Canadians went to the polls on the 21st of October to choose their legislative representatives in the 338-seat House of Commons. As predicted, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party won the most seats in parliament, handing him a second term in office.
In an earlier report, Reuters noted that Trudeau has history on his side, as a Canadian prime minister who won a parliamentary majority in his first term has never been booted from office in the next election since 1935. It was, however, no easy feat for Trudeau, who lost his parliamentary majority.
A Tough Campaign For Trudeau
Two major incidents tainted Trudeau’s re-election campaign. In August, news broke that the prime minister had breached ethics rules by interfering in the prosecution of an engineering firm, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. When confronted, Trudeau noted he did it to save Canadian jobs. Reuters reported that Trudeau is the only Canadian prime minister formally found to have broken ethics rules.
In September, pictures of a younger Trudeau donning blackface emerged. Trudeau who had championed racial equality and diversity as prime minister issued a public apology, stating: “It was something that I didn’t think was racist at the time, but now I recognize it was something racist to do, and I am deeply sorry.”
The scandals dwindled Trudeau’s support, with polls suggesting he would lose to the Conservative’s Andrew Scheer.
Climate Change = Big Issue
Climate change was a big issue during the campaign, so much so that Elections Canada, the independent non-partisan electoral body in Canada faced backlash when news broke that climate change is considered a partisan issue because one of the candidates doubts its legitimacy.
In an Ipsos poll conducted a month before the election, climate change was among the top three issues that determined how Canadians would cast their ballot. In his victory speech, Trudeau promised that climate change would continue to be a top issue is his second term. He had introduced a carbon tax on greenhouse gas-emitting fuels in his first administration in a bid to reduce the country’s gas emissions.
Electoral Vote vs Popular Vote
The Liberals lost the popular vote but won, overall, one per cent less than their biggest opposition, the Conservatives. They, however, won the most seats.
With 13 seats less than a majority, Trudeau needs the support of other parties to form a government. He has, however, ruled out the possibility of forming a coalition government. At a press conference held two days after the election, he said: “It is not in our plans at all to form any sort of formal coalition – formal or informal coalition. I intend to sit down with all party leaders in the coming weeks.”
Without any agreed coalition, they’ll need to negotiate support from other parties to get their policies through. Trudeau’s new cabinet is expected to be unveiled on the 20th of November.
