The Liberal Party has won the Canadian parliamentary elections held on Monday, according to preliminary data. The party’s head, current Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, will lead the country’s next government.
Just a few months ago, opinion polls pointed to a defeat for the unpopular Liberal Party, which has been in power since 2015. As observers agree, this election was highly unusual because the main issue at stake, along with the economic situation, was the relationship with the United States. Donald Trump’s statements that Canada should become the 51st state of the United States, his imposition of duties on Canadian imports, which could trigger a recession in Canada, influenced the mood of many voters.
Mark Carney, 60, an economist who is a former head of central banks in Canada and Britain, has positioned himself as an anti-Trumpist, focusing his campaign on relations with the United States.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, 45, has emphasised Canada’s economic problems and criticised the Liberals for what he says are their failed economic policies. Some of his slogans echoed those of Donald Trump. This tactic has paid off for several years.
Until the beginning of this year, the Conservatives were leading, according to opinion polls, by a significant margin. The previous Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau resigned in March; by April, the Liberals, led by Carney, had become more popular than the Conservatives.
Commentators say the victorious Liberals face the difficult task of mending relations with the Trump administration and identifying reserves for the country’s economic growth, which has been low in recent years while unemployment has been high.