Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference on Parliament Hill on Monday, March 6, 2023, announcing a probe into election interference.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Leaks about Chinese interference in Canadian elections isn’t just about politics — it’s also a deeply concerning national security crisis that raises questions about the legitimacy of our elections.
People stand in line waiting to vote in the Hague in the Netherlands.
(Shutterstock)
The March elections in the Netherlands, and the fact that a government still hasn’t been formed, illustrate both the benefits and problems with proportional representation.
Voters head to cast their ballots in Canada’s federal election in Dartmouth, N.S., on Oct. 21, 2019.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
Political parties protect themselves rather than voters in refusing to be bound by privacy laws.
People march during a climate strike in Montréal in September 2019. Climate change is a top concern for Canadians, but new Elections Canada rules left civil society organizations fearing they could not speak out on the need for climate action during the election.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Canada’s new Elections Act may have prevented the type of mammoth election spending seen in the United States via super-PACs, but it’s been at the expense of public debate.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shakes hands with Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Parliament Hill in November 2019. Ford says he wants to work hand-in-hand with Ottawa. But apparently not when it comes to the environment.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
There’s been one notable exception to Doug Ford’s supposed willingness to change direction: the environment.
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.
During the federal election campaign, Liberals promised to take critical steps to implement pharmacare. Will they deliver?
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To implement pharmacare, the Liberals will need to negotiate with the provinces, and the mostly Conservative premiers are unlikely to make this easy. The insurance industry also has much to lose.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
arrive at the Commonwealth Heads of Government 2018 meeting in Windsor, England, in April 2018. New Zealand moved from the first-past-the-post electoral system in 1993 to a system that helped put Ardern in power.
(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Unlike Canada’s newly elected House of Commons, New Zealand’s parliament reflects the will of voters. So do other proportional representation systems. Canada has plenty of choice.
Bloc Québecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet greets his supporters during a celebration on election night in Montréal.
Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
The Bloc Québécois was written off as politically dead before it aligned itself with the CAQ government’s law on secularism. Now it’s moved into third place in Parliament in a stunning comeback.
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.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes his way to a news conference at in Ottawa on Oct. 23, 2019. What would the election results look like if Canada had proportional representation?
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
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.
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University