Canada election results: Trudeau expected to maintain grip on power in minority government after fraught election against Scheer
Latest updates from a night of relief and political redemption for Justin Trudeau
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Your support makes all the difference.Justin Trudeau is projected to retain power in the Canada's parliamentary elections, with a likely minority government forming after his Liberal Party shed seats in the country's parliament.
After a vicious campaign season known more for its scandals and vicious attacks than policy, the Liberals walked away from Monday's election with 157 seats — just 13 shiy of a majority.
New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh said he had congratulated Mr Trudeau on winning the most seats and said his party would be a constructive participant in the new parliament.
While it is clearly good news for Mr Trudeau — who has been politically redeemed to some extent after repeated scandal throughout the past year — the sharing of power with the New Democrats will undoubtedly make it difficult to pass legislation in the years ahead.
Conservatives walked away with 121 seats, while Bloc Québécois got 32 seats, and the Green Party got three. The New Democratic Party secured 24 seats.
Mr Trudeau's victory also shows a marked drop in support for the progressive leader, who was swept into power in 2015 promising "real change" in the form of several progressive pledges.
In addition to his scandals, Mr Trudeau has faced criticism for his ability to follow through on those pledges including on the environment, a record that was undercut because he came out in support of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion project.
He also abandoned a federal electoral reform plan, which was a favourite of left-leaning voters.
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With 170 ridings needed to win a majority government, let's take a look at where the parties stand at dissolution:
177 Liberal seats
95 Conservative seats
39 New Democratic Party
10 Bloc Quebecois seats
2 Green seats
1 People's Party of Canada seats
8 Independent MPs
Elections Canada has received reports of misleading robocalls telling voters the election is actually taking place on Tuesday, according to CBC.
"We have received reports about some electors receiving robocalls indicating that Election Day is on a date other than today. We have no indication these calls are widespread", said spokesperson Nathalie de Montigny, confirming the body had been told about calls taking place in Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
She added that it was illegal to "wilfully misdirect electors in order to prevent them from voting."
The first sets of polls are due to close within the hour in Atlantic Canada. Voting hours are staggered across the country. You can see when they close here.
Polls throughout Newfoundland have just closed, with the rest of Atlantic Canada closing in the next 30 minutes.
When Justin Trudeau was elected in 2015, few were in doubt that the young prime minister would win a second term. But over the last four years the Liberal leader has been hit with numerous scandals, from the SNC-Lavalin affair to his blackface controversy.
If Trudeau fails to win a majority (170 seats), or form a minority government, this would be the first time in 84 years that a first-term Canadian prime minister with a parliamentary majority lost a bid for re-election.
Polls are starting to trickle in, with Liberals in Newfoundland leading with six ridings.
Just a reminder that these six Liberal electoral districts are preliminary results based on the data provided by the returning officers.
The first elected MP is Liberal Yvonne Jones in Newfoundland. This isn't a surprising result from the small-population riding; Newfoundland has gone Liberal 45 of the last 47 years.
Initial polling data is putting Newfoundland at nearly all red. However interestingly the popular vote is showing a big difference from 2015. Liberals had 65% of the popular vote in 2015, with Conservatives only at 10%. However data so far shows the parties at 51% and 34% respectively.
According to polls so far Liberals are in the lead in Eastern Canada, but Conservatives are performing much better than they did in 2015. In Atlantic Canada, the polls reporting so far are putting Liberals at 16 and Conservatives at 7. That plays out as a -10 loss for Liberals, according to Global News, which would alone be enough for Trudeau to lose his majority.
As I'm sure we'll be saying a lot tonight, it's still very early with lots more polls to come in.
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