Canada Election Result: PM Trudeau Heading For 3rd Term Win

Early vote gamble indicates that Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau is on track to win a third term despite angering some voters by calling an early election during the COVID-19 pandemic wave.

According to multiple national media outlets, Trudeau, with his Liberal Party (LP), is however set to remain the biggest group in parliament. Interestingly, the projected results largely mirror happenings during the 2019 election.

With results still trickling in late Monday night, Trudeau appeared set for another minority government, forcing him to co-operate with smaller left-of-centre parties, and raising larger questions about his future leading the Liberal Party.

Elections Canada, which oversees the vote, had previously warned that some results would take days to be finalised as mail-in ballots are counted.

Trudeau had actually gambled by calling an election in August in the hopes that the government’s pandemic response could boost his party’s power in parliament. But rival parties quickly cried foul, accusing him of conducting a “vanity project” during a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

While the opposition Conservatives led in the national popular vote, Monday’s result nonetheless marked a defeat for their leader Erin O’Toole, whose centrist campaign failed to persuade enough voters to toss out the Liberal Party after six years in power.

The last time the Conservative Party won an election federally was in 2011. However, also on pace to pick up electoral seats is the progressive New Democratic Party (NDP), led by Jagmeet Singh.

Heading into the race, Trudeau’s Liberals held 155 seats in parliament, the Conservatives had 119 seats, the Bloc Quebecois with 32 seats, and the NDP held 24 seats. The Green Party had only two seats with five Independent MPs in the Parliament.

At least 170 seats are needed for a majority government and despite the forecast lack of a parliamentary majority, the Prime Minister is still expected to find strong support in parliament for the Liberal Party’s marquee policy – C$10 per day child care across the country.

On her part, Green Party leader Annamie Paul, who has faced numerous leadership challenges in recent months, was set for a bitter loss in her race in downtown Toronto.

Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada, which has run on a platform against public health measures like vaccines and masks, and which critics have called xenophobic and racist, failed to win his race, nor did any of his other candidates. – The Guardian report