Officers in Canada are tallying votes within the nation’s deeply consequential election, and a brand new prime minister might be determined inside hours. Polls have closed throughout a lot of the nation, the place voters are figuring out the way it will reply to President Trump’s threats and the form of its economic system at a time of world turmoil.
Pre-election opinion surveys showed the Liberal Social gathering, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, with a slight benefit over the Conservative Social gathering and its chief, Pierre Poilievre, as voters headed to the polls to elect their parliamentary representatives. The chief of the celebration that wins essentially the most seats will turn out to be prime minister.
Three extra events, all projected to safe small numbers of seats within the nation’s parliament, the Home of Commons, are within the fray: the left-wing New Democratic Party; the Greens; and the Bloc Quebecois, which is concentrated on gaining sovereignty for Quebec.
Simply three months in the past, the Conservatives had been main polls by greater than 25 share factors, and Mr. Poilievre appeared all however sure to turn out to be Canada’s subsequent prime minister. Justin Trudeau and the Liberals had led the nation for a decade, turning into more and more unpopular.
However Mr. Trudeau’s resignation in March and Mr. Trump’s tariffs and sovereignty threats towards Canada upended the race. With Mr. Carney because the celebration chief and prime minister, the Liberals quickly gained help as those to higher deal with Mr. Trump.
In Canada’s parliamentary system, voters select who they wish to symbolize their electoral district, recognized in Canada as a using; the candidate who has essentially the most votes wins, and the celebration that has essentially the most seats turns into the ruling authorities, even when they don’t management the bulk. There are 343 seats in parliament.
However the two leaders vying to turn out to be Canada’s subsequent prime minister are central to the selection Canadians are making on Monday, they usually provide completely different personalities, experiences and visions for the nation at a essential juncture.
Right here’s what else to know:
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The incumbent: Mr. Carney, 60, changed Mr. Trudeau as prime minister simply final month. He’s a former central banker and govt with a worldwide profession. A devoted centrist who has spent a lifetime in rarefied high-power circles, he has constructed his pitch as an anti-Trump, vowing to commit his monetary experience to bettering his nation’s economic system and shielding it from Mr. Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats.
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The challenger: Mr. Poilievre, 45, is a profession politician who helps deregulation and a smaller federal authorities. His tonal and ideological similarities to Mr. Trump — he denounces “woke ideology,” desires to defund the nationwide broadcaster and slash overseas help — have delay some voters, who see him as too much like Mr. Trump at a time when the U.S. president is seen as an enemy of Canada.
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Selecting leaders: Social gathering leaders have been chosen by celebration members in earlier votes. In federal elections, voters don’t vote for Canada’s chief, as they could in a presidential system.
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