Canada election: Trudeau’s early election gamble pays off
Sept 21, 2021: Justin Trudeau has won his third term as prime minister of Canada, and his Liberal Party is poised to win the most votes in the snap election and has been given a “clear mandate”.
With the results coming out late Monday night, Trudeau was on the path to another minority government, which means he will once again need to work with other parties to legislate.
“I hear you when you say you want to get back to the things you love, not to worry about the pandemic or the election,” Trudeau said from Montreal early on Tuesday morning, acknowledging the decision to hold an early election was deeply unpopular. “You have given this government and this parliament clear direction.”
Preliminary results indicate that the Liberals have won or are leading in 156 seats – less than the 170 required for a parliamentary majority in Canada. Erin O’Toole’s opposition party the Conservatives have 121.
The prime minister gambled by calling elections in August in the hope that the government’s pandemic response could increase his party’s power in parliament. Opposition groups called for the beleagured PM to resign,and say the election is a “vanity project” to boost support as the country battles the 4th corona virus wave.
While the opposition Conservatives led the national popular vote, Monday’s results represented clearly that O’Toole has been defeated. His centrist campaign failed to persuade enough voters to overthrow the Liberal Party after six years in power. The last time the Conservative Party won a federal election was in 2011.
Meanwhile, Canada’s New Democratic party, a progressive party, led by Jagmeet Singh, was expected to pick up electoral seats, but fall short of its hope for “kingmaker” status.
On the other hand, Maxime Bernier, who leads the People’s party of Canada, which has run a campaign based on opposing necessary public health measures like vaccines and masks, and which critics have called xenophobic and racist, failed to win a seat.
Even though the PM has failed to garner a parliamentary majority, he is likely to find strong support in parliament for the Liberal party’s policy of provisioning C$10 per day child care across the country.
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