Mark Carney’s Liberals projected to win minority government

Prime Minister Mark Carney will form a minority government, Global News has projected, though the total seat count is not yet known as some ridings still have votes to be counted.

Carney’s government is the Liberals’ fourth consecutive mandate and when this year began would have been thought unattainable, with the Conservatives ahead by more than 20 points in some polls and a deeply unpopular prime minister in Justin Trudeau.

But U.S. President Donald Trump’s re-election and subsequent launching of a trade war on Canada, followed by Trudeau’s resignation and the Liberals electing former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney as their leader changed that.

“I chose to enter politics because I felt we needed big changes in this country, but big changes guided by strong Canadian values,” Carney told supporters after his victory was projected.

“My message to every Canadian is this, no matter where you live, no matter what language you speak, no matter how you voted, I will always do my best to represent everyone who calls Canada home.”

A minority, however, means the Liberals will likely have to work across the aisle with the NDP or Bloc Quebecois in order to remain in government, specifically on confidence motions to avoid prompting another election.

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While Global News had projected a Liberal government on Monday night, it was not clear until Tuesday morning whether that would be a minority or majority.

While votes are still being counted in some parts of the country, the Liberal Party is projected to win in 168 ridings across the country. Carney won in his own riding of Nepean by a margin of 21,380 votes.

The Conservatives are set to form the official opposition with 144 seats, while the Bloc are leading or elected in 23, the NDP in seven and the Greens in one.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh both lost their seats, while the Bloc’s Yves-Francois Blanchet and Green co-leader Elizabeth May won re-election.

Jonathan Pedneault, the Greens other co-leader, did not win election.

Elections Canada announced it had decided early Tuesday morning to pause the counting of special ballots, those cast by mail or at Elections Canada offices away from their ridings during the election, though it resumed at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.

Some ridings could still face recounts, however, due to less than 100 votes separating the top two candidates.

—with files from Global News’ Uday Rana