Mark Carney and the Liberal Party at the top of the legislative elections

The Liberal Party of Mark Carney is given the winner of the Canadian legislative elections, according to local media projections on Monday, April 28, after a campaign focused on the threats of American president Donald Trump against the country.

The results of the vote, still preliminary, do not make it possible to determine whether the Prime Minister will have an absolute majority in Parliament. At the time of the dissolution of the latter, in March, the Liberal Party was a minority, with 152 deputies. At 5:50 am (Paris time), Radio-Canada announced 160 seats for the Liberals, 151 for the Conservatives and 23 for the Bloc Québécois.

A few months ago, the way seemed to be traced to allow the conservatives, led by Pierre Hairyvre, to return to business, after ten years of power by Justin Trudeau. But Donald Trump’s return to the White House and his unprecedented offensive against Canada, with customs duties and annexation threats, have changed the situation.

In Ottawa, where the Liberals gathered for the electoral evening, the announcement of these first results caused a salvo of applause and enthusiastic cries. “I am mad with joy and it is still early, but I am confident that we will succeed in having a majority”said to the France-Presse agency (AFP), David Lametti, former Minister of Justice.

A country in the prey to the American threat

At 60, Mark Carney, a novice in politics but recognized economist, was able to convince a population worried about the economic and sovereign future of the country that he was the right person to pilot the country in these troubled times.

This former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, monetary institutions, has continued to recall during the campaign that the American threat is real. “They want our resources, our water. Americans want our country ”he warned. “Chaos has entered our lives. It is a tragedy, but it is also a reality. The key question of this election is who is best placed to oppose President Donald Trump? »»he explained.

To cope, he promised to maintain customs duties on American products as long as the measures taken in this area by Washington are in place, but also to develop trade within his country by lifting customs barriers between the provinces and by looking for new outlets, especially in Europe.

Opposite, the head of the conservatives, who had promised tax cuts and cuts in public spending, failed to convince the voters of this G7 country, ninth world power, to turn their back on the liberals. Until the end, Pierre Poilievre will have suffered from proximity, by his style and because of some of his ideas, with the American president, which alienated part of the electorate, according to the analysts.

Nearly 29 million of the 41 million inhabitants of Canada were called to the polls in this vast country which extends over six time zones. A record number of 7.3 million people had voted in advance.