It’s a rarity in Canadian politics. The Liberals have won a fourth mandate – although it will likely end up being a minority government. It was also an unusual vote, given that support for smaller parties, including the New Democrats and the Bloc Quebecois collapsed.
The Liberals are projected to take 168 seats, the Conservatives 144, and the smaller parties combined 31.
For former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, it was a big night, the party didn’t do as well as many insiders had hoped, but it was enough. He won his own seat in the city of Ottawa, his first.
He thanked the leaders of the other parties, and he especially congratulated his main opponent, Pierre Poilievre. Carney repeated to supporters in Ottawa last night, the same message that he had brought throughout the campaign.
“As I have been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country. These are not these are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us, that will never, that will never, ever happen,” Carney said.
The Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre won a dramatic increase in the popular vote, the largest since 1988. Still, they fell short of winning the number of seats needed to cross the finish line, Poilievre himself did not win his own seat in Ottawa Nepean, but during a speech to supporters last night he gave no indication he was stepping down.
“My message to Canadians, the promise that was made to me and all of you is that anybody from anywhere could achieve anything that through hard work, you could get a great life you have a nice, affordable home on a safe street. My purpose in politics is and will continue to be, to restore that promise,” Poilievre said.
Poilievre also said the change that he fought for will come.
“It takes time. It takes work and that’s why we have to learn the lessons of tonight so that we can have an even better result the next time that Canadians decide the future of the country,” Poilievre said.
It’s not clear yet how Poilievre will be able to lead the party without a seat in the House of Commons. The most obvious scenario is that a sitting member will step down so he can run in a by-election.
And for the smaller New Democratic Party, the night was a disaster, losing official status by ending up with less than 12 seats, and the loss of its own leader’s seat in Burnaby Central, in British Columbia. For leader Jagmeet Singh, fighting back tears, Singh told supporters what many had expected.
“Tonight, I've informed party leaders that I'll be stepping down as party leader as soon as an interim leader can be appointed. I could not have done this incredible job, I couldn't have done it without the incredible support of my wife Gurkiran,” Singh said.
The Separatist Bloc Quebecois was decimated, taking less than a couple of dozen seats of the 78 in Quebec. The Greens held on to one of the two seats they had before the election was called.
The final results are still coming in and can be found here.
