Canadians voted to give the incumbent Liberals another four years and trust that Prime Minister Mark Carney can handle the turmoil of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and his fixation on annexing Canada.
Carney used his financial background as governor of the Bank of Canada and then the Bank of England to message Canadians that he had the economic tools to steer the country through an unpredictable financial world of tariff wars and a new trade deal with Trump.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre campaigned on change after 10 years of his contention of sluggish Liberals under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but it was not enough to gain victory.
Canadians rejected Poilievre’s message, which had to be a bitter defeat for him, because he had been miles ahead of the Liberals for months in poll after poll.
But then fortunes changed after the deeply unpopular Trudeau resigned and political neophyte Carney took over after a Liberal leadership convention.
The Liberals rocketed to the front of public opinion polls, passed the Conservatives, and were four percentage points ahead on the last day of polling, April 27.
Majority still unclear
Voters bought Carney’s portrayal that he is a steady hand on the government tiller when the time comes to confront Trump. But he has never been in politics, let alone in Canada’s top job.
The election turned into a two-party race, with the New Democratic Party under leader Jagmeet Singh never a contender.
There were 343 seats (districts) up for grabs nationwide and 172 are needed for a majority.
Because Canada is so large geographically, it has six time zones. Votes are still to be counted, so it is not yet known if Carney will lead a majority or minority government.