Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party won a close election against his conservative rival Erin O’Toole to form Canada’s new government.
It was his third victory in the federal elections.
However, Trudeau did not secure the seat majority, failing to reach his targeted 170 seats to form the majority government he sought with his early election call.
Around 2:00 a.m. (ET), the Liberals have won 157 seats over 122 seats for the Conservatives, with nearly 95% of polls reported nationwide, Elections Canada showed.
The Quebec-based separatist party Bloc Quebecois and the left-leaning New Democratic Party will occupy the remaining seats in the next parliament.
Speaking to supporters in Montreal on Tuesday morning, Trudeau said: “There are still votes to be counted but what we have seen tonight is millions of Canadians have chosen a progressive plan. Some have talked about division but that’s not what I see. That’s not what I’ve seen these past weeks across the country.”
“You elected a government that will fight for you and deliver for you,” he added.
Trudeau called the snap elections a month ago, just two years after his minority government’s establishment, betting on his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic to win the most seats.
However, the polls stopped favoring Trudeau and reversed course, showing Conservative Party’s O’Toole making his way to a statistical tie.
Voters have pointed to various issues against Trudeau, such as the health crisis, climate change, gun control, and housing affordability. But the main factor against the prime minister was that Canadians did not see the need for the recent election.
Trudeau’s critics consider that sending Canadians to the polls for the second time in two years was a bid to secure majority rule.
Conservative leader O’Toole called the elections a “quick power grab,” suggesting they were a “waste of time and money.”
“Canadians sent him back with another minority at a cost of $600m and deeper divisions in our great country,” he told reporters.
The election, held amid Canada’s fourth pandemic wave, cost about C $600 million ($470 million). They are now considered the most expensive election in the country’s history.
But Trudeau said its results gave the incoming government a clear mandate to move forward.
“You are sending us back to work with a clear mandate to get Canada through this pandemic and to the brighter days ahead. My friends, that’s exactly what we are ready to do,” Trudeau stated.
