The 2021 federal election has come and gone - with the Liberals again winning a minority mandate that's eerily similar in seat count when compared to the one they left behind in Ottawa when they called the snap election a month ago.
The current tally, which is still subject to a count of mail-in ballots, with the number of seats held at dissolution in brackets, is Liberals 158 seats (157), Conservatives 119 seats (121), the Bloc Québécois at 34 (32); federal NDP at 25 (24) and the Green Party with two seats, down from three.
In a muted victory speech on election night, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered no hints about whether he is planning another snap election after failing to gain the majority that was the Liberals’ aim.
Surrounded by family, Trudeau again defended his decision to call the snap election, calling this evening a showing of “the strength of our [Canada’s] democratic institutions.”
Trudeau also appears to extend an olive branch to supporters of other parties, saying that he and the Liberal minority government will “stand up” for Canadians, even if they did not vote for the Grits in this vote.
“No matter how you voted... I hear you,” he said. “I hear you when you said we can only move forward when no one is left behind.”
Other than that, however, Trudeau did little other than thank his family and his supporters and campaign workers while offering a general comment on looking forward to the future – a future with another Liberal minority government.
“Let us not forget the past... but still look forward to the future,” Trudeau said in closing. “Let us seize promise of a brand new day.”
Political pundit and former NDP operative Bill Tieleman told Business in Vancouver that the virtual mirror-image results of the 2019 and 2021 elections prove that no election was needed.
"This is a massive waste of money and time and resources to get us back to where we were before," he said.
Tieleman called the election "disheartening," not only because of the cost, but because it took place during a pandemic, and put the public's health at risk.
"What a colossal waste," he said.
For the coming weeks, it will be interesting to follow each party's leadership status as none of the party really gained what they were looking for in the election: The Liberals did not win majority, the Conservatives did not win the vote, the NDP and the Bloc did not make major gains, and the Green leader lost her bid for a seat again.
