Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party won the parliamentary elections held Monday, but he did not meet his goal of securing 170 seats to form a majority government.
Trudeau called the snap election in August, bringing voters to the polls just two years into his minority government—a move that angered many Canadians who saw it as unnecessary given there was no “compelling ‘ballot box’ issue to justify the undertaking,” according to CNN.
His opponent, conservative Erin O'Toole, called the move a “power grab.”
"Five weeks ago Mr Trudeau asked for a majority, he said the minority parliament was 'unworkable.' But tonight Canadians did not give Mr Trudeau the majority mandate he wanted," O'Toole said. "In fact Canadians sent him back with another minority at the cost of $600 million Canadian dollars and deeper divisions in our great country."
Trudeau, however, wanted to form a majority government so voters could give him a strong mandate on “how to end” the pandemic.
In his victory speech, Trudeau said "millions of Canadians have chosen a progressive plan."
