Liberals fall short of majority in Parliament

TORONTO (AP):

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals celebrated election victory in a stunning turn of fortune but fell short Tuesday of winning an outright majority in Parliament, and the party will have to seek help from another, smaller party.

The vote-counting agency Elections Canada has processed nearly all ballots in what turned out to be a razor-close race that will leave the Liberals three seats short of a majority. Recounts are expected in some districts.

Carney’s rival, populist Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, was in the lead until US President Donald Trump took aim at Canada with a trade war and threats to annex it as the 51st state. Poilievre not only lost his bid for prime minister Monday but was voted out of the Parliament seat that he held for 20 years.

That capped a swift decline in fortunes for the firebrand Poilievre, who a few months ago appeared to be a shoo-in to become Canada’s next prime minister and shepherd the Conservatives back into power for the first time in a decade.

Poilievre, a career politician, campaigned with Trump-like bravado, taking a page from the “America First” president by adopting the slogan “Canada First”. But his similarities to Trump may have ultimately cost him and his party.

In a victory speech, Carney stressed unity in the face of Washington’s threats. He said 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,” he said.

“As I’ve been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country,” Carney added. “These are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so America can own us. That will never ... ever happen. But we also must recognise the reality that our world has fundamentally changed.”

In a statement issued Tuesday, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the Canadian election “does not affect President Trump’s plan to make Canada America’s cherished 51st state.”

Trump’s truculence has infuriated Canadians, leading many to cancel US vacations, refuse to buy American goods and possibly even to vote early. A record 7.3 million Canadians cast ballots before election day.