Canada’s Liberals Narrowly Miss Out on Majority in Parliament

 

Canada’s Liberals Narrowly Miss Out on Majority in Parliament

 

Final results from Monday’s crucial election showed Mark Carney’s party had secured 169 of 343 seats and would need help from other parties to pass laws.

 

Matina Stevis-Gridneff

By Matina Stevis-Gridneff

Reporting from Ottawa

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/world/canada/carney-liberals-canada-election-results.html

April 29, 2025

 

Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada and his Liberal Party narrowly failed to win a majority of seats in Parliament in Monday’s election, and will need help from smaller parties to pass legislation and pursue a challenging agenda, including confronting President Trump’s economic and sovereignty threats.

 

With final results coming in on Tuesday from nearly all districts a day after polls closed, the Liberals secured 169 seats in the 343-member Parliament, just three shy of a majority, according to Elections Canada, the independent body that manages the country’s elections. The Conservative Party won 144 seats.

 

The result was still a resounding success for a Liberal Party that three months ago was predicted to lose badly to the Conservative opposition and for Mr. Carney, who had never run for any elected office before Monday. It grants the Liberals a rare fourth consecutive term in government.

 

While a majority government would have allowed Mr. Carney to push through his policies without needing to rely on others in Parliament, the task of securing support from other members to pass laws and budgets did not appear too taxing — the Liberals have governed without a majority over two terms, for the last 4 ½ years. Small parties like the Greens and the leftist New Democrats are more naturally aligned with the Liberals’ center-left political platform.

 

The Conservative Party had been handily leading in polls until March when Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods took effect and Mr. Carney replaced Justin Trudeau as prime minister and the leader of the Liberals. For the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, the party’s stinging defeat was made worse by the fact that he lost his seat, which he had held for 20 years, to a Liberal candidate.

 

The election has been extraordinary in many ways, with candidates and many voters describing it as the most critical vote in their lifetimes.

 

It was dominated by Mr. Trump and his relentless focus on Canada, America’s closest ally and trading partner. He imposed tariffs on Canadian goods, including autos, steel and aluminum, pushing the country toward a recession, and repeatedly threatened to annex it as the 51st state. Even as Canadians were heading to the polls on Monday, he repeated his argument on social media that making Canada part of the United States would yield economic and military benefits.

 

Mr. Trump and Mr. Carney spoke Tuesday by phone, Mr. Carney’s office said in a brief statement, adding that they would meet “in the near future.”

 

“President Trump congratulated Prime Minister Carney on his recent election,” the statement said. “The leaders agreed on the importance of Canada and the United States working together — as independent, sovereign nations — for their mutual betterment.”

 

Mr. Carney, 60, a seasoned economist and policymaker who promoted himself as the anti-Trump candidate and centered his campaign on dealing with the United States, ultimately benefited from the American president’s actions.

 

Now, he is likely to be judged on how he fares in defending Canada from the damage, including significant job losses and the hobbling of major industries, that a prolonged trade war could cause.

 

In his acceptance speech early on Tuesday, Mr. Carney warned Canadians that there would be difficult times ahead, even as he made clear that he was prepared to protect Canada’s interests in his dealings with Mr. Trump.

 

“As I’ve been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources, our water,” he said. “President Trump is trying to break us so he can own us. That will never happen.”

 

Mr. Poilievre, 45, and the Conservatives had been dominating polls for years, building their support around the argument that Mr. Trudeau and the Liberals had dragged Canada into chronic economic malaise.

 

But they watched their double-digit lead rapidly disappear after Mr. Trump launched his aggressive campaign against Canada and Mr. Trudeau, who had been deeply unpopular, resigned.

 

Canadians heading to the polls were preoccupied both with the country’s relationship with its neighbor to the south and with the state of the economy at home. Affordability worries, primarily over housing, were top of mind, opinion surveys conducted before the election showed, and seemed to boost Conservative candidates in some districts.

 

But Canada’s election choice on Monday also served as a referendum of sorts on Mr. Trump and the way he has been treating America’s allies and its trading partners.

 

It was the second major international election since Mr. Trump came to power, after Germany’s, and Canada’s handling of the rupture in the relationship with the United States is being closely watched around the world.

 

The election also highlighted that Mr. Trump’s brand of politics can turn toxic for conservatives elsewhere if they are seen as being too in sync with his ideological and rhetorical style.

 

Mr. Poilievre’s repeated denunciations of “radical woke ideology” and promises to defund Canada’s national broadcaster and cut foreign aid seemed to have cost him centrist voters, pre-election polls suggested.

 

The party’s defeat and Mr. Poilievre’s loss of his own seat could set off a battle for the Conservative leadership, though the party won more seats and a larger share of the vote than it had in years.

 

For Mr. Carney, the victory marked the astonishing culmination of his rapid rise in Canada’s political establishment since entering the race to replace Mr. Trudeau in January.

 

A political novice but policy-making veteran, Mr. Carney, a former central banker, conveyed a measured, serious tone and defiance toward Mr. Trump’s belligerence, helping to sway many voters who had been contemplating supporting the Conservatives, according to polls and some individual voters.

 

And his politics as a pragmatist and a centrist seemed to better align with Canada’s mood after a decade of Mr. Trudeau’s progressive agenda.

 

In the early hours of Tuesday, amid celebrations, Mr. Carney said he was ready for the challenge. “We will fight back with everything we have to get the best deal for Canada,” he said. “We will build an independent future for our great country.”

 

Matina Stevis-Gridneff is the Canada bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of the country.