failed to win re-election. Across the country, a number of Liberal candidates were forced to compete in tightly contested races, often eking out narrow victories.
With the parliament largely mirroring the 2019 result, the progressive New Democratic party, led by Jagmeet Singh, is set to hold the balance of power – although despite earlier hopes the party could win more seats and earn “kingmaker” status in parliament, the NDP fell short of expectations.
“Our fight will always continue,” said Singh, congratulating Trudeau on his win. While Singh spent much of the election attacking Trudeau, at one point calling the prime minister an “abject failure”, Singh and his party are likely to support many of the Liberals’ policies as they try to push the government to the left.
“You can be sure that we will be there for you, and you can also be sure that if we work together we can build a better society, and that’s exactly what New Democrats will do,” Singh told supporters on election night.
O’Toole accused Trudeau of engineering a “quick power grab” after conceding defeat early on Tuesday.
“Five weeks ago, Mr Trudeau asked for a majority. Tonight, Canadians did not give Mr Trudeau the majority mandate he wanted. In fact,…
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