Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals retained power in the country’s election on Monday, but fell short of the majority government he had wanted to help him negotiate tariffs with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre conceded defeat to Carney’s Liberals and said his party would hold the minority government to account.
Donald Trump’s threats ignited a wave of patriotism that swelled support for Carney, a political newcomer who previously led two G7 central banks.
The Liberals were leading or elected in 164 electoral districts, known as seats, followed by the Conservatives with 147, with votes still being counted.
The Liberals need to win 172 of the House of Commons’ seats for a majority that would allow them to govern without support from a smaller party.
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-center 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 import tariffs and said Canada would need to spend billions to reduce its reliance on the U.S. But the right-of-center Conservatives, who called for change after more than nine years of Liberal rule, showed unexpected strength.
Minority governments in Canada rarely last longer than 2-1/2 years.
The result capped a notable comeback for the Liberals, who had been 20 percentage points behind in the polls in January before Trudeau announced he was quitting and Trump started threatening tariffs and annexation.
“I look back to as recently as December, when everyone was writing the Liberal Party off,” Liberal Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland told CTV. “People were even talking about whether we would retain official party status in the next election. Tonight, when it is clear that we are going to form the government, from my perspective, that is an outstanding result.”
Freeland’s resignation from the Liberal cabinet in December after a clash with Trudeau led to his resignation.
