Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has secured a stronger hold on power and a greater mandate to push back against US President Donald Trump after a series of historic floor passages and two special election victories propelled his Liberal Party into a majority government.
CNN affiliate CBC News reports that the Liberal Party is expected to pick up two more seats on Monday, giving it 173 seats in the House of Commons, just one seat above the threshold needed to claim a government majority. The third race, a knife-edge race in Quebec, where the Liberal candidate previously won by just one vote, has not yet been called.
Monday’s Liberal victory follows five defections by opposition politicians in the past five months.
Mr. Carney’s new majority will solidify his grip on power, allowing him to reject Mr. Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats and pursue policies primarily focused on reducing Canada’s dependence on its southern neighbor.
Mr. Carney has emerged as one of the world’s most vocal opponents of Mr. Trump’s “America First” nationalism and economic blackmail since taking office last March following the resignation of former increasingly unpopular leader Justin Trudeau.
In a speech heard around the world at the World Economic Forum, he warned of the end of the international rules-based order and called for middle powers to come together.
Representing a remarkable turnaround for the then-slumping Liberal Party, Mr. Carney’s rapid rise was partly due to Mr. Trump, and many Canadians recognized the former central banker as the best person to take on Mr. Trump.
Speaking in Sydney, Australia, last month, Mr. Carney said his strategy for dealing with Mr. Trump was “respectful but not condescending.”
“He’s more interested in your perspective on different things in your private life, and that creates an ability to work things out,” Carney said of the U.S. leader, according to CBC News.
“But to be honest, it’s not easy.”
President Trump’s hostility toward Canada has sparked a new sense of patriotism among Canadians, many of whom still refuse to travel to the United States or buy American goods in a show of defiance against what is widely seen as a betrayal of their longtime ally and neighbor.
Mr. Carney has benefited from and encouraged this new sense of togetherness.
In remarks at the Liberal Party convention last week, he referred to President Trump’s threat to make Canada the 51st state.
“Together, we will build a strong Canada, a Canada for everyone, and a strong Canada that no one can ever take away from us,” Carney said.
But Mr Carney’s quest for a majority has sparked a backlash among some Liberals who feel his generous policies towards asylum seekers risk becoming part of the party’s values.
Marilyn Gladu, a longtime Conservative MP who crossed the aisle to the Liberal Party earlier this month, has spoken out publicly against abortion. The right to choose in Canada is a core tenet of the Liberal Party’s ethos.
However, she said she would vote with the Liberals on issues related to a woman’s right to choose, CBC reported.
