OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals retained power in the country’s election on Monday (Apr 28), but CTV News predicted they would fall short of the majority government he had wanted to help him negotiate tariffs with United States President Donald Trump.
The Liberals needed to win 172 of the House of Commons’ 343 electoral districts, known as seats, for a majority that would allow them to govern without support from a smaller party.
The Liberals were leading or elected in 156 districts, followed by the Conservatives with 145, according to CTV.
The westernmost province of British Columbia, where polls closed last, could decide whether Liberals fall short of a majority government.
Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, a polling firm, told Reuters the Liberal win hinged on three factors.
“It was the ‘anybody-but-Conservative’ factor, it was the Trump tariff factor, and then it was the Trudeau departure … which enabled a lot of left-of-centre voters and traditional Liberal voters to come back to the party,” Kurl said, referring to the resignation of unpopular former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Carney had promised a tough approach with Washington over its tariffs and said Canada would need to spend billions to reduce its reliance on the US. But the right-of-centre Conservatives, who called for change after more than nine years of Liberal rule, showed unexpected strength.
Minority governments in Canada rarely last longer than two and a half years.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp projected a Liberal win but did not yet say if they expected a minority or majority government.
The result, though, capped a notable comeback for the Liberals, who had been 20 points behind in the polls in January before Trudeau announced he was quitting and Trump started threatening tariffs and annexation.
