Latest news with #CanadianElection
Forbes
5 days ago
- Politics
- Forbes
Canada's Hanging Chads
MONTREAL, CANADA - JANUARY 23: A janitor picks up Liberal Party "thunder sticks" at outgoing Prime ... More Minister Paul Martin's riding headquarters after his government was defeated by Stephen Harper's opposition Conservatives on Monday, January 23, 2006. Martin will stay on as an MP but will step down as leader of the Liberal Party. (Photo by) Over a month after Canada's federal elections, the country is still trying to sort out exactly who won and by how much. If this sounds eerily familiar to Bush vs. Gore in 2000, there is a good reason for this. Much like a quarter century ago in the United States, the recent Canadian election, basically a series of over 330 separate elections in each legislative 'riding' (equivalent to an American legislative district), has produced numerous results that were so close to call that a number have already been overturned in recounts and others simply remain unsettled. The situation is so fluid that Canada's Governor General, Mary Simon, has had to state that no official transfer of power shall occur until after the recounts are completed. Canada uses a parliamentary system, so that whichever party has gained a majority of seats in the House of Commons has, therefore, the right to name a Prime Minister and form a new national government. Unfortunately, no party won a majority in April, with the Liberals coming very close. That meant that they had to negotiate with smaller parties to form a government, but each small party had to be wary of not overplaying its hand as it could easily be replaced. The recounts, however, have now shrunken the Liberal total, resulting in that party needing more seats from any coalition partner to form a government. There have been no 'butterfly ballots' or 'hanging chads,' which famously affected the 2000 American elections, but there have been elections so close in Canada that in one case in Quebec a single vote seems to have determined the winner. (Source). The impact of the shrinking Liberal total is to mostly freeze out the smallest of the coalition parties, such as the Greens with their one seat in Parliament, but to energize others, such as the New Democratic Party, to drive a harder bargain with the Liberals in order to work together. All of this puts the Liberal presumptive Prime Minister Mark Carney in a bind. Canada has become very regionalized, with the Liberals winning mostly in Ontario, the largest province, and the Conservatives sweeping much of the West, especially in oil rich Alberta and Saskatchewan, the wheat basket of Canada. Canada has a system of 'equalization payments', in which richer provinces pay to subsidize poorer ones, and that flow has gone mostly West to East. (Source). But the East, featuring liberal Ontario and Francophone Quebec, has taken a strong stand against fossil fuels, which generates so much of Canada's economic growth, and which allows those equalization payments to be paid largely from the West to the East in the first place. (Source). In fact, things have now gotten so tense that it is even conceivable Canada may split, with the four Western provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba attempting to separate from the rest of the nation. (Source). Prime Minister Carney, who was born in Saskatchewan but has spent much of his life abroad, now is seen as being a driver of the Liberal ideal of net zero and no further fossil fuel infrastructure development. Already he has had to establish a crisis working group to try to head off western separation. Meanwhile, the uncertainty about finally forming a government is causing a drag on foreign investment into Canada, as nobody really knows what the status of the country will be in one or two years. It also is raising immense constitutional issues, as much of western Canadian land is subject to treaties between the federal government and indigenous tribes known in Canada as 'First Nations.' The First Nation people already are making noises about what would or should happen in the event any provinces really do try to separate from the rest of the country. (Source). In the end, the bad feelings engendered by the energy arguments occurring elsewhere around the world are now being magnified tenfold in Canada. The continuing presence of these unresolved issues have already brought famine to nations like Sri Lanka, rural strife to France, and massive price shocks to many countries in Europe and to California. It is Canada, however, that truly bears the brunt of these arguments now. Energy, which historically has been seen as a way to stitch the nation together, now is driving it apart. The entire future of the nation may depend on the still ongoing recounts and how they affect the ability of whatever government finally develops to mesh the interests of the disparate geographic parts of the second largest nation on earth by land mass.
