Results from the federal election

PHOTO C/O Arnaud Jaegers

An overview of the current state of Canada’s political parties

By: Max Cornblum, Contributor

On Sept. 20, 2021, Canadians across the country voted in an early federal election called by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

Results of the election formed another minority government under the Liberal party, leaving Canadians to wonder what the future of the government would look like in the face of a new, but almost identical, parliament.

Liberal Party 

After winning 159 seats and maintaining their minority government, many now-former members of parliament have lost their pensions. Pensions are awarded after six years of being seated in parliament and this election was called just over two months before some of those pensions would have vested. 

Filomena Tassi, Member of Parliament for the Hamilton West, Ancaster and Dundas constituency, stands by the Liberal government’s decision to call a snap election.

Tassi believes that the party’s win proves Canadians agree with what the party has been doing and what they plan to do moving forward.

“The Canadians have accepted the mandate and that they agree with the way that we have navigated through COVID-19 and they say that they agree with our plan moving forward with regards to [future plans in things] such as environment, childcare and housing,” said Tassi. 

Tassi added that she doesn’t see the snap election as a waste of money, but rather as a mandate from Canadians to have either voice heard. 

“It is important that as we move forward, we are listening to Canadians, and this was the opportunity for Canadians to have their say with respect to what we have invested in,” explained Tassi.

Justin Trudeau currently remains the leader of the party. However, following public outrage regarding Trudeau’s decision to call the snap election, it remains to be seen as to whether the Liberal party is still committed to the Trudeau name.

Conservative Party 

As the Conservative Party’s leader, Erin O’Toole’s platform let the voters know that he was pro-2SLGBTQIA+ and pro-abortion. He also supported a federal carbon tax, which was unheard of for a conservative leader. 

However, the Conservative Party’s turn towards the centre with a more moderate leader such as O’Toole didn’t make up any ground from the Liberals. 

As a result of the snap election, the Conservative Party now holds 119 seats in the House of Commons, a loss of two seats compared to the 2019 election. 

“While [the Conservative Party] didn’t get the results we had hoped for, I am proud of our team for holding the Liberals to a minority in this pandemic election,” said O’Toole. 

New Democratic Party 

The New Democratic Party was unable to pick up a sizable amount of seats despite their overwhelmingly popular policies. The NDP now holds 25 seats in the house of commons. 

Although NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh, has garnered a large amount of popularity through social media platforms such as TikTok, this did not translate to an increase in seats in the House of Commons. 

The NDP will reevaluate their leadership and platform to see if they can improve their results with another leader or may decide to continue the course with Jagmeet Singh.

Jagmeet Singh remains the leader of the NDP and has stated that he’s confident he will keep that position.

Bloc Quebecois Party

The Bloc Quebecois won 33 seats, short of their goal of 40 seats. As is the case with other parties, the Bloc Quebecois won a similar number of seats as the 2019 election where they won 32 seats. 

Yves-François Blanchet, leader of the party, criticized Trudeau for calling the election.

“We almost feel like saying ‘All of that for this’,” said Blanchet. 

Green Party 

After losing a Member of Parliament to the Liberals because of an internal party dispute about the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Green Party received far fewer votes than in 2019 and won two seats. 

Despite climate change being a top priority for voters, the party dedicated to the climate lost ground and credibility with voters.

In her own riding in Toronto Centre, the previous leader of the Green Party, Annamie Paul, was unable to win her seat as well. Even before the election, her standing within the party was already in tatters. 

Paul has now resigned and the Green party will begin its search for a new leader. 

With only two seats in the House of Commons after this election, the Green Party does not meet the requirement of at least 12 seats to be deemed a recognized party for parliamentary proceedings. 

People’s Party 

While the People’s Party of Canada was able to increase its share of the popular vote, it remained unable to make any ground and won zero seats. 

PPC leader, Maxime Bernier, also lost in his own riding in Beauce. 

While the rise of right-wing populism has given great success to parties around the world, it appears that the ideology shared by these parties is not welcomed by enough Canadians to make this party feasible. 

After an election that didn’t change the political landscape, every party is left to reflect on what happened in their campaign. Every party must reevaluate its strategies and come prepared for the next election either in 2025 or earlier.