The 2021 federal election took place a few days ago, and it didn’t end up changing much within the government. In fact, even with the addition of three seats in the House of Commons, the Liberal Party remains in power with a minority government. While there was previous debate about whether the election results would be divergent, we see now that parliament has stayed fairly identical.
Many Canadians were confused as to why there was an election at all, considering Prime Minister Trudeau and the Liberal party were just re-elected in 2019. Leave it to Beacon to fill in all the important gaps!
Back in 2015, the Liberals earned a majority government, meaning they had over half the number of seats in Parliament and stable power over all other parties. The Liberals hoped to regain the majority in the next federal election of 2019, but fell short by 15 seats. Instead, they achieved a minority government, where they had the most seats out of any party, but not enough to have the majority and ultimately sway government decisions in their favour. According to Trudeau, without a majority government, the Liberals found it challenging to implement legislation, such as pandemic measures. On August 15th, 2021, Trudeau called an early federal election in hopes of retaking control of the House of Commons. The Liberal party believed they had generated more support over the past two years, as they steered Canada through the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“After making it through 17 months of nothing like we’ve ever experienced, Canadians deserve to choose what the next 17 months, what the next 17 years and beyond, will look like.” -Justin Trudeau
Whether or not you support the Liberal party, it is clear they have big plans to implement within Canada over the coming years. Their call for an election was a calculated risk that did not pay off the way they had hoped. Yet Trudeau is more than happy with the Liberal victory, sharing his gratitude with Canadians and stating they are, “back to work with a clear mandate to get Canada through this pandemic, and to the brighter days ahead, and my friends, that’s exactly what we are ready to do.” Although this election was sudden, short-lived, and seemingly unnecessary, we can now look forward and hope that our best days as a nation lie ahead. Canadians now see the reasoning behind the election as a strategic venture for the Liberals to gain a majority government, yet the voters have spoken, opting to keep the federal government virtually the same.