Justin Trudeau is still Canada’s prime minister after election win for Liberals
The results are very similar to the election in 2019
⭐️HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW⭐️
- The results of the federal election are in and the Liberals have won again.
- But they didn’t do as well as many of them had hoped.
- Justin Trudeau will continue on as prime minister, but will need the support of other parties to pass laws.
- Keep reading for more results. ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️
Canadians re-elected a Liberal government on Monday.
Although the results haven’t been fully counted yet, CBC has projected that the Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau, will form government again.
But Trudeau has won a minority, meaning he will need to work with the other political parties in order to get his job done.
As of 8 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the Liberals won 146 seats in the House of Commons, while the Conservatives, led by Erin O’Toole, have 116 seats.
The Bloc Québécois have 32 seats, the NDP have 24 seats and the Greens have two seats.
What is a minority government?
When one party wins more than half of the 338 ridings (or electoral districts) in the country — at least 170 seats — the leader of that party wins a majority.
But if all of the parties fall short of the halfway mark, things get more complicated.
In that case, the party with the most seats (in this case, the Liberals) will need other parties to agree with their ideas and policies if they want laws to be passed and to remain in power.
Trudeau's Liberals won a minority last time.
They called this election in the hopes of winning a majority, but that didn't happen.
“I think it was a bit disappointing because an election is very expensive with barely any change.” - Juliette Colbourne, age 12
Want to know more about how elections work in Canada?
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Trudeau pledges to work with other parties
In his victory speech, Trudeau said he would put the election behind him and get to work.
“You are sending us back to work with a clear mandate to get Canada through this pandemic and the brighter days ahead,” Trudeau said from his home riding in Montreal, Quebec.
Trudeau’s platform included a plan for more affordable housing, $10 a day daycare across the country and a more ambitious climate change plan.
Election caused divisions, O’Toole said
O’Toole, who ran in his first campaign as leader of the Conservatives, didn’t win as many seats as he had hoped, despite his attempts to win over voters who were fed up with Trudeau after six years in power.
“Tonight, Canadians did not give Mr. Trudeau the majority mandate he wanted,” O’Toole said from his home riding in Oshawa, Ontario.
“In fact, Canadians sent him back with another minority at the cost of $600 million and deeper divisions in our great country.”
Elections are expensive. Was it worth it?
Juliette Colbourne, 12, campaigned for the NDP in her hometown of Corner Brook, Newfoundland.
She had similar concerns about the cost of the election, given that the results are very similar to the previous election in 2019.
“I think it was a bit disappointing because an election is very expensive with barely any change,” she told CBC Kids News on Tuesday morning.
But overall, she was happy with the results for the NDP, led by Jagmeet Singh, after the party was on track to win two more seats compared to last time.
Aislinn Main, 14, campaigned for Liberal candidate Lisa Post in Dufferin-Caledon, in Ontario.
She defended Trudeau’s decision to call the election, even though he could have kept on governing.
“It was still really, really important to have an election right now because during the pandemic people need to be able to choose who the right leader is,” she said.
She called the results “bittersweet,” because Post lost to Conservative Kyle Seeback.
How did the other parties do?
The Bloc Québécois, which only has candidates in Quebec, was projected to win two more seats than in the previous election.
The People’s Party of Canada, which campaigned against health restrictions meant to keep Canadians safe, didn’t win any seats, despite getting 5.1 per cent of the total votes, which is more than the Green Party.
As for the Greens, leader Annamie Paul wasn’t able to win the seat in her home riding, but the party won for the first time in Kitchener Centre, in Ontario.
Stay informed!
For more information on elections in Canada, check out these articles:
