Second largest country in the world: Prime Minister Carney's Liberal Party wins election in Canada

According to initial projections, Prime Minister Mark Carney 's Liberal Party has won Canada's parliamentary election. According to the public broadcaster CBC, the governing party won more seats than the Conservatives of challenger Pierre Poilievre.

This is the fourth consecutive Canadian parliamentary election won by the Liberals, which is highly unusual in the history of the G7 country. Whether this would be enough for an absolute majority for the Liberals remained unclear at first. This would require at least 172 seats in Parliament in the capital, Ottawa, which corresponds to an absolute majority of the seats in the 343 electoral districts.

Representatives are elected by direct election. Around 29 million people were called to vote in the United States' northern neighbor, the second-largest country in the world by area and with six time zones.

Liberal economist Carney had taken over the positions of party leader and prime minister just a few weeks ago following an internal party vote from Justin Trudeau, who had announced his resignation earlier this year due to declining popularity after about ten years in office. Carney was also elected to Parliament for the first time.

The parliamentary election was under pressure from US President Donald Trump's aggressive tariff policies and threats of annexation. On election day, Trump again called on Canadians to agree to join the US. Trump's interference completely turned the election campaign in Canada on its head: For a long time, the opposition Conservatives held a seemingly unassailable lead in the polls, but in their resistance to Trump, Canadians united and, to a large extent, rallied behind Carney.

The 60-year-old brings national and international crisis experience to the table. During the financial crisis, the politician from Alberta headed Canada's central bank from 2008 onward. Between 2013 and 2020, Carney served as the UK's central bank governor during the turbulent Brexit period, and then as the UN Special Envoy for Climate Change until January of this year. He advocates for closer cooperation with Europe and Asia to reduce trade dependence on the US. According to polls, most Canadians trust Carney most to stand up to Trump.

The political style of the conservative leading candidate, Poilievre, on the other hand, clearly bears Trump's stance. The 45-year-old, who advocates low taxes and cuts in government spending, also spoke of fake news, a woke ideology of radical left forces, and promised to always put Canada first – "Canada First." This was well received for a long time – but then Trump came along.

Other key campaign issues included the sharp rise in the cost of living, rising rents, access to affordable housing, healthcare and migration.

The election also took place under the impact of a tragic incident in the West Coast metropolis of Vancouver over the weekend: At a street festival organized by the Filipino community, a man drove a car into a crowd, killing at least eleven people. A 30-year-old suspect was arrested. Police expressed confidence that this was not an act of terrorism.

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