Crescent International
Updated at 5:00 pm (Toronto Time) on Tuesday April 29, 2025
With no party winning a clear majority in the 343-seat parliament, the Liberal Party of Canada has plenty to cheer about.
The April 28 federal election resurrected Liberal fortunes under newly-minted leader Mark Carney giving the party 169 seats, just three shy of the 172 seats needed for a clear majority.
Just six weeks ago, the Liberal Party under Justin Trudeau was destined for oblivion.
Polls predicted it was trailing in fourth place even behind Bloc Quebecois and the NDP.
The Conservatives led by Pierre Poilievre were riding high, leading by some 20 percentage points.
Last night, however, Poilievre lost even his own seat of Ottawa-Carleton to Liberal challenger, Bruce Fanjoy.
Few would shed tears at seeing the back of ‘Donald Trump of the north’.
Poilievre had held the seat since 2004.
Reflecting ruthless ambition, he said he would continue as party leader.
Such shamelessness is unusual in Canadian politics.
The other party leader who lost his seat was Jagmeet Singh of the NDP.
He will be missed because Jagmeet, as he came to be called, is a principled politician who brought colour to parliament with his colourful turbans.
Of all party leaders, Jagmeet was the only one who called Israel’s killing of Palestinians in Gaza as genocide.
The NDP unfortunately also lost party status because it only garnered seven seats.
A party needs 12 seats in parliament to retain party status.
Unlike Poilievre, Jagmeet announced he will step down as party leader.
There is a growing body of opinion in Canada that believes the present system of first-past-the-post is unfair.
Consider this.
The Bloc Quebecois received 6.4% of the popular vote but won 22 seats in parliament.
The NDP secured 6.3% of the popular vote but got only 7 seats.
This election, however, was about who is best suited to deal with threats from Trump.
He has not only launched a trade and tariffs war but also repeatedly said he wants to make Canada the 51st state of the United States.
Canadians have recalled in horror at this threat.
They felt that Carney—a former Bank of Canada governor as well as the Bank of England governor—is most qualified to meet this challenge.
Poilievre continued to campaign on “change” despite the fact that Justin Trudeau, who had become extremely unpopular, announced his resignation on January 19 and Carney was elected Liberal Party leader on March 24.
His first act as party leader was to announce abolition of the carbon tax.
This was the other plank of Poilievre’s platform.
With both plants removed, Poilievre had nothing to stand on but failed to adjust his strategy.
His other mistake was to use former prime minister Stephen Harper to appeal to voters on his behalf.
Harper was a divisive figure and a well-known racist and bigot.
The vast majority of Canadians are not.
While Poilievre made the usual pilgrimage to Israel to burnish his pro-zionist credentials, he failed to challenge Trump, as Carney did.
For Canadians, the threat from Trump is real and they see in Carney the leader who will unite them to face it.
In his victory speech, Carney said he will be there for all Canadians.
“When I sit down with President Trump, it will be to discuss the future economy and security relationship between two sovereign nations,” he said.
Carney reiterated his promise to make the Canadian economy less dependent on the US.
He also promised to reduce barriers to interprovincial trade by Canada Day.
This may prove a tough challenge given Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s threats to make her own deals with Trump.
Albertans have historically leaned to the right.
Last night’s election results were no different.
At least 32 of Alberta’s 37 seats were grabbed by Conservatives.
This will make Carney’s job more difficult.
But for now, the Liberals can savour their victory that has given them a new lease of life.
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