Canadians voted in Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to power Monday in heavily contested elections against a conservative leader, Erin O’Toole, but Trudeau did not gain an absolute majority, according to projections by television networks.<\/p>\n
The polling stations are anticipated to still be reporting results into the morning, and it was not yet clear if the Liberals had garnered enough seats.<\/p>\n
Trudeau announced the snap election last month, in hopes of staking a robust COVID-19 vaccine rollout — amongst the greatest in the world, striking in a new commission to direct the nation’s pandemic retreat to build up his political momentum without opposition support.<\/p>\n
But it was a rough five weeks of campaigning, exhausted after losing his majority in parliament.\u00a0 After six years in power, right now, his administration is showing signs of fatigue, and it was an uphill battle for him to convince Canadians to stick with his Liberals after falling short of huge expectations set in his 2015 landslide win.<\/p>\n
Though the Liberals would form the government, it would be a minority one.\u00a0 In a concession speech, Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, 48, recalled Trudeau having pulled the plug on the last minority parliament he said was “unworkable.”<\/p>\n
Trudeau said, “You (Canadians) are sending us back to work with a clear mandate to get through this pandemic into brighter days ahead,” Trudeau said, flanked by his wife Sophie Gregoire and their children on stage at a victory gala.<\/p>\n
“That’s exactly what we are ready to do,” he said.<\/p>\n
At 49, Trudeau had faced tougher political bouts and still came out unscathed.<\/p>\n
Elections Canada showed the Liberals leading in 156 electoral districts nationally, one more than they held before the election.<\/p>\n
Trudeau, 49, is the 23rd prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party since 2013. He is the second-youngest prime minister in Canadian history.<\/p>\n