The Guardian
17-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
After the joy of seeing Carney beat his Trump-lite rival, reality has bitten. Canada is an anxious, divided nation
A few days after last month's Canadian election had delivered a minority victory to Mark Carney and the Liberal party, I got an email from someone I worked with when I lived in Virginia. They asked how I was feeling about the result, a big and complicated question. Many Canadians I know feel immense relief at what they see as Canada's rejection of the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre's, Trump-style brand. But underneath it simmers dread about what might be coming down the pipeline. After all, a good chunk of the country dislikes (and even despises) the Liberal party. There's the comment I heard about leaving the country if the Liberals get re-elected. The disinformation-laced lament from a small business owner about refugees and 'woke' ideology. The friend who insisted Carney, not Poilievre, is more Trump-like. The Conservative stronghold of Alberta is so upset with the result it might hold a referendum on leaving the country. Danielle Smith, Alberta's far-right premier, said people in her province are 'hurt and betrayed' that Canada re-elected the Liberals. Meanwhile, Poilievre has vowed to stay on as Conservative leader, with a pending byelection to secure him a seat in a reliably Tory riding. It's still common to see 'Fuck Trudeau' stickers, buttons and flags, even in the area around Toronto where I live. It's a reminder that our former prime minister has become a bogeyman whom the Conservatives blame for everything. I've yet to see anything 'Fuck Carney' but know it's only a matter of time. The merchandise is already for sale on Amazon. 'Perfect,' says one reviewer. 'Stupid af,' says another. The starkness of Canada's polarisation is one of the election's most significant outcomes. Some people fear we will fully descend into a two-party system, stuck in the kind of gridlock that has plagued the US. Certainly, the left-of-centre New Democratic party (NDP) – and to a lesser extent the separatist Bloc Québécois party – fell victim to progressive voters' fears of Donald Trump and Poilievre. The NDP won so few parliamentary seats that it lost official party status. But more noteworthy, and concerning, is the shift of some NDP supporters to the Conservatives, part of a broader trend of rightwing parties that had spent decades bashing unions refashioning themselves as pro-worker. (Or, in Poilievre's parlance: 'Boots, not suits!') Canada has by no means escaped the rise of far-right politics plaguing the US, the UK and parts of Europe. The movement has grown and ranks highly with young voters, especially men. The Poilievre-Conservative victory we all thought was imminent a few months ago might be delayed, not thwarted. As one CBC commentator noted on election night, Poilievre's concession speech sounded a lot like the start of his next campaign. Existential issues plague this country: increasing impacts from the climate crisis, with deep divisions over the future of Canadian oil and gas; social media platforms saturated with misinformation, a consequence of Meta blocking news on its Canadian apps; chronic violations of Indigenous sovereignty; million-dollar 'starter homes'; corporate monopolies that have seized multiple industries; and more and more Canadians relying on food banks. So to answer my former colleague's question: I feel like Canada's driving on a dangerous highway at a dizzying speed. We swerved to avoid what would have been a deadly accident, but we're still on that highway – in a clunky gas-guzzling SUV, I imagine, with outdated machinery. And then, of course, there's Trump, questioning Canadian sovereignty and saying in his meeting with Carney last week that there's nothing Carney can say to get him to drop the tariffs that are already hurting Canadians. 'Why not?' a journalist asked. Trump shrugged. 'Just the way it is.' Just the way it is – a simple but slippery phrase that describes the impossible situation Canada and our new prime minister find ourselves in. A situation that has been, to some extent, decades in the making. For my entire life, Canada has edged closer to the US, assuming it would always be friendly. I think of my dad, who moved to Canada from the UK when he was 17, saying that if he knew Canada would become so Americanised, he might have stayed in Britain. Deep down, I think most Canadians understand the extent of the damage Trump can inflict, if he so chooses. But it's something few people care to admit. I understand why. We are at the whim of the US's authoritarian president. Poilievre can tell Trump to 'knock it off' and Carney can remind him there's some real estate that's not for sale. But more and more, it seems like there's no line Trump won't cross, if he wants to. In 1969, Canada's prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, father to the much-maligned Justin, compared living next to the US to 'sleeping with an elephant'. 'No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt,' Trudeau said. Every twitch and grunt. Every intrusion on to what you thought was your side of the bed. Every yank of the duvet and gulp from your water cup. Just the way it is. Just the way it has become. Carney has perhaps the toughest job of any Canadian prime minister in recent memory. He must renegotiate Canada's relationship with the US as it descends into fascism. Behind him is a divided country with divided interests. The election's over, but we are in for a bumpy ride. Melissa Jean Gismondi is an award-winning Canada-based writer and audio producer
