Canadians won’t know until later Tuesday whether Mark Carney’s Liberals have won a majority or minority mandate from voters.
Elections Canada decided early Tuesday morning to pause the marathon counting of special ballots with a handful of ridings still too close to call.
The Liberals were leading or elected in 168 seats when the counting was paused, four short of a majority. Elections Canada estimated that the uncounted votes could affect the result in about a dozen ridings.
A majority government would allow the Liberals to pass legislation without the support of other parties. If the final result remains a minority, the Liberals would need help to stay in power.
Special ballots are cast by mail or at Elections Canada offices by voters who are away from their ridings during the election.
The counting was to resume at 9:30 a.m. ET
One of the seats that was too close to call was Pierre Poilievre’s. The Conservative leader was trailing his Liberal rival Bruce Fanjoy, who took to social media to declare victory.
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“To all the people of Carleton, as your new member of Parliament, I’ll work to bring us together,” Fanjoy posted. “We are all Canadian.”
In his victory speech, Carney pledged to unite a divided country in the face of ongoing tensions with the United States. He promised to lead a government that represents all Canadians and said the country works when Canadians work together.
“Let’s put an end to the division and anger of the past,” Carney said. “We are all Canadian, and my government will work for and with everyone.”
Poilievre said during his speech that he would stay on as Conservative leader despite his party’s loss. He hushed some booing from the crowd when he congratulated Carney on his win.
“No, no, we’ll have plenty of opportunity to debate and disagree. But tonight we come together as Canadians,” Poilievre said.
“We have to learn the lessons of tonight so that we can have an even better result the next time.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh lost his Vancouver-area seat and announced he’d be resigning as party leader once the party selects an interim replacement.
“We may lose sometimes and those losses hurt,” Singh said, fighting emotion as he stood beside his wife on a stage in Burnaby, B.C.
“We’re only defeated when we believe … those that tell us that we can never dream of a better Canada, a fairer Canada, a more compassionate Canada.”
At least a dozen NDP MPs lost their seats, and preliminary results show it may be difficult for the party to maintain official party status — which gives a party access to research funding and more opportunities to ask questions during question period.
With the election in the rear-view mirror, Carney is expected to meet soon with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Carney held his first phone call with Trump during the first week of the election. The two agreed that they would immediately launch discussions on a new trade and security pact following the election.
Trump loomed large over the campaign with his tariff threats and calls for Canada to become a U.S. state.
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