Mark Carney fails to secure majority, Pierre Poilievre loses his seat

Mark Carney’s Liberals will have to seek help from another, smaller party as Conservative Pierre Poilievre loses his seat but says he’ll seek to stay on as party leader.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives at his office the morning after winning the federal election Picture: Andrej Ivanov/Getty Images/AFP

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals have fallen short of winning an outright majority in parliament, and the party will have to seek help from another, smaller party.

The vote-counting agency Elections Canada finished processing nearly all ballots in what turned out to be a razor-close election that will leave the Liberals three seats short of a majority. Recounts are expected in some districts.

The Liberal party seemed likely to find the extra votes necessary to pass legislation, but it was not clear whether they would come from the progressive party, which backed the Liberals under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, or from a separatist party from French-speaking Quebec.

Carney’s rival, populist Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, was in the lead until Donald Trump took aim at Canada with a trade war and threats to annex the country as the 51st state. Mr Poilievre not only lost his bid for prime minister but was voted out of the parliament seat that he held for 20 years. However he has said he would seek to stay on as party leader.

After his win, Mr Carney pledged to confront Mr Trump with the “overwhelming positive force” of a united Canada after a dramatic election win that earned the Liberal Party a new term in power.

Following a campaign dominated by Mr Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Mr Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a United States that is newly hostile to free trade.

“We will win this trade war and build the strongest economy in the G7,” Mr Carney said.

“It is time to be bold, to meet this crisis with the overwhelming positive force of a united Canada,” he added, stressing the need to work across party lines.

His victory was an extraordinary comeback for the Liberals, who until recently looked headed for an electoral wipe-out.

Mr Carney, who replaced Mr Trudeau as prime minister just last month, convinced voters that his experience managing economic crises made him the ideal candidate to defy Mr Trump.

He led the Bank of Canada through the 2008-2009 financial crisis and headed the Bank of England through the turmoil surrounding the 2016 Brexit vote.

“If Donald Trump hadn’t been there, the Conservatives probably would have won,” said University of Ottawa political scientist Genevieve Tellier.

‘Partisan truce’

Conceding defeat on Tuesday, Mr Poilievre promised to work with the Liberals to counter Mr Trump.

“We will always put Canada first,” he told supporters in Ottawa. “Conservatives will work with the prime minister and all parties with the common goal of defending Canada’s interests and getting a new trade deal that puts these tariffs behind us.” Despite the defeat, the 45-year-old Mr Poilievre led the Conservatives to their best performance in several elections, setting them up as a forceful opposition in parliament.

The Tory leader was criticised for only showing limited anger towards Mr Trump, but said he wanted to keep the campaign’s focus on domestic concerns.

The leader of the separatist Bloc Quebecois Yves-Francois Blanchet, whose party will be the third-largest in parliament, also pledged unity against Mr Trump.

He called for “a partisan truce,” in a parliament that “will have to face Donald Trump.” “I sincerely believe that Quebecers, and Canadians, expect the new parliament to be stable and responsible during the negotiations,” with Washington, Mr Blanchet said Tuesday.

Trudeau’s influence

British leader Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were among the first to congratulate Mr Carney.

China’s foreign ministry said it was “willing to develop China-Canada relations on the basis of mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit.”

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was keen to grow relations with Ottawa and “unlock greater opportunities for our people.”

Mark Carney hugs his wife after winning the Canadian Federal Election. Picture: Andrej Ivanov/Getty Images/AFP

Canada has accused New Delhi of being involved in the assassination of a Canadian who campaigned for Sikhs to secede from India — a claim which Mr Modi’s government has denied, and led to the near-collapse of Canada-India relations in Mr Trudeau’s final months in office.

On January 6, the day Mr Trudeau said he would resign, the Conservatives led the Liberals by more than 20 points in most polls, as public fury over soaring costs mounted.

But Mr Carney distanced himself from Mr Trudeau, who had been in power for a decade, throughout the campaign.

He said the former prime minister did not focus enough on growing Canada’s economy and scrapped a controversial Mr Trudeau carbon tax that left many voters seething.