Trudeau wins but nation more divided
TORONTO: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won a second term in Canada’s national elections, losing the majority but saying on Tuesday he was given a clear mandate despite an increasingly divided Parliament and nation.
Trudeau’s Liberal Party took the most seats in Parliament. However Trudeau fell short of a majority, so the Liberals would have to rely on an opposition party to pass legislation
His early morning address to supporters came, unusually, as his Conservative rival, Andrew Scheer, had just begun speaking to his own supporters, forcing networks to tear away from Scheer’s speech.
But the prime minister struck a conciliatory note: “To those who did not vote for us, know that we will work every single day for you, we will govern for everyone,” Trudeau said.
With results still trickling in early Tuesday, the Liberals had 157 seats — 13 short of the 170 needed for a majority in the 338-seat House of Commons — while the Conservatives had 121.
Still, Trudeau’s Liberal Party won fewer raw votes nationally than the Conservatives did, and his party failed to win a single seat in the western provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan where the Conservatives dominated.
The prime minister showed up at a Montreal subway station on Tuesday morning to greet Canadians and take selfies.
Trudeau said Canadians rejected division and negativity and elected a progressive agenda.
But in what was supposed to be a concession speech, the Conservative leader Scheer said the results showed Trudeau was much weakened since his 2015 election, when pundits had predicted the beginning of another Trudeau dynasty ater a decade of Conservative government.
“Conservatives have put Justin Trudeau on notice,” Scheer said. “And Mr. Trudeau, when your government falls, Conservatives will be ready and we will win.”
Trudeau delivered an unexpectedly strong result despite a series of scandals that tarnished his image as a liberal icon. “It’s not quite the same as 2015,” when Trudeau first took offce. “It’s not all owing to the leader,” said Robert Bothwell, a professor of Canadian history and international relations at the University of Toronto.
“Trudeau is prime minister because the rest of the party was able to pull itself together and prevail. While Trudeau certainly deserves credit for what has happened he’s really going to have to demonstrate qualities that he hasn’t yet shown.”