Snap Election in Canada: a Referendum on Trudeau Komkova E.G.

Abstract

Early federal election that was held in Canada on September 20, 2021, ended with an outcome almost identical to the results of the 2019 federal election. Now as then the Liberals led by Justin Trudeau won the most seats in the 338-seat lower chamber of the Canadian parliament and formed a minority government. The Conservatives won 119 seats, two fewer than their result in 2019 and continued as Official Opposition. The Bloc Quebecois won 32 seats unchanged from the prior election; the NDP -25 seats, a net increase of one seat, and the Greens -2 seats, a net decrease of one seat. It is the second election in a row in which the party that won the most seats in Parliament did not pick up the most votes. All this means a remarkable electoral status quo but this time fraught with more fragile political landscape for the ruling party.