Trudeau’s Liberals winning Canada election

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are on track to win the Canadian election, the CBC and CTV television networks projected as results trickled in, but they look set to fall short of their goal for a decisive, majority win, Reuters reported.

Trudeau heads a government with a minority of House of Commons seats that relies on the support of other parties to pass legislation. He called an election two years early in hopes of securing a parliamentary majority.

CBC and CTV said the Liberal government would hold a minority of seats in the House of Commons.

Elections Canada showed the Liberals leading in 155 electoral districts nationally, the same number they held before the election, including 109 in vote-rich Ontario and Quebec.

“It’s a Groundhog Day election,” said Gerald Baier, a professor of political science at University of British Columbia. “It seems that ambivalence has stayed (from the 2019 election).”

The House of Commons holds 338 seats and a party needs to win 170 to hold a majority.

The Conservatives were in second place, leading in 121 districts.

“People would be very pleasantly surprised if there was a Liberal majority government, within the Liberal camp, but I think it’s still way too soon to make that call,” Gerald Butts, a former top Trudeau adviser and close friend, told CBC TV.

Polls reported results much more slowly than usual, with some stations forced to limit occupancy due to COVID-19 restrictions. Long lines forced some electors to wait hours to vote in southern Ontario, a critical battleground.

Only about one-third of polls in Quebec and Ontario had reported results and only 5% in British Columbia, another province with tight races and numerous seats.

The Canadian dollar strengthened as early results came in, rising 0.3%.