Good morning,
Justin Trudeau won a third straight election on Monday, but fell short of the majority he sought in a vote called two years earlier than the law required. He will return to government with what will effectively be a status-quo Parliament. It was predicted to be a challenging election day from a logistical perspective, but it ended without Elections Canada reporting any serious issues.
The divisive 36-day campaign was the shortest period allowed by law.
- What happens next? The results we have (and don’t) so far. A morning-after guide
- Winners and losers Which cabinet ministers lost their seats, and which newcomers made waves?
A look at where the leaders finished
After failing to capture the 170 seats needed to win a majority, Trudeau will face questions within his caucus, with his leadership possibly being thrown into question.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole steered his party back toward the ideological centre of Canadian politics, but it was not enough to surpass the Liberals in seat count. He has signalled he wants to lead his party for a second election campaign, which could come before the end of the current term.
The NDP, led by Leader Jagmeet Singh, will be returning to Ottawa with its balance-of-power position intact, but its hopes of major seat gains came up short.
Annamie Paul, whose short tenure as Leader of the Green Party of Canada has been marked by infighting, failed in her third bid to secure a seat in the Liberal stronghold of Toronto Centre.
Maxime Bernier, the Leader of the far-right People’s Party of Canada, lost his seat in Quebec, but the party saw an overall rise in support.
Regional highlights
The Conservative Party’s efforts helped it gain ground in Atlantic Canada, though the Liberals still held the majority of the seats.
In Quebec, seat totals were poised to remain relatively unchanged. Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet described the election as a return to the “status quo.”
Because Alberta is a Conservative stronghold, even the small dent in the party’s standing was notable.
The main issues in British Columbia animated the election campaign across the country, with climate change and housing becoming central to pledges from the Liberals and the NDP.
Voters exits a polling station at Central Library in Calgary on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021.Sarah B Groot/The Globe and Mail
Read what our columnists have to say
- John Ibbitson: Erin O’Toole tried to refashion the Conservative movement. He should be given another chance to lead.
- Rita Trichur: When the federal election is over, it’s time for Parliament to get serious about supporting small business.
- Campbell Clark: Trudeau had just enough resilience to return to office, but doubts about his intentions remain.
- André Picard: Postelection, what should the new government’s pandemic priorities be?
- Andrew Coyne: A battle between fear and loathing that both sides lost.
- Adam Radwanski: With the federal election behind it, Canada braces for its next big test as the COP26 summit looms.
- Kelly Cryderman: Alberta is rarely a wild card in elections. But on issues of COVID-19 and climate change, the province loomed large this campaign.
- Robyn Urback: If this election was a test of leadership, all of them failed.
More election 2021 coverage
- Listen to The Decibel: Unpacking the federal election results with political columnist John Ibbitson and parliamentary reporter Kristy Kirkup.
- Take a look back at how the night unfolded with our live updates from the evening.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Hero of Hotel Rwanda sentenced to 25 years in prison after widely criticized trial: A renowned hero of the Rwandan genocide, who later became a vocal critic of long-ruling Rwandan President Paul Kagame, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison on terrorism charges after a trial that was widely condemned as a rigged process.
Lawsuits against doctor to test constitutionality of Texas abortion law: A San Antonio physician who announced in the pages of The Washington Post that he performed an abortion in defiance of Texas’ abortion law was sued in a Texas state court by two plaintiffs from other states who want to test the law’s legality. To date, the lawsuits against Alan Braid are the most direct test of the constitutionality of the Texas abortion ban, one of the most restrictive such laws in the U.S.
U.S. Border Patrol takes thousands into custody as tension escalates: Thousands of people who fled disaster-stricken Haiti and waded or swam across the Rio Grande into Texas continued to seek shade from the relentless sun beneath the Del Rio International Bridge. On Saturday, officials had counted 14,650 people gathered by the bridge.
Fewer Herron residents may have died if HR official had been told to hire staff earlier: A Quebec health official testified Monday that many deaths could have been avoided at the Herron nursing home if he had been asked to bring in replacement staff a week earlier. Bureaucratic delays and frictions between Herron management and CIUSSS officials left the facility in chaos until the health authority took charge on April 10.
MORNING MARKETS
Global stocks stabilize: World stocks stabilized on Tuesday and oil prices recovered from the previous day’s heavy selling, as investors grew more confident that contagion from the distress of debt-saddled Chinese developer Evergrande would be limited. Just before 6 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.96 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 gained 1.3 per cent and 1.35 per cent, respectively. Japan’s Nikkei, which had been closed Monday for a public holiday, lost 2.17 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.51 per cent. New York futures were higher. The Canadian dollar was trading at 78.36 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Something’s going right for the Blue Jays
“There is a surfeit of good sportsmanship and there is a lack of discernment. Toronto is edging out of the former and into the latter.” – Cathal Kelly
When companies stop pretending ‘meritocracy’ explains all-male boards, women advance
“... Diversity advocates have long recognized the argument as an excuse for dude-dominated boards. The companies that nattered on the most about the philosophy of “merit” put it into practice by shutting out women from helping make their most important decisions.” – David Milstead
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
David Parkins/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
How much coffee is too much coffee?
For many people, coffee is a must in the morning. The beloved beverage has its mental perks: it can enhance focus, elevate mood and delay fatigue. But there is such a thing as drinking too much coffee. Too many cups can cause unwanted side effects, and some research suggests it may also increase the risk of heart disease.
MOMENT IN TIME: Sept. 21, 1915
Cecil Chubb buys Stonehenge for 6,600 pounds
For thousands of years Stonehenge has stood majestically on the plains of Salisbury, its circle of stones testifying to the ingenuity of early local tribes. With its original purpose long since lost in the shadows of antiquity, the monument transcends ordinary mortal concerns, which is why it’s surprising that only a century ago anyone could have bought it, and for really not that much. In 1915, the stones and 30 acres of surrounding land came up for auction as part of a soldier’s estate. A wealthy lawyer, Cecil Chubb, whose boyhood had been spent nearby, purchased the lot for £6,600 – roughly $1-million today. His motivation remains as mysterious as the stones themselves: Some say he wanted to block an overseas bidder from dismantling the structure and shipping it away, while others believe the purchase to have been a birthday present for his wife. Whatever the truth, Chubb didn’t own it for long. In 1918, he gave Stonehenge to the British government, who hold it in trust to this day. In return, Chubb was given the enviable title of First Baronet of Stonehenge. Today, the stones persist as they have for millennia, while few have heard of Cecil Chubb: the last man ever to call Stonehenge his personal property. – Ken Carriere
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