Minority government: Why Carney’s Liberals will need help to pass laws
Liberals didn't earn enough seats for a majority
It took some time, but CBC has finally made a call.
Mark Carney’s Liberal Party won a minority government in the Canadian election on April 28, according to our projections.
That means he will need help from other political parties to pass laws.
While it was clear on election night that the Liberals had won, it took a while to do the final seat count.
The final seat count is what determines whether a political party has won the majority — or most of — the available 343 seats.
In this case, the Liberals didn’t quite get there.
It took time for the CBC to make the final decision because people who work for Elections Canada were still counting ballots on Tuesday and some races were too close to call.
Here are the projected results as of 4 p.m. ET on April 29, according to CBC:
Why did it take so long?
According to Elections Canada, there are several reasons it took so long to count all of the ballots.
The high number of people who showed up to vote, combined with an increase in the number of people voting by mail (special ballot) and in advance polls, meant that officials needed more time to complete the count.
At about 4:30 a.m. ET on April 29, elections staff stopped counting ballots. They started again later that day.
What’s a minority?
There are two types of governments in Canada: majority or minority.
A majority government happens when a political party wins the majority of seats in the House of Commons. For this election, a party needed at least 172 of the 343 seats available.
The Liberals formed a minority because they won fewer than 172 seats.
As of 4 p.m. ET on April 29, the Liberals had only won 169, according to CBC projections.
In order for a government to stay in power, it needs the majority of members of Parliament (MPs) to support it.
A minority government doesn’t have enough of its own MPs to do this, so it has to make compromises and work with other parties.
For example, if the ruling party wins 169 seats, it needs to convince at least three MPs from other political parties to support it in order to stay in power.
On the flip side, in a majority government, the ruling party has enough seats to make decisions without having to gain favour from members of other parties.
Student voters also choose minority
Kids who participated in the CIVIX Student Vote also elected a minority government.
The Conservative Party won the most seats making Pierre Poilievre prime minister in the student mock election.
Watch this video to see the CIVIX Student Vote in action. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Students vs. adults
Check out the chart below to compare the results of the Student Vote to the adult vote.
Have more questions? Want to tell us how we're doing? Use the “send us feedback” link below. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
With files from: Peter Zimonjic/CBC
