What a Liberal majority means for Canada

Lloyd Axworthy breaks down what a potential Liberal majority could mean for Canada and its political future.

With Prime Minister Mark Carney securing a majority government, a former cabinet minister says he expects to see better behaviour in Parliament.

On Monday, the Liberals clinched three byelection wins – two in Ontario and one in Quebec – marking the first time a federal government has switched from a minority to a majority between general elections.

Former Liberal foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy is unsurprised by the results, explaining the trend lines were strong.

He said Carney is fortunate that opposition leader Pierre Poilievre is “very unpopular” and that Canadians are scared by U.S. President Donald Trump.

“It gives him a pretty good set of contrast,” Axworthy said in an interview on Your Morning Winnipeg on Tuesday.

“Now we’ll see what he can do with it now that he has a majority government.”

Axworthy said the country will see some benefits from a majority government, including less partisanship and a sense of stability.

He added it also gives the Liberals the majority in all the parliamentary committees.

“A lot of the work of Parliament is in the committees, and they won’t be subject to the same kind of opposition control,” he said.

Axworthy said he also has some concerns regarding a Liberal majority. He explained it makes the party “unaccountable” and loses bargaining from parts of the country not represented by Liberals.

“Even in the Liberal Party itself, Mr. Carney is taking the Liberal Party [to a] fairly right-of-centre positioning on many of these issues,” he said.

“I think there’s a lot of Liberals who are a little concerned we’re losing touch with some of the core foundation beliefs that we have as Liberals.”

As for what this means for Poilievre, Axworthy said he thinks his political future hangs in the balance.

“His kind of politics are not very appealing in the kind of situation Canada is in, where people are looking for ways in which we can stand against the Americans and other things,” he said.

“He’s always just looked a little too close to the Trump point of view.”

Following Monday’s by-election results, the Liberals have 174 seats in the House of Commons, the Conservatives have 140, the Bloc Quebecois 22, the NDP six and the Greens have one.

• With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagacé