Justin Trudeau Wins Canada Elections, But Misses Majority

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won a victory in Monday’s parliamentary elections, though his Liberals would still need to work with other parties to form their second minority government.

The Liberals were leading in 156 ridings, the Conservatives in 123, the Quebec-based Bloc Québécois in 29, the leftist New Democratic Party in 28 and the Greens in two.

Trudeau, who presented the final speech of the night among the federal party leaders, said he now has a clear mandate to get through the pandemic and promised to tackle major policy issues.

“If you voted for our party, thank you,” Trudeau said. “If you did not vote for us, I want you to know that we will stand up for you and work for you every single day.”

Thank you, Canada — for casting your vote, for putting your trust in the Liberal team, for choosing a brighter future. We're going to finish the fight against COVID. And we're going to move Canada forward. For everyone.

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) September 21, 2021

Speaking to supporters and party faithful early on Tuesday morning, Conservative leader Erin O’Toole framed the outcome of the election as a successful bid by his party and their supporters to deny Liberal leader Justin Trudeau his bid to secure a majority government.

Trudeau entered the election leading a stable minority government that wasn’t under threat of being toppled.

The opposition was relentless in accusing Trudeau of calling an unnecessary early vote — two years before the deadline — for his own personal ambition.

Support for the prime minister dwindled as the campaign wore on but the party’s performance in the battleground province of Ontario, particularly in the Toronto metropolitan area, sealed its victory.

Trudeau will probably govern as he has for the past two years, with backing on important legislative priorities from the New Democrats, a socialist party to the left of the Liberals, the Financial Times says.

Trudeau second-youngest prime minister in the history of Canada

50-year-old Trudeau is the second-youngest prime minister in Canadian history after Joe Clark; he is also the first to be the child or other relative of a previous holder of the post, as the eldest son of Pierre Trudeau.

He won the leadership of the Liberal Party in April 2013 and led his party to victory in the 2015 federal election, moving the third-placed Liberals from 36 seats to 184 seats, the largest-ever numerical increase by a party in a Canadian federal election.

Winning the most seats (157) in the 2019 federal election, Trudeau secured a second term by forming a minority government, despite the Liberal Party losing the popular vote and receiving the lowest percentage of the national popular vote of any governing party in Canadian history.

During his second term, he has confronted the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, announced an assault weapons ban in response to the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks, and was cleared of wrongdoing during a third ethics investigation surrounding the WE Charity scandal. In foreign policy, he led Canada’s failed 2020 bid on temporary membership of the United Nations Security Council.