Canada’s 43rd general election saw the Trudeau government reelected with a minority despite losing the popular vote to the Conservatives.
In Monday’s election, the Liberal Party won 157 ridings across Canada, forming a minority government. The Conservative Party came in second place with 121.
While the Liberals may have won the most seats in parliament, the opposition Conservatives proved to be Canada’s most popular party. The Conservatives won 34.4% of the popular vote across Canada, compared to only 33.1% for the Liberals.
Statistics pointed to a high level of Western alienation in this election, but the results and fallout afterwards suggest that the East-West divide may be worse than many thought.
In Alberta, the Conservatives won 33 out of the 34 ridings, including four which went Liberal in 2015. In total, the Conservatives won 69.2% of the popular vote in Alberta.
In Saskatchewan the Conservatives took all 14 seats, capturing three won by the NDP in 2015 and one held by the Liberals.
The Conservatives also made modest gains in Manitoba and British Columbia.
After four years of policies and laws which have hurt the resource-based economies of Western Canada. Many people, including some of Western Canada’s most important figures, are fearing that another four years of similar policies may lead to an irreparable regional divide in Canada.
As it stood before the election, 86% of Albertans believe that their province has become more angry with the federal government.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says that Justin Trudeau now needs to decide whether or not he will choose to unite the provinces or cause further alienation.
“Justin Trudeau now has to make a decision if he’s going to change course, have a more cooperative approach with all provinces, or if he’s going to continue down on this path,” Scheer said.
“We’re going to do everything we can to fight for a united Canada.”
