Mark Carney promises to 'govern for all Canadians' after Liberal win

OTTAWA — Liberal Leader Mark Carney promised to “govern for all Canadians” after his party was chosen to serve a fourth consecutive mandate, in a historic comeback for a party that seemed destined to be swept from most of the electoral map just a few months ago. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Carney took the stage to pronounce a victory speech with a particular focus on humility and unity, given that he will likely be leading a minority government. His government was projected to be a few seats short of the 172 seats necessary to form a majority government. “While many have chosen to place their trust in me, trust in the Liberal party, millions of our fellow citizens preferred a different outcome,” said Carney. “My message to every Canadian is this: No matter where you live, no matter what language you speak, no matter how you voted, I will always do my best to represent everyone who calls Canada home.” Conservatives were projected to form a strong opposition with approximately 145 seats. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called the Liberals’ minority win “razor-thin.” Carney said he made sure to travel to Saskatchewan and Alberta a few times during the short campaign, even though he jokingly said “it’s tough out there” for Liberals. “But I went because I intend to govern for all Canadians,” he said. “My government will work for and with everyone.” Despite a minority win, supporters who were amassed at the TD Place Arena in Ottawa were still thrilled to see the Liberal party form government again. “This is a historic win. No one expected this two months ago,” said Janav Valgi, a Liberal volunteer. U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats of annexation shaped the federal election in a dramatic way in recent weeks, causing many Canadians to put their trust in a new Liberal leader that they barely know but trusted enough to navigate uncharted waters. Carney managed to easily win his Ottawa-area riding of Nepean , sparking cries of joy from his supporters. Preliminary numbers showing that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was on a path to lose his own Carleton seat sparked even more excitement in the Liberal headquarters. Carney jokingly said in his speech he was “looking forward to working with” Poilievre’s Liberal challenger, Bruce Fanjoy , who did achieve an upset in Carleton. “He would be a great MP,” Carney said. Results pouring in during Monday evening showed that Liberals and Conservatives increased their vote share everywhere across the country with the collapse of the New Democratic Party. There were 32 seats up for grabs in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Preliminary results showed that Liberals were elected or leading in 25 seats in the region and Conservatives were projected to win seven seats. Liberal David Myles, a Juno award-winning songwriter and musician, is replacing Jenica Atwin in Fredericton—Oromocto, N.B., as Liberal MP. He was running against Conservative candidate Brian Macdonald, a two-time member of the provincial legislature. Shannon Miedema, a director of the environment and climate change for the city of Halifax, will be serving as the new Liberal MP for the capital of Nova Scotia. The constituents have been without an MP for months now, because Andy Fillmore resigned to become mayor. Former fisheries minister Diane Lebouthillier lost her riding of Gaspésie–Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine–Listuguj in a fierce battle against Bloc Québécois star candidate Alexis Deschênes, a lawyer and former journalist. But Liberals were able to make gains in Quebec at the expense of the Bloc. They flipped a number of Bloc seats in the Montreal area — Thérèse—De Blainville, Les Pays-d’en-Haut, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie and La Prairie—Atateken — and the coveted seat of Trois-Rivières . Two key ridings that Justin Trudeau’s team lost last year went back to the Liberals. Liberals won back the Montreal riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun , which they lost to the Bloc Québécois in a byelection last September. Claude Guay, a former IBM executive, will become the MP, succeeding Bloc MP and former staffer Louis-Philippe Sauvé. Another key battleground, Toronto—St. Paul’s, switched back to red on Monday night. Liberal candidate Leslie Church, a former political staffer, bested Conservative incumbent Don Stewart, who had been representing the riding since beating Church in a byelection last June. Liberal candidate Emma Harrison also managed to win back the Ontario riding of Peterborough against Conservative incumbent Michelle Ferreri. The Liberals were able to win Bay of Quinte with candidate Chris Malette against Conservative incumbent Ryan Williams. However, Conservatives were stronger than expected in Ontario and were able to flip incumbent red seats in the province such as Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, Newmarket—Aurora and York Centre in the Greater Toronto Area, and Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt in Northern Ontario. Liberals were on track early Tuesday to eke out a win in Calgary Confederation. Liberal candidate Corey Hogan was facing off against former United Conservative Party MLA Jeremy Nixon, who was running for the federal Tories. But the lone Liberal Calgary MP George Chahal lost his seat to his Conservative challenger. Liberals were also able to win back Winnipeg West with candidate Doug Eyolfson. British Columbia has been a battleground for the Liberals, Conservatives, the NDP and the Greens. Carney travelled several times during the campaign to Vancouver Island, where the Liberals were hoping to pick up a seat for the first time in almost two decades. Those trips paid off: Liberal candidate Will Greaves, an associate professor at the University of Victoria, was elected in the riding of Victoria, and Liberal candidate Stephanie McClean, a former Alberta NDP minister, won in Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke. Liberals are still hoping to pick up more seats and possibly form a majority. Tuesday morning, 11 ridings across the country still had close races with the Liberals in second place, while Liberals were trying to hold on to other two seats. National Post calevesque@postmedia.com

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