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- BBC News World
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At the end of a tight electoral competition, the Liberal Party of Canada, led by Justin Trudeau, was proclaimed the winner of the federal election, according to the preliminary results of the poll held on Monday.
With 91% of the vote counted, the current Canadian Prime Minister addressed supporters gathered outside a hotel in Montreal and said voters have chosen “a progressive plan” and that he is ready to form a government.
Not long before, the leader of the Conservative Party, Erin O’Toole, had recognized their defeat.
But Trudeau’s party did not get an absolute majority pending in the House of Commons Congress.
The countdown place it with 158 deputies and 31.8% of the votes cast, which will force him to form a minority government.
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Over a million Canadians voted by mail, and those votes will not be counted until Tuesday.
In this way, the panorama remains similar to that of the previous federal election, when the Liberals won with 157 MPs and theThe Conservatives have become the main opposition party with 121 seats.
Trudeau called an early election in August – two years ahead of schedule – when Canada was entering its fourth pandemic wave, with the aim of his party obtaining an absolute majority in Parliament.
O’Toole, Trudeau’s election rival, has made it clear he wants to stay the leader of the opposition.
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O’Toole had a more moderate speech than his predecessors.
The leader of the Conservative Party, who led them for the first time in a general election, has placed the PC at the center of the political scene.
Trudeau was looking for a “quick takeover,” he said Monday evening.
“But the Canadians they didn’t give Trudeau the majority mandate he wanted “.
O’Toole tried to rephrase his electoral defeat as a victory: he and his party denied Trudeau the majority he sought when calling the snap election..
Since the last federal election in 2019, Trudeau had to seek the support of opposition parties to advance his program.
Image source, Getty Images
Now if you can’t get the seats you need, at least 170, to form the absolute majority, The prime minister should consider whether his call for an early election was worth it.
The Liberal leader will once again have to negotiate with other parties, mainly the NDP and the BQ, to carry out his legislative initiatives.
Trudeau thanked Canadians on Monday for voting “to get Canada out of the pandemic and in the better days to come.”
He also touched on the important topics for his party’s platform: climate action, accessible housing and daycare, and promised to continue working on it.
“They have given this government and this parliament a clear direction,” he said.
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