October 20, 2015

Speaking in Montreal, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau gives his victory speech after his party’s landslide victory in Canada’s federal election on October 19. (Credit: © Jim Young, Reuters/Landov)

Canadians went to the polls yesterday in the highest voter turnout in a federal election in more than 20 years, and by early evening surprising election results were in—after nearly a decade of rule by the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party won by a landslide. Pollsters had stated the election was too close to call, but when the results came in the Liberal Party had captured 184 seats in Parliament, the Conservative Party won 99, the New Democratic Party of Canada won 44 seats, Bloc Québécois won 10 seats, and the Green Party captured 1 seat. In Canada’s electoral system, people vote for a candidate for a parliamentary seat; if one party achieves a majority in parliament, the leader of that party becomes prime minister. 

Thus, Stephen Harper, head of the Conservative Party and Canada’s prime minister since 2006, will be replaced with the head of the Liberal Party, Justin Trudeau. The 43-year-old Trudeau is from a famous political family of Canada. His father, the Liberal politician Pierre Trudeau (1919-2000), served as prime minister of Canada from 1968-1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Justin Trudeau was a high school teacher who avoided politics until after his father’s death. Justin Trudeau first became a member of Parliament in 2008.

The vote for the Liberal Party was especially strong in the east of Canada, especially in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. In the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the territories of Yukon, Northwest Territories,  and Nunavut, the Liberal Party swept, taking every available seat. Only in Alberta did the Conservative Party win a majority of the seats.

Some of Trudeau’s campaign promises include attempting to strengthen ties with the United States and with the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, welcoming a larger number of refugees from Syria, and taking action on climate change.

Other World Book articles

• Canada (a Back in time article-2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014)

September 5, 2012

An election victory celebration in Montreal, Canada, was thrown into chaos last night by a possible assassination attempt in which one man was killed and another wounded. Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois was giving a victory speech when shots rang out at the back of the hall. The victims, employees of the Metropolis concert hall, were shot while attempting to subdue the gunman. Later, as the gunman was arrested, he shouted “The English are waking up” in accented French, then in English, yelled “there will be payback.”

Parti Quebecois is set to form a minority government after garnering 54 of the 125 seats in the provincial legislature in primarily French-speaking Quebec. The victory puts the party in power after nearly a decade of Liberal government. The Parti Quebecois calls for Quebec to separate from Canada and become an independent nation. According to witnesses in the hall, party leader Marois had just declared, “We want a country and we will have it,” when the shooting began.

Police have yet to establish a motive, but the possibility that Ms. Marois was the target is not being ruled out. Quebec’s first female premier, Marois has voiced a number of demands of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper: including strengthening laws protecting Quebec’s French language and identity; and surrendering control of the unemployment program to the provincial government.

Quebec, the capital of the province of Quebec, lies on the St. Lawrence River. The Château Frontenac, left, a hotel, helps give Quebec the charm of an old European city. (c) Nik Wheeler

The Parti Quebecois first gained control of the Quebec legislature in elections in 1976. In 1980, it carried out a referendum on whether to open discussion with the federal government of Canada on what party leaders called a “sovereignty association” between Quebec and the rest of Canada. Such an association would have given Quebec political independence while maintaining economic ties to Canada. Quebec voters decisively voted down the referendum. A second referendum, in 1995, was also defeated, though narrowly. According to political experts, popular support within Quebec for another referendum is low.

Additional World Book articles:

• Bloc Québécois
• Levesque, Rene
• Quebec 1976 (a Back in Time article)
• Quebec 1980 (a Back in Time article)
• Quebec 1995 (a Back in Time article)
• Canadian provinces 2011 (a Back in Time article)