Following a campaign fraught with twists and turns, Canadians went to the polls on Monday. Polls showed a tight race between the Liberals and Conservatives after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced a blackface controversy and Conservative leader Andrew Scheer was lambasted late in the campaign for not revealing his dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship. The Liberals prevailed but must form a minority government. As WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley reports, the results are not expected to have any serious ramifications for border interests on the U.S. side.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau began the campaign with a majority government. He emerges from the election still the leader of Canada but required to form a minority government. During his victory speech he said his Liberal Party had been reelected with a clear mandate to move their progressive agenda forward. Trudeau also said he heard the frustrations of those who disagree with that agenda and he will “…champion Canada in all its diversity” to bring the country together. “To those who voted for our party thank you for putting your trust in our team. Thank you for having faith in us to move this country in the right direction. And to those who did not vote for us know that we will work every single day for you. We will govern for everyone.”
SUNY Plattsburgh Center for the Study of Canada Director Christopher Kirkey says while Trudeau’s mandate may be a progressive agenda, it’s tempered by two provinces – Alberta and Saskatchewan — where Liberals did not win any seats. “While this election result is interesting what the results do on a province by province basis in particular is create a greater sense of regionalism in Canada. If you look at all the ridings in the greater Toronto area the Liberals won every single riding except one. So it’s ah there’s a bit of a we-versus-them sort of thing that can deepen as a result of this election result. We hope not but it remains to be seen.”
St. Michael’s College Professor of Political Science Jeffrey Ayres specializes in Canadian and North American politics. He notes that a minority government in Canada is not unusual with such governments occurring sequentially from 2004 until 2011. “In the short term I don’t think there’ll be any noticeable changes in business, trade, tourism. That said it does create some uncertainty on some issues such as the NAFTA 2.0 if you will, certainly an issue that affects us in border communities. I think the Liberals could turn to the Conservatives to have that ratified. Border issues are huge, right, in upper New York State and Vermont. I think the Safe Third Country Agreement is something we have to keep an eye on. I do want to emphasize in our region there’s a lot of cooperation that goes on under the radar that’s really valuable. I feel comfortable that this election result will not be very disruptive to most people in the region.”
Northern Vermont University Institute for Canadian Studies Director David Plazek (“plah-zik”) says the election results should not affect U.S.-Canadian relations. “There’s too much at stake to rattle or rock the boat too much. The success of the Bloc Quebecois however, they tripled the number of members of Parliament they will have, it means that there’s going to be more separatist voices in Ottawa. So the standing apart from Canada culturally and perhaps in ways economically may occur within Canada. But that won’t have much of an impact on New York and Vermont.”
Audio of Prime Minister Trudeau is courtesy of CBC Canada.
