Canada’s mission in Afghanistan under former prime minister Stephen Harper is an example of how a minority situation for a government can influence foreign policy. Harper is seen here in Kandahar in May 2011, shortly after winning a majority government.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Minority parliaments create a political environment that discourages cabinet from bold acts. That means Justin Trudeau’s foreign policy will like be more risk-averse that it was before.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Chrystia Freeland meet in Edmonton after she was named deputy prime minister and minister of intergovernmental affairs.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amber Bracken
If successful, Chrystia Freeland could help bolster national unity and Canada’s relationships with the U.S. and Mexico. But relentless sexist attacks against her could derail progress.
Chrystia Freeland, newly named deputy prime minister and minister of intergovernmental affairs, speaks following the swearing-in of the new cabinet at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Whether Chrystia Freeland’s new roles in Justin Trudeau’s cabinet are a promotion or a dead end depends on where party and regional alliances can be built.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends a news conference in Ottawa shortly after the 2019 federal election. In a minority situation, Trudeau will now have to listen and adhere to different perspectives.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Justin Trudeau will have to change his style of governing in the new minority government. Working in a co-operative government with other political parties could diminish executive dominance.
Pierre Trudeau is saluted by an RCMP officer as he carries son Justin to Rideau Hall in 1973, when the elder Trudeau was in a similar political situation as his son is today.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Bregg
There’s a different Trudeau in office in 2019 than there was in 1972, but Justin Trudeau is also leading a minority government, just as his father did — and the Canada-U.S. relationship is key.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg signs Montréal’s Golden Book during a ceremony in Montréal in September 2019, less than a month before the federal election.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Both climate activist Greta Thunberg and former U.S. president Barack Obama made their presences known during the Canadian election. Was it interference?
An aerial view of houses in Oshawa, Ont. is shown in November 2017. Canada’s minority government could result in progress on affordable housing.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg
There are many winners in a scenario in which Canada’s minority government enacts stronger supports for non-profit housing. The biggest are those who would get secure and affordable homes.
The time has come to accept that energy corridors and fossil fuel exports will be a declining feature of Canada’s economic future.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
In the aftermath of the election, what is striking about many of the policy positions of Canada’s federal parties is their timidity, especially when it comes to climate change.
Bloc supporters react as results come in on federal election night in Montreal.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
The Bloc surged because the Liberal campaign focused on attacking premiers from other provinces and promised initiatives that already exist in Québec.
About 4,000 climate activists and pro-pipeline supporters gathered on the steps of the Alberta legislature in Edmonton on Oct. 19, 2019.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dave Chidley
Hundreds of thousands of people marched through the streets in support of action on climate change, but that didn’t lead to seats for the Green Party.
Voters head to cast their ballot in Canada’s federal election in Dartmouth, N.S. The Greens and the NDP need to work together to ensure they do better than just propping up Liberal minorities.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
The progressive left should not content itself with being a junior partner in Liberal minority governments. In the next election, they should seek to propose a principled, realistic alternative.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau delivers his speech in Montreal, on October 22, 2019.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
The election results could mean a national pharmacare program will happen, albeit slowly. Canadians can also expect more safe injection sites and money invested in the opioid crisis.
Justin Trudeau delivers his victory speech in Montréal. Now that he’s leading a minority government, Trudeau will have a more difficult job.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
The urgent issues facing Canada during the election are not less urgent now that the election is over. The prime minister is going to have to reinvent himself and commit to some important compromises.
Justin Trudeau, appearing with with his wife Sophie on election night, saw his majority government reduced to a minority.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
For international observers, it may be stunning to see Justin Trudeau’s government reduced to a minority after his meteoric rise to power in 2015. It happened because he disappointed his progressive base.
In this August 2018 photo, Yemeni people attend the funeral of victims of a Saudi Arabia-led airstrike in Saada, Yemen.
(AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)
A year after an infamous Twitter spat and the gruesome murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, the Canada-Saudi relationship appears poised to return to business as usual, if it hasn’t already.
Chief of staff Katie Telford, left, and then-principal secretary Gerald Butts look on as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers remarks in Ottawa in December 2016.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Canada has the largest cohort of political staff in any Anglo-Westminster country. Is it time for reform?
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Jagmeet Singh of the NDP could all play roles if Canada opts for a coalition government.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes/Chris Wattie/Nathan Denette
We’re stuck with first-past-the-post electoral system in Canada, but that doesn’t mean we have to use our vote as nothing more than a veto of the worst possible option.
Justin Trudeau and Andrew Scheer square off about their climate change proposals and other issues during the recent federal leaders’ debate.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Canada’s first serious attempt, and potentially last opportunity, to implement a national climate strategy hangs in the balance on Oct. 21. The Trudeau government is to blame for its precarity.
Conservative leader Andrew Scheer arrives for an announcement in Toronto on Oct. 1, 2019. Scheer has pledged to combat cabinet secrecy.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Yan Campagnolo, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Politicians often make grand promises of more open government during an election campaign. But when it comes to cabinet secrecy, such promises should be implemented in a thoughtful manner.
Justin Trudeau used the English-language leaders’ debate to defend his actions in the SNC-Lavalin affair after being accused by Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer of interfering in the company’s court case.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
There are a lot of reasons to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin file. But on the matter of saving jobs, he got it right.