CBC
13-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Flashback: Blue Mondays
Blue Monday Conservative Party makes "blue list" in 2004 election 6 days ago Duration 2:55 After the dust settled on the Canadian federal election last month, the Liberals held a minority government under Leader Mark Carney. In what CBC News said was a "startling upset," Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre lost his seat. Poilievre was knocking on doors in an Ottawa-area riding when a CBC News reporter met him before the federal election of 2004. She said he was running in a seat that Conservative Party strategists were pouring resources into because, like others across Canada, it was on their 'blue list' of possible winners. "This is Main Street, Ontario," said then 24-year-old Poilievre (who was identified on-screen and by reporter Jennifer Ditchburn as Pierre Poilevre) as they walked in the riding. "You know, it's part rural, part suburban, [a] lot of middle-class families, and it would send a signal that the Conservative Party is here, in Ontario, to stay." Leadership qualities New progressive political party seeks leader in 1961 1 day ago Duration 2:52 CBC News described the New Democratic Party's results in the 2025 election as "the worst showing of the party's history," noting "a repeated decline in the party's vote share and seat count" since its success under Leader Jack Layton in 2011. Leader Jagmeet Singh stepped down from his role that very night. When the NDP elected its first leader in 1961, folksinger Joe Glazer led the convention in a rendition of This Land is Your Land before the contenders, Hazen Argue and Tommy Douglas, made speeches. Host Norman DePoe remarked on the "signs and shouting" among the crowd. "This is a reminder not only of the hoopla that's now accepted here, but of the tremendous personalization of Canadian politics," added Robert McKenzie, his fellow broadcaster. "You'd almost think this was a presidential campaign coming up, a direct election in a few years' time for prime minister." Space oddity Where will Skylab fall to Earth? 46 years ago Duration 5:07 The world is waiting to learn where a large research satellite will re-enter the planet's atmosphere in July 1979. In 1972, the Soviet Union launched the probe Kosmos 482 to Venus, but it was "stuck in Earth orbit" after the rocket engines shut off too early, according to CBC News. A report from USA Today said it fell into the Indian Ocean on May 10. When an empty American space station named Skylab was expected to fall back to Earth in 1979, a roomful of international reporters was assembled at the HQ of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Washington, D.C. "The crash landing was at more or less the time predicted by the NASA experts," said Jan Tennant, anchor of CBC's The National, before a report about Skylab's demise from correspondent John Blackstone. "And it came down at more or less the place predicted by the experts: at the southwestern tip of Australia." Tough customer Bob Rae reacts to Macdonald Commission report 40 years ago Duration 1:51 Then-Ontario NDP Leader Bob Rae reacts to the Macdonald report's call for a free-trade deal in 1985. When Prime Minister Mark Carney met with the American president last week, Carney said Canada is "the largest client of the United States." In 1985, Ontario NDP Leader Bob Rae told CBC's The Journal that he was concerned Canada would become "a client" of the U.S. due to free trade. Ready for anything Sources told the Canadian Press earlier this month that Canadian Tire has made a bid for some the intellectual property of Hudson's Bay. If it succeeds, we hope to be able to pick up a striped blanket while buying survival supplies, as consumers did at Canadian Tire due to Y2K fears. High rollers A woman in Cold Lake, Alta., has started a roller skating group with the support of community members who were "excited and ready to roll," she told CBC News. In 1980, a CBC report said one Canadian company was making more than 2,000 pairs of roller skates daily to meet demand. Fit for a king
The Independent
30-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Canada election results live: Carney vows ‘Trump will never break us' as Liberal Party falls short of majority
In pics: Liberal Party supporters celebrate election win Alisha Rahaman Sarkar30 April 2025 05:20 Carney speaks with Trump on call after election win Mark Carney spoke with US president Donald Trump about deepening defence and commercial ties between both nations, just hours after the Liberal party won the Canadian general election. The two leaders agreed to meet in person in the near future, Globe and Mail reported, citing Mr Carney's office. 'President Trump congratulated prime minister Carney on his recent election,' according to the summary of the call between the two leaders. 