Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals took a narrow lead in the Canadian general election on Monday, followed closely by Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives.
The Liberal party won the most spots in the 338-seat Parliament, but fell short of a majority, meaning they will have to form a coalition with an opposition party to stay in power.
Both parties had been hoping to gain 170 seats or more in the 338-seat Parliament, which would grant them the right to form a majority government.
Trudeau’s Liberals were elected or were leading the race in more than 156 out of over 300 electoral districts that were reporting by 12 am EDT (0400 GMT). The Conservatives were on track to secure at least 121 seats.
With polls closed across the country, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has projected a Liberal minority government.
BREAKING NEWS: CBC News projects Liberal government. Whether it will be a minority or majority government remains to be seen. #elxn43 #cdnpoli #CanadaVotes pic.twitter.com/nwL0zkyvJY
— CBC News (@CBCNews) October 22, 2019
Around 27.4 million Canadians were eligible to vote at polling stations located in six different time zones.
Trudeau hit by scandals
Although Trudeau won by a landslide in 2015, his fight to secure a second term was hobbled by several scandals. In recent months, old photos of the prime minister wearing blackface and brownface emerged and he has come under fire for his handling of a corruption case involving a major Canadian construction company as well as for his decision to nationalise a controversial oil pipeline project.
Trudeau, son of the liberal icon and late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, is viewed as one of the last remaining progressive leaders in the world’s major democracies.
His main rival is Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, who pledged to roll back several environmental protections, including Trudeau’s carbon tax to discourage fossil fuel use. He also promised to balance the federal budget.
Scheer’s campaign, however, was shaken by revelations that he holds dual US-Canadian citizenship and that his party hired a communications firm to go after the right-wing People’s Party of Canada, led by Maxime Bernier.
Smaller parties to be kingmakers
Although much of the focus was on the major candidates, the environment and healthcare also emerged as top issues.
Should Trudeau fail to win a majority of seats in Parliament, he will have to rely on support from smaller parties like the Green Party and the New Democratic Party (NDP), led by Jagmeet Singh – the first non-white leader of a federal party in Canada.
Should Scheer’s Conservatives pull ahead, it’s possible they would team up with Yves-Francois Blanchet’s Bloc Quebecois, the nationalist party of the French-speaking province of Quebec, in a minority government.