Justin Trudeau’s Liberals won another minority government in the federal elections held amidst the pandemic.
While not all ballots are counted yet and mail-in ballots are to be counted in coming days, the party secured enough seats to be able to form a minority government, but will remain short of the 170 seats required to form a majority government.
The incumbent Liberals, promising to continue the party’s progressive path on climate action and finishing “the fight against COVID-19,” won or were leading in 156 ridings in the early hours of Tuesday, close to their 155 seats at the dissolution.
The opposition Conservatives, touting the party’s platform for “Canada’s recovery,” won or were leading in 121 ridings, close to their 119 seats at dissolution.
Bloc Québécois, which continued its Quebec-first message throughout the campaign, won or was leading in 27 ridings, close to its 32 seats the party held at dissolution.
The NDP, which was competing for the progressive votes with the Liberals and counting on the popularity of leader Jagmeet Singh, won or was leading in 21 ridings, also close to its 24 seats at dissolution.
The Greens held on to the two seats they had at dissolution, while leader Annamie Paul failed to win in her riding of Toronto Centre.
Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party didn’t win any seats, including in Bernier’s riding of Beauce in Quebec, which was won by the incumbent Conservative. The party had campaigned on upholding personal liberties and fighting for COVID-19 vaccine choice.
Trudeau’s Liberals, promising to continue the party’s progressive path on climate action and finishing “the fight against COVID-19,” had defended the decision to call another election in two years, saying Canadians needed to decide who will lead the country toward ending the pandemic.
The party faced criticism throughout the campaign from opposition parties for calling the election amid a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that Trudeau’s motivation was to strengthen his power base.
More to come
From The Epoch Times
