Canadians have said no to negativity: Trudeau

Ottawa, October 22

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party held onto power in a nail-biter of a Canadian general election on Monday, but as a weakened minority government.

Television projections on Tuesday declared the Liberals winners or leading in 156 of the nation's 338 electoral districts, versus 122 for his main rival Andrew Scheer and the Conservatives, after polling stations across six time zones closed.

As early as Tuesday, Trudeau will have to form an alliance with one or more smaller parties in order to govern a fractured nation.

The first test of his future government will follow in the coming weeks with a speech to parliament outlining his legislative priorities and a confidence vote.

"From coast to coast, tonight Canadians rejected division and negativity," Trudeau said. "And they rejected cuts and austerity and voted in favour of a progressive agenda and strong action on climate change." He reassured Quebec that his Liberal government, despite an electoral setback in the French-speaking province, "will be there for you." He also spoke directly to a growing sense of Western Canada's alienation within the federation, telling those in Saskatchewan and Alberta provinces: "I've heard your frustration." The 47-year-old former school teacher dominated Canadian politics over the four years of his first term, but faced a grilling during the 40-day election campaign, which he described as one of the "dirtiest and nastiest" in Canadian history.

Outside polling stations, Canadians said they had wished for a more positive campaign focused on issues.

"I deplored the cheap shots during the campaign. I think we're better than that," said Andree Legault in Montreal.— AFP

PM a compulsive liar: Scheer

Justin Trudeau evoked the bogeymen of past and current Tory parties fostering “politics of fear and division” while his main rival Andrew Scheer called the prime minister a compulsive liar, a phony and a fraud. Going into the election, Trudeau's golden boy image had already been damaged by ethics lapses in the handling of the bribery prosecution of engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. His popularity took a further hit with the emergence during the campaign of old photographs of him in blackface makeup.