The next government of Canada will be formed by the Liberal party of Justin Trudeau, announced Monday, September 20, the Canadian media.
The results of the vote, still preliminary, do not, however, make it possible to determine whether the outgoing Prime Minister, who obtains a third term after a very difficult campaign, will be at the head of a majority or minority government.
In this country with six time zones, the last polling stations closed at 7 p.m. in the west, in British Columbia, on the Pacific coast and in the Yukon (4 a.m., Tuesday, in Paris)
Mr. Trudeau called a snap election in mid-August in an attempt to regain the majority he lost two years earlier. But it is impossible to know yet if he won his bet against the moderate conservative Erin O’Toole who managed to break through during the campaign.
A difficult campaign
The Prime Minister has had a particularly complicated campaign. The wear and tear of power is felt, and the “Trudeaumanie” 2015 seems a long way off… Voting intentions still gave the two major parties neck to neck, around 31% of voting intentions, a few hours before the ballot.
Justin Trudeau said to himself “Serene” at the exit of his polling station in Montreal. “We worked very hard during this campaign and Canadians are making an important choice”, did he declare. During the last days of the campaign, he called for strategic voting, explaining that the Conservatives’ victory would mean a step backwards, especially on the climate issue.
“Proud to vote today, be sure to do the same! “, encouraged on Twitter, Erin O’Toole, by posting a photo in front of the ballot box with his wife. The latter campaigned by promising Canadians to embody renewal and campaigned resolutely at the center.
A possible need to deal with small parties
Shortly before the closing, local media still showed many people lining up outside polling stations in major cities. The approximately 27 million Canadians were called upon to elect the 338 members of the House of Commons. If neither of the two major parties which have alternated in power since 1867 is able to obtain a majority of seats in Parliament, the winner will have to compose a minority government.
And for that, he will need to come to terms with the smaller parties to govern in Ottawa. Like the New Democratic Party (NPD, left), of Jagmeet Singh, credited with 20% of the voting intentions. Or the Bloc Québécois, an independentist formation led by Yves-François Blanchet, which seemed to regain its colors at the end of the campaign after a controversy over the place of Quebec within the Canadian confederation.
The last major party in the running, the Greens of Annamie Paul struggled to get their message of a climate emergency, fighting for their survival due to problems of unity and image.