Canada’s Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre loses his own seat in Parliament as Liberals win in stunning turnaround
Fanjoy took home 42,374 votes to Poilievre’s 38,581.
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Canadian Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre lost his own seat in Monday’s elections as the Liberal Party, under Prime Minister Mark Carney, retained control of national government. Poilievre’s seat in Ottawa-area Carleton, Ontario, also went to a liberal, Bruce Fanjoy.
Fanjoy took home 42,374 votes to Poilievre’s 38,581. This also puts Poilievre’s position as Conservative Leader in question, though the Conservative Party did finish a close second across the board. Conservatives were polling well ahead, with up to a 20 point lead, prior to Justin Trudeau resigning as prime minister and the Liberals installing Mark Carney earlier this year.
Ahead of his own loss, Poilievre spoke to Conservatives about the national results, saying: “To my fellow Conservatives, we have much to celebrate. Tonight we’ve gained well over 20 seats. We got the highest share of the vote our party has received since 1988.” The last conservative prime minister was Stephen Harper, who held the seat from 2006-2015.
Despite that optimism, Poilievre’s riding was the only one in which an incumbent MP saw a loss across the country. Poilievre has held his seat since 2004.
Fanjoy posted “Thank you” early on Tuesday morning, going on to say “As we’ve said from the beginning, together we can. I’m grateful and humbled by everyone who contributed to our campaign. To all the people of Carleton, as your new Member of Parliament, I’ll work to bring us together. We are all Canadians. We have to look out for ourselves, and we have to take care of each other. Let’s get to work.”
NDP Leader Jadmeet Singh also lost his seat in Vancouver and said he would resign as head of that party. “It’s been the honor of my life to represent the people of Burnaby central,” he said. “Tonight they chose a new Member of Parliament and I wish them well.” Once an interim leader is appointed to head the NDP, Singh will step down. He’s led the party since 2017.
The national election was seen as something of a referendum on US President Donald Trump as the American leader has indicated that he’d like to see Canada become the “51st state” and has imposed hefty tariffs on the northern neighbor, as well as dozens of other countries worldwide.
The Liberals will hold 168 seats in Parliament while the Conservatives hold 144. The Liberals needed 172 seats to form a majority and will have minority rule. Bloc Quebecois lost some seats to land at 23 while the NDP has 7 and the Green Party 1.
