Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Wins Third Term
In August, Justin Trudeau called for an early election to take place on 9/20. His reason being that he needed a new mandate to ensure voters approved of his Liberal government's plan to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Monday, he won his third term as Canadian Prime Minister. His Liberal Party were leading or elected in 158 seats, 12 short of the 170 needed for a majority in the House of Commons. The New Democratic Party were leading or elected in 25 three seats, while the Quebec-based Bloc Québécois were at 34 seats and the Greens were down to 2 seats.
Trudeau said, "There are still votes to be counted but what we've seen tonight is millions of Canadians have chosen a progressive plan. You are sending us back to work with a clear mandate to get Canada through this pandemic. I hear you when you say you just want to get back to the things you love and not worry about this pandemic or an election."
Trudeau's opposition were relentless in accusing him of calling an unnecessary early vote for his own personal ambition, two years before the deadline. Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University said, "Trudeau lost his gamble to get a majority so I would say this is a bittersweet victory for him. Trudeau and the Liberals saved their skin and will stay in power, but many Canadians who didn’t want this late summer, pandemic election are probably not amused about the whole situation.”
Nelson Wiseman, political science professor at the University of Toronto said, "Hubris led Trudeau to call the election. He and the Liberals won the election but lost the prize they were seeking. This is only a great night for the Liberals because two weeks ago it appeared they would lose government outright something they could not fathom before they gambled on an election."
Conservative leader Erin O'Toole said, "Five weeks ago, Mr. Trudeau asked for a majority. He said that the minority parliament was unworkable. But tonight, Canadians did not give him the majority mandate that he wanted. In fact, people sent him back with another minority at the cost of 600 million dollars and deeper divisions in our great country."
