OTTAWA (TIP): Prime Minister Mark Carney won Canada‘s election on April 28, 2025, leading his Liberal Party to a new term in power after convincing voters his experience managing crises had prepared him to confront US President Donald Trump.

However,  Liberals fell short of winning an outright majority in Parliament on Tuesday, a day after the party scored a stunning comeback victory in a vote widely seen as a rebuke of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The vote-counting agency Elections Canada finished processing nearly all ballots in an election that could leave the Liberals just three seats shy of a majority, which means they will have to seek help from another, smaller party to pass legislation.

The Liberal party seemed likely to find the extra votes necessary, but it was not clear whether they would come from the progressive party, which backed the Liberals under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, or from a separatist party from French-speaking Quebec.

Carney’s rival, populist Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, was in the lead until Trump took aim at Canada with a trade war and threats to annex the country as the 51st state. Poilievre not only lost his bid for prime minister Monday but was voted out of the Parliament seat that he held for 20 years.

Since he returned to office, however, Trump has enraged Canadians with his behavior toward one of his country’s closest allies. His policies and rhetoric — including imposing steep tariffs on Canadian imports and the “51st state” comments — became the central issue in the Canadian election and helped the Liberals make a remarkable turnaround, closing an almost 20-point gap with the Conservatives in a matter of weeks. The Liberals were also boosted by a candidate, Carney, who may be uniquely positioned to respond to Trump and the global economic uncertainty his tariffs have created.

Like Trump, Carney had never held elected office before becoming his country’s leader and spent much of his life in the private sector. He became prime minister last month after he was elected leader of the Liberal Party, then quickly called a snap election in the hope of securing a full term.

Carney, 60, is also a former central banker used to dealing with economic crises, having run the Bank of Canada after the 2008 global financial crisis and the Bank of England during the Brexit process.

“Mark offers the proven leadership and real plan we need to deliver change for our party and our country, and to build the strongest economy in the G7,” his campaign said, referring to the Group of Seven industrialized nations.

Poilievre had been on a rising trajectory until earlier this year, with his “Trump light” style embraced by the populist wing of his party. As anger in Canada grew, however, his similarities with Trump began to work against him.

Poilievre ran on job opportunities and on promises that Gen Z voters would be able to afford housing, leveraging public fatigue with the Liberal government. At a rally Sunday, the CBC quoted him as calling the Trudeau government “the lost Liberal decade of rising crime, chaos, drugs and disorder.”

Trump continued goading Canada on Monday as voters went to the polls, saying again that it should become the “cherished” 51st U.S. state. “ALL POSITIVES WITH NO NEGATIVES. IT WAS MEANT TO BE!” he said on his Truth Social platform. Both Carney and Poilievre rebuked Trump over such comments and others he has made about the Canadian election.

“They can become divided and weak,” Carney said in a video on social media Monday, speaking of the U.S. “But this is Canada. And we decide what happens here.”

Poilievre wrote Monday on X: “President Trump, stay out of our election.”

“The only people who will decide the future of Canada are Canadians at the ballot box,” he wrote. “Canada will always be proud, sovereign and independent and we will NEVER be the 51st state.”

Trump did not appear to have publicly commented on the election result as of late Monday, but his predecessor congratulated Carney and the Liberals.

“I’m confident Mark will be a strong leader for the fundamental values and interests Canadians and Americans share,” former President Joe Biden said in a post on X.

(Agencies)