Justin Trudeau, Liberals win clear majority in Canada elections
By Euan McKirