Politics Prime Minister Carney's Liberal Party wins election in Canada
According to initial forecasts, Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal Party has won the parliamentary election in Canada. According to the public broadcaster CBC, the governing party won more seats in the vote than the Conservatives of challenger Pierre Poilievre.
29.04.2025, 05:04
SDA
This is the fourth Canadian parliamentary election in a row that the Liberals have won, which is very unusual in the history of the G7 country. Whether it could 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 seats for the 343 constituencies.
MPs are elected by direct vote. Around 29 million people were called to vote in the USA's northern neighbor and the world's second largest country in terms of area with six time zones.
Conservatives seemed to have an unassailable lead - but then came Trump
Liberal economist Carney had only taken over the posts of party leader and prime minister a few weeks ago following an internal party vote by Justin Trudeau, who had announced his retirement at the beginning of the year after around ten years in office in the face of declining popularity. Carney was also elected to parliament for the first time.
The parliamentary election was under pressure from US President Donald Trump's aggressive tariff policy and threats of annexation. On election day, Trump had once again called on Canadians to agree to integration into the USA. Trump's interference had completely turned the election campaign in Canada on its head: For a long time, the opposition Conservatives were seemingly uncatchable in the polls, but Canadians moved closer together in their opposition to Trump and rallied largely behind Carney.
Experienced crisis manager versus "Canada First" candidate
The 60-year-old has national and international crisis experience. During the financial crisis, the Alberta-born politician headed the Canadian central bank from 2008. Between 2013 and 2020, Carney was head of the UK's central bank during the turbulent Brexit phase and then UN Special Envoy for Climate Action until January of this year. He advocates closer cooperation with Europe and Asia in order to reduce trade dependency on the USA. According to surveys, most Canadians believe Carney is the most likely to stand up to Trump.
The political style of conservative frontrunner Poilievre, on the other hand, is clearly reminiscent of Trump. The 45-year-old, who stands for low taxes and cuts in government spending, also spoke of fake news, a woke ideology of radical left-wing forces and promised to always put Canada first - "Canada First". That went down well for a long time - but then came Trump.
Election also influenced by fatal car crash in Vancouver
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 in the wake of a tragic incident in the west coast metropolis of Vancouver at the weekend: A man drove a car into a crowd of people at a Filipino community street party, killing at least eleven people. A 30-year-old suspect was arrested. The police were convinced that it was not an act of terrorism.
