The federal election didn’t change much. What happens now?
The Liberals are once again forming government — but after securing the same minority as before, PM Justin Trudeau comes under fire for his mid-pandemic decision.
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This week, we’re tackling this question: The federal election didn’t change much. What happens now?
TL;DR: The Liberals are once again forming government — but only with a minority, despite calling the snap election to win a majority of seats in the legislature. People are angry, calling this election a waste of time and resources. There were also plenty of criticisms over long lines and low turnout. Here’s what you need to know moving forward and some of the most notable results.
By the end of Election Day, it was clear that the federal Liberals would form government. But at what cost?
In August, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a snap election mid-pandemic in a bid to get a majority government. But he will once again have to settle for a minority, with the Liberals currently leading or already elected in 158 seats instead of the 170 required for a majority. This is just one seat more than the number of seats the Liberals got in the 2019 election. At this point, there are still some mail-in ballots to be counted, though most have been as of September 22.
Trudeau lost 4 female MPs who were also ministers, so we’ll likely see a big change in his cabinet.
In comparison, the Conservatives are leading or elected in 119 seats, making them the official opposition again but down two seats. The Bloc Québécois is leading or elected in 34 seats, gaining two new seats. The NDP is leading or elected in 25 seats, gaining one new seat.
Alongside Trudeau, these parties’ leaders have been re-elected. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has expressed confidence in his position, while Conservative’s Erin O’Toole is facing challenges to his leadership. Trudeau’s decision to call an election that many consider unnecessary also damages his leadership.
The Greens, who were facing tumultuous infighting in the lead-up to Election Day, are leading or elected in two seats. Party leader Annamie Paul came in fourth in the bid to win Toronto Centre, which has long been a Liberal riding. Paul has not stepped down.
The almost identical election result has left many frustrated about the waste of time and resources. With an over-$600 million price tag, this is the most expensive federal election to date.
This election also saw a low turnout of 59 per cent. Voters sent in around 1 million mail-in ballots this election, more than usual because of COVID-19.
Still, many criticized the long lines to vote, and some people reported having to wait for three hours. Elections Canada also did not run the Vote on Campus program, which created confusion for post-secondary students.
Now, let’s look closer at some results:
This election saw 41 openly LGBTQ2S+ candidates, and 7 of them are leading or elected as of September 21. Notably, NDP’s Blake Desjarlais unseated Conservative incumbent Kerry Diotte in the Edmonton-Griesbach riding. With this win, Desjarlais has become the first publicly Two-Spirit MP and the sole Indigenous MP for Alberta.
In the Vancouver Granville riding, independent MP Jody Wilson-Raybould’s decision not to re-run prompted a tight race between Liberal’s Taleeb Noormohamed and NDP’s Anjali Appadurai. Noormohamed is currently leading, but there are still mail-in ballots to count.
In Toronto’s Spadina—Fort York riding, there are calls for a by-election after Kevin Vuong said he plans to be an independent MP. Vuong was previously a Liberal candidate, but the party cut ties with him after news came out about a dropped sexual assault charge against him in 2019.
The People’s Party of Canada — a far-right party known for anti-immigration, anti-lockdown, anti-climate justice, anti-press rhetoric — once again did not win any seats, and party leader Maxime Bernier came second in Quebec’s riding of Beauce. Still, the party won around 5 per cent of the popular vote — more than double what the Greens got. Experts say its rise is worrying. “While some may see individual incidents of Proud Boys and other white supremacist groups as one-off incidents, we know they are part of a larger phenomenon that is loosely rallying around the PPC,” wrote Mi’kmaw lawyer Pamela Palmater in Maclean’s.
Here’s someone to follow:
Dean of Pandemic University, filmmaker and long-form writer extraordinaire — what can’t Omar Mouallem do? He somehow found the time to write a book about the history and identity of Muslims in the Americas (Praying to the West: How Muslims Shaped the Americas) and make a documentary about Burger Baron (The Last Baron), and you can check them both out as of earlier this week.
Here’s a story to check out:
Investigative climate journalist Geoff Dembicki recently reviewed hundreds of pages, or decades’ worth, of public documents to find that media tycoon Rupert Murdoch-owned outlets deny and downplay climate change — even as Murdoch’s News Corporation worked to protect itself against the climate emergency. Read more in this VICE News story!