Liberals secure four more years in power despite lingering criticism over the handling of corruption inquiry and blackface scandal
Justin Trudeau has won a second term as prime minister of Canada after the country’s federal election, but a narrow victory means he will lead a minority government will be forced to rely on other parties to govern.
Liberals leading or winning in 146 of 304 constituencies that have reported results by about 10:30 pm Toronto time on Monday, according to national broadcaster CBC. Trudeau needed to win 170 seats to secure a second majority government.
“We are looking for hard-pressed not and prosperity for all, and if we unite around common goals, I know we can achieve it,” says Trudeau supporters in Montreal, said Canada has sent a clear message of support for progressive policies.
Thank you, Canada, for putting your trust in our team and for having faith in us to move this country in the right direction. Regardless of how you cast your vote, our team will work hard for all Canadians.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 22, 2019
Despite efforts to strike a conciliatory tone Trudeau, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer issued a stern warning to the Liberals. “Sir, Trudeau, when your government falls, the Conservatives will be ready and we will win,” Scheer told supporters in his concession speech.
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“Beautiful and hard-fought victory” Donald Trump was quick to congratulate Trudeau for Although the two leaders did not have a warm relationship – Trump described Trudeau as “dishonest” in the disaster G7 meeting last year in Quebec – US President tweeted: “Canadians are served. I look forward to working with you towards the improvement of our country! “
Four years after the Liberal leader came to power promising “bright way” after nearly a decade of Conservative rule, Trudeau struggled to inspire voters as he campaigned for re-election.
Trudeau, 47, was endorsed by Barack Obama in the final days of the campaign, but it stands as one of the few remaining progressive leaders in the great democracies undermined by the rise of blackface image, and lingering criticism of the handling of a major corruption inquiry.
Ahead of the vote, polls showed him neck-and-neck with Scheer. But with none of the main parties reached the number of seats needed for a parliamentary majority, led Canada towards a minority government, and Trudeau will be forced to cooperate with the smaller center-left party to govern.
“We see a much-needed chastening Liberal party,” said David Moscrop, a political scientist at the University of British Columbia. “Some of [the result] was a reaction to Liberal arrogance and entitlement. Liberals set the bar so high they must experience it. “
In the last week of the campaign, Trudeau faced a strong challenge from the left-wing New Democratic Party, led by Jagmeet Singh, who looked ready to peel the progressive Liberal.
But despite a surge in the polls in the last week of the campaign, the NDP was unable to convert the success into wins the election. Party’s 44 seats were nearly cut in half.
The overall result laid bare the deep divisions in the country: not a single Liberal was elected in the western Prairie provinces, which the Conservatives swept.
Trudeau lost key cabinet members, including veteran lawmakers and public safety minister Ralph Goodale, 70, who was the only Liberal MP in Saskatchewan, where the local energy industry increasingly at odds with federal environmental policy.
In Alberta, both Amarjeet Sohi, minister of natural resources and Randy Boissonnault lost their seats, a result that means Alberta and Saskatchewan would have representatives in the federal government Trudeau, at the time of growing frustration in the western provinces economical disadvantages.
Jody Wilson-Raybould, a former Attorney General and justice minister who was expelled from the Liberal party after publicly criticizing Trudeau for his role in the SNC Lavalin scandal, succeeded in his effort to keep his seat as an independent.
People Indigenous first to hold one of the most powerful positions in the government, Wilson-Raybould play a central role in one episode of the most destructive in the first term of Trudeau’s office, when he testified prime minister and his staff are not really forced him to abandon the criminal prosecution of engineering giant SNC Lavalin.
After he refused, he was edged out of the position of the Attorney General and eventually expelled from the party.
Jane Philpott, president of the treasury board and a close friend of former Wilson-Raybould also booted from the party for criticizing Trudeau. But its business as an independent to keep his seat in Ontario failed, with the third-place finish was disappointing for the star one of the Liberals.
Results Monday marked a clear defeat for Scheer, whose campaign promise to cancel the carbon price laws and cut taxes failed to resonate with voters. The Conservative Party also took heavy losses, with party deputy leader Lisa Raitt lost her race former Olympic kayaker Adam van Koeverden.
Meanwhile, Maxime Bernier, the populist leader of the People’s Party of Canada, which critics have called xenophobic and racist, losing his seat, leaving the party of former Conservative minister of the newly formed will have a presence in the House of Commons.
After a landslide victory in 2015, Trudeau positioned itself as a progressive force in both Canada and the ship: he welcomed Syrian refugees at a time when the US and other countries closed their doors, and he passed the national marijuana.
But in a country heavily dependent on natural resources, efforts to balance the environment and the economy have been criticized by both right and left. government carries a carbon tax to combat the climate crisis – but also paid billions to rescue the stalled pipeline project.
Results Monday marked a significant erosion of support for the charismatic prime minister, but the narrow victory will be enough to ensure that the policies tent Trudeau – including a national carbon tax – is likely to remain in place.
But without his majority, Trudeau had to reach out to others with the “confidence-and-supply” in which the junior partner will support the government on individual pieces of legislation, as opposed to a complete join the coalition.
Such a deal would leave the left-wing NDP and Bloc holds the balance of power of the minority government. The most likely ally for Trudeau was Singh, who has made a commitment to fight climate change and health care key funding necessary for the cooperation of the NDP.
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