'The leaders agreed on the importance of Canada and the United States working together – as independent, sovereign nations – for their mutual betterment." Alisha Rahaman Sarkar30 April 2025 05:00 What happens next in Canada? With the results of the Canadian election in, here's what happens next: Having won re-election, Mark Carney remains prime minister and does not need to be sworn in again. He will reportedly name a cabinet and reconvene Canada's House of Commons within two weeks, before addressing his campaign promises. Another priority will be the annual budget, which is usually presented in March or April. The Conservative Party and Pierre Poilievre will have to figure out how to move forward, with the leader having lost his own seat. The leader of the New Democrat Party Jagmeet Singh also lost his seat, and the party dropped down to a single-digit seat count for the first time in more than 30 years. CBC predicts the NDP will be looking at a complete overhaul. Mike Bedigan30 April 2025 04:30 Liberal MP-elect says he knew beating Poilievre 'was possible' Liberal-elect Bruce Fanjoy has said that always knew that beating Pierre Poilievre in his own riding was possible. Fanjoy got more than 50 per cent of the vote in the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton where he was up against the leader of the Conservative party. Poilievre had held the area down for more than 20 years, winning seven consecutive elections, according to CBC. Speaking to Power & Politics, Fanjoy said he worked in the riding for two years, "knocked on thousands of doors, [and] had thousands and thousands of conversations" with constituents there. "And I got a good sense as to the mood of the riding," Fanjoy said. "In that time, Pierre was largely absent … and people felt taken for granted." Mike Bedigan30 April 2025 04:15 Trump dodges question about his 'role' in Canadian election In an interview to mark his first 100 days back in the White House, Donald Trump was quizzed over being a topic of interest in the Canadian Election. 'Canadians, many of them are really angry, curious about your talk about we're going to take over Canada is going to become the 51st state,' ABC's Terry Moran told him. 'A lot of travel is down into the United States from around the world, like there's been reputational damage.' 'We're doing great,' Trump replied. Instead of answering the question he went on to disagree that any damage had been done and insisted that tourism to the U.S. was 'doing very well.' Mike Bedigan30 April 2025 04:00 Carney says mutually beneficial relationship between US and Canada gone The Liberal party's Mark Carney has stressed unity in the face of Washington's threats, adding that the mutually beneficial relationship Canada and the US had shared since World War II was gone. "We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons," Mr Carney said in his victory speech." As I've been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar30 April 2025 04:00 Who is Mark Carney? Canada's prime minister who won an election fighting back against Trump Prime minister Mark Carney's Liberal Party won Canada's federal election on Monday, capping a stunning turnaround in fortunes fuelled by US president Donald Trump's annexation threats and trade war. Carney' s Liberals were projected by Canadian broadcasters to form a minority government. His party secured a dramatic fourth-straight term amid rising nationalist sentiment sparked by Trump 's threats to Canada 's economy and sovereignty. In recent months, the former governor of the UK's Bank of England has had to fight a war on two fronts. To the south he has had to contend with the Trump administration, which threatened then postponed crippling 25 per cent tariffs on Canada, as well as taunted the country with the outlandish possibility of making it the 51st US state. Internally, Carney, 60, has had to convince Canadians he is different enough from his Liberal predecessor, Justin Trudeau, but remains the best person to helm the country. Here's what you need to know about Carney, a man who's already managed to influence the world stage for years despite never holding elective office: Who is Mark Carney? Canada's prime minister who won election on anti-Trump platform Carney has promised to stand up for his country amid trade war with the US president Tara Cobham30 April 2025 03:00 White House doubles down on '51st state' calls The Canadian election 'does not affect President Trump's plan to make Canada America's cherished 51st state', White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement issued on Tuesday. However, Mark Carney spoke with Mr Trump, and the two leaders "agreed on the importance of Canada and the United States working together – as independent, sovereign nations – for their mutual betterment," the Canadian prime minister's office said in a statement later in the day. The pair 'agreed to meet in person in the near future'. Tara Cobham30 April 2025 02:30 Most Americans believe Trump's threats over Canada but don't approve, poll finds A new poll has found that most Americans believe President Donald Trump when he says that he wants to take control of Canada and Greenland, deport and imprison U.S. citizens, and run for an unconstitutional third term. The poll also shows that they don't like what they're hearing. According to a Washington Post/ ABC News/Ipsos poll that spoke to 2,464 Americans about Trump's ideas, a majority — 62 percent — said they believe the president is being serious about running for a third term, despite it being unconstitutional. My colleague Graig Graziosi reports: Tara Cobham30 April 2025 02:00 Poilievre vows to keep fighting for Canadians In a concession speech before the race call on his own seat, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre vowed to keep fighting for Canadians. "We are cognizant of the fact that we didn't get over the finish line yet," Mr Poilievre said. "We know that change is needed, but change is hard to come by. It takes time. It takes work. And that's why we have to learn the lessons of tonight."
Al Jazeera
06-03-2025
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Trump again spreads baseless claims about Trudeau, Canada's election
United States President Donald Trump has reiterated baseless claims that outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seeking to use US tariffs against Canada to extend his time in office, as a rift widens between the two countries. In a social media post on Thursday, Trump said he believed Trudeau 'is using the Tariff problem, which he has largely caused, in order to run again for Prime Minister'. 'So much fun to watch!' the US president wrote. The remark follows a similar post Trump shared on his Truth Social website on Wednesday, accusing Trudeau of using trade tensions as a way 'to stay in power'. 'He was unable to tell me when the Canadian Election is taking place, which made me curious, like, what's going on here? I then realized he is trying to use this issue to stay in power. Good luck Justin!' Trump wrote. Tensions have soared between the two leaders since Trump first threatened late last year to impose steep tariffs on Canadian goods if Trudeau's government did not do more to stem irregular migration and drug trafficking over its border with the US. This week, the Trump administration followed through on its plans and imposed 25-percent tariffs on most Canadian imports, as well as 10-percent levies on oil and gas. Canada responded by announcing it would be implementing 25-percent tariffs against $106bn (155 billion Canadian) worth of US goods. Tariffs on $21bn (30 billion Canadian) came into immediate effect on Tuesday. 'This is a very dumb thing to do,' Trudeau told reporters on Tuesday of the US measures, which he described as an unjustified 'trade war against Canada'. Trudeau, who has been Canada's prime minister since 2015, is set to step down as leader of the governing Liberal Party after it chooses its next leader on Sunday. The new leader is expected to assume the duties of prime minister after a short transition period. Asked during a news conference on Thursday whether he would consider staying on as prime minister in a caretaker role to help manage the uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, Trudeau said: 'No. I will not be.' He added, 'I look forward to a transition to my duly elected successor in the coming days or week.' Meanwhile, some experts in Canada have said Trump's attack on Trudeau underscores his ignorance of the country's political system. Stewart Prest, a political science professor at the University of British Columbia, said on social media that the US president's remarks represent 'a reckless disregard for the Canadian democratic system'. 'To be clear, Trudeau will step aside after the Liberal leadership race,' Prest wrote on the social media platform Bluesky on Wednesday. Under Canadian electoral rules, the next federal election must be held by October 20. But the Liberals, as the party in government, can choose to trigger a vote before then. An election could also be called earlier if opposition parties pass a vote of no confidence in Canada's Parliament, which is set to resume on March 24. As it currently stands, no election date has been formally set. 'Parliamentary democracy is by design more flexible than the American presidential system, with its fixed election dates,' Prest explained. 'That's deliberate, as it makes it much easier to get rid of a leader who is either unfit or unpopular – or both.' Many experts have speculated that the Liberals may choose to call a vote shortly after their next leader is chosen in an effort to capitalise on a recent upswing in public support. At the beginning of the year, the Liberals had been trailing the opposition Conservatives by as many as 26 percentage points. But Trudeau's decision to resign – coupled with the race to select his replacement as Liberal leader and Trump's threats against Canada – have helped the party bounce back in the polls.
