TORONTO -- After a hard-fought campaign, the Liberals emerged the victors of the 2019 federal election, allowing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to hang onto power despite losing both the popular vote and his majority government.
The divisive campaign saw the Liberals win just 157 seats compared to 184 in 2015. And their popular support dropped 6.5 points to 33 per cent.
The Conservatives, on the other hand, earned just over 34 per cent of the vote, marking the first time since 1979 that the party with the most votes did not also win the largest share of seats.
But with a large swath of Conservative blue sweeping Alberta and Saskatchewan, the Bloc Quebecois splitting the vote in Quebec, and the Liberal’s holding onto key parts of Ontario, Canada’s electoral map looks very different heading into a Liberal minority rule.
‘Liberal wave’ washed away in B.C.
The so-called Liberal wave that swept British Columbia’s Lower Mainland during the last election was washed away as the Conservatives took back several key ridings in the province.
Voters in Surrey, Richmond, Langley, Mission and Maple Ridge ousted the Liberals in favour of the Conservatives who won 17 seats in the province. However, several well-known Liberal cabinet ministers including Harjit Sajjan and Joyce Murray held onto their seats in Metro Vancouver, keeping a few red patches on the map.
Overall, the Liberals six seats in the province. In 2015, they held 17 of B.C.’s 42 seats and emerged Monday with just 11, tying with the NDP.
B.C.’s two Green MPs, leader Elizabeth May and candidatePaul Manly, also kept their seats.
Alberta, Saskatchewan painted blue
It’s impossible to miss the large swath of blue that now covers Western Canada after the Liberals were shown the door in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The Conservatives picked up 33 out of 34 possible seats in Alberta, taking back the four seats lost to the Liberals in Alberta in 2015.
The Alberta sweep saw several big Liberal names defeated, including Kent Hehr who ended a nearly 50-year Liberal shutout in Calgary during the 2015 federal election. The lone exception to a Conservative sweep in Alberta was a single NDP seat won in Edmonton.
The Conservatives took all 14 of Saskatchewan’s seats and 65 per cent of the popular vote in that province.
This surge of support from Western Canada helped the Conservatives win the popular vote. Unfortunately for the party, it did not translate into the seats needed to defeat the Liberals to form a minority government.
Manitoba, Ontario stokes little change
This election brought only a few changes to Manitoba, where the Conservatives managed to hang onto their strongholds in rural areas, picking up a few seats in Winnipeg. Of the province’s 14 seats, seven went to the Conservatives, four went to the Liberals and the NDP took three.
But the Liberals gained an advantage in Ontario, taking over 41 per cent of the vote and sweeping all 25 seats in Toronto. The party maintained its stronghold in the pivotal Greater Toronto Area, securing 24 of 29 seats – the same outcome as 2015.
The Liberals dominated in Ontario in 2015, winning 80 of its 121 seats. This time around the party hung onto all but one of its seats for a grand total of 79. The Conservatives walked away with a total of 36 seats, earning three more seats than the previous federal election. The NDP earned six seats in Ontario, losing two seats from 2015.
Bloc Quebecois sees resurgence in Quebec
The once-faltering Bloc will more than triple its presence in Parliament after winning 32 out of 78 seats in Quebec, a dramatic increase from the 10 seats the party won in 2015. The party’s vote count also topped one million for the first time since 2008.
The Liberals lost five seats overall in the province but maintained the highest number of seats overall with 35, down from 40 in 2015. The Conservatives also lost two seats, falling to 10 from 12 in 2015.
Atlantic region sees a small splash of green in historic first
Atlantic Canada hadbeen awash in Liberal red since 2015. But that changed Oct. 21 when the Liberals lost a seat to Jack Harris of the NDP in St. John’s, N.L. Newfoundland and Labrador now has six Liberals and one NDP member.
Prince Edward Island remains unchanged, with their four Liberal seats remaining red. And Nova Scotia lost one of its 11 seats to the Conservatives.
But it was in New Brunswick where there was the most turnover in the Atlantic provinces. The Liberals had held all of the province’s 10 seats but lost three of them to the Conservatives, and one to Green party candidate Jenica Atwin, making her the party’s first federal member in the province.
In the territories, Nunavut was the only seat to change colour. The NDP stole the seat the Liberals won in the 2015 election. Both Northwest Territories and Yukon remained in the hands of the Liberals.
Complete federal election 2019 coverage
Graphics and development by Jesse Tahirali
- With files from the Canadian Press
