Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suffered another electoral blow when his endorsed candidate lost out to the Bloc Québécois contender Louis-Philippe Sauvé. Mr. Sauvé took 28% of the vote in the Parliamentary election for LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, winning by 250 ballots. At a subsequent press conference in Ottowa, Mr. Trudeau said there was “more work to do.”
The Prime Minister’s Liberal Party has suffered several losses in recent months, including the previously liberal stronghold of Toronto-St. Paul’s, which was taken by conservatives in June. Trudeau faces re-election next year, and some critics believe it may spell the end of his long career at the top of Canadian politics.
In a recent poll, Canadians were asked to name their greatest Prime Minister, and just 26% chose Trudeau. He faces dissent inside Parliament, too, with conservatives recently threatening to subject him to a vote of no confidence. Pierre Poilievre, the Canadian Conservative leader, called on Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), to back the no-confidence vote after Mr. Singh withdrew from an agreement that propped up the minority Liberal government.
Mr. Singh said, however, that he refused to be pressured by Poilievre and would decide based on the best interests of Canadian citizens. In September, the NPD leader announced that he would “rip up” his agreement with Trudeau, saying the Liberals had let Canada down and the Prime Minister did not deserve “another chance.”
The Liberals won a Parliamentary minority government in 2021, but the NPD agreed to a “confidence and supply” deal that would keep Trudeau in power. The agreement was meant to last until the next general election in 2025, but Singh accused the Prime Minister of caving to corporate demands. “The Liberals are too weak, too selfish, and too beholden to corporate interests to fight for people,” he said.
Mr. Trudeau led the Liberal Party to victory in the Canadian general election of 2015, winning 184 of the 338 available seats—a 150-seat gain from the previous election of 2011. By 2019, his popularity had fallen, and he formed a 157-seat minority government. In 2021, he called a snap election, hoping to regain a majority, but the gamble did not pay off, and he was forced to form another minority government propped up by the NDP.
