Miles Morrisseau
ICT
Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberal Party in Canada won a minority government in Monday’s election, meaning they will need the support of other parties in order to govern.
Votes were counted late into the night but the results did not change, and the Liberals could not meet the 172-seat threshold required to be a majority. They won with 168 seats even as final results were being confirmed on Tuesday, April 29.
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Carney ran a campaign that was more focused on U.S. President Donald Trump than his competitors, including Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre. Carney’s anti-Trump message resonated with voters.
“Who’s ready to stand up for Canada with me?” Carney asked supporters at his victory party, where crowds greeted him with loud cheers. “Who’s ready to build Canada strong?”
Carney, 60, a former central banker who had never held elected office, spoke about the values he learned from his parents and from his hockey coaches about Canada’s strengths as a nation.
“Values that have been reinforced as I’ve met with Canadians across this great country, and those include three values that I want to highlight,” Carney said. “Humility, it’s Canada after all; ambition, it’s Canada after all; and unity, it’s Canada.”
Despite the fact that this was the third minority government in a row for the Liberals, it did mark a significant change in how Canadians were voting. Two of the main party leaders did not even hold their own seats, but Carney won in his riding of Nepean, which is a suburb of the national capital of Ottawa.
His top challenger, Poilievre, did not win his own seat in Ottawa-Carlton, which is also a riding in the nation’s capital. He has held the seat since 2004 and it is likely he will be facing calls to step down as Conservative Party leader after his third straight loss to the Liberals.
Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party, did not win his own riding, either, and announced that he will be stepping down as leader of the party.
The NDP had been supportive of the minority liberal government in order to promote their own agenda, such as a national pharmacare program that was passed with their support under the regime of then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who stepped down in March.
Although Singh took the fall, it is more likely that the election was not a referendum on his leadership but rather on the impact of Trump and his vociferous attacks on Canada. Voters who had previously supported the NDP looked to put their votes into a stronger national voice that they found in Carney and the Liberals.
Before Carney took over the leadership of the Liberals in mid-March, the party was mired in low polling numbers that suggested Canada was ready for a change. It turned out the change in leadership was enough.
Carney had been among the world’s economic elite for most of his career. He worked 15 years at Goldman Sachs in a variety of roles, then served as governor of the Bank of Canada from 2007-2013. He then spent seven years as the governor of the Bank of England before becoming finance advisor to the British Prime Minister in 2020. He also served as a United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Change and Finance.
Indigenous votes mattered
In an election so close, the indigenous vote did matter in a number of key ridings and likely will boost Indigenous voices in Parliament.
“First Nations in Manitoba have been clear about what is needed to move forward in a spirit of true reconciliation and respect for inherent rights, treaty rights and First Nations jurisdiction,” Assembly of Manitoba Grand Chief Kyra Wilson said in a statement.
“We look forward to meeting with Prime Minister Carney and his Cabinet at the earliest opportunity to set a clear path for action on our shared priorities,” Wilson said. “As the political voice of First Nations in Manitoba, we at the AMC would also like to congratulate the First Nations Members of Parliament elected in Manitoba: Leah Gazan in Winnipeg Centre and Rebecca Chartrand in Churchill-Keewatinook Aski. Their leadership reflects the strength of our Nations and we look forward to working with them to advance the priorities of First Nations in Manitoba.”
In Quebec, the Liberals were able to flip a seat from the Bloc Quebecois in the riding of Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou. Mandy Gull-Masty, Cree, who had served as grand chief of Cree Nation of Quebec, won the riding.
In the riding of Nunavut, where final results were still pending Tuesday, Lori Idlout, Inuk of the New Democratic Party, was still holding the lead in a tight race against Liberal candidate Kalikvak Kabloona, who is also Inuk.
Both candidates were still waiting on the final count before conceding or declaring victory.
The northern Manitoba riding of Churchill-Keewatinok Aski flipped to the Liberals despite being a New Democratic Party stronghold for decades. Liberal candidate Rebecca Chartrand, Anishinaabe/Inninew/Dakota/Métis, defeated Nikki Ashton who had held the seat for three elections. Chartrand had made a close run in the 2005 run and was back in this election cycle to garner the win.
The loss in the longtime NDP riding reflected the party’s results across the country. The NDP were wiped out as an official party in this election. Official party status requires at least 12 seats and they won only seven.
Avoiding the NDP wipeout, Leah Gazan, Wood Mountain Lakota Nation, held onto her seat in Winnipeg-Centre. Gazan has led with an Indigenous-first agenda since being elected to Parliament in 2019. Gazan’s re-election shows the importance of getting the Indigenous vote in urban ridings as well as rural and northern constituencies. The riding had previously elected a Liberal Party representative in Robert Falcon-Oulette, Red Pheasant Cree Nation.
Gazan achieved an historic first when the House of Commons gave unanimous consent to Gazan’s motion recognizing residential schools as an act of genocide in 2022, the first recognition of a genocide committed in Canada. In 2023, she received unanimous consent for a motion to recognize the ongoing genocide of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit individuals as a Canada-wide emergency.
Manitoba has been an New Democratic Party stronghold for a number of years and notably elected the country’s first First Nations premier when Wab Kinew, Anishinaabe, was elected in 2023. But in this election, the Liberal gains, if any, were made on the backs of the NDP.
The third time was not a charm for Singh and he stepped down as the party’s leader following his defeat.
“It’s been the honor of my life to lead the NDP and to represent the people of Burnaby central,” Singh posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Congratulations to Mark Carney and to the other leaders on a hard-fought campaign. I know this night is disappointing for New Democrats. But we are only defeated when we believe those that tell us we can never dream of a better Canada.”
Blake Desjarlais, Fishing Lake Métis Settlement, of the New Democratic Party, lost in his re-election bid. He served as the member of Parliament for the riding of Edmonton-Griesbach since 2021, when he defeated Conservative Kerry Diotte. Diotte took the riding back for the Conservatives.
Jaimie Battiste, Mi’kmaw, was re-elected to represent the riding of Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish. Battiste had put his name forward as a candidate for the Liberal leadership, hoping to be the first First Nations Prime Minister, but dropped out before the vote and threw his support behind Carney.
Looking ahead
Despite the united Canada message offered by Carney, the results show a deeply divided country.
Carney couldn’t deliver a majority and will be dependent on the Bloc Quebecois or NDP to support passing any legislation. Although votes were still being counted Tuesday, they were not expected to change the results enough to push the Liberals into a majority government.
Without the majority, the governing Liberals will have to reach out to other parties for support, which could give power to those Indigenous candidates like Gazan and Idlout, who despite the NDP’s loss of seats, will retain significant influence.
*Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Kalikvak Kabloona and to clarify that Liberal candidate Rebecca Chartrand won election in the northern Manitoba riding of Churchill-Keewatinok Aski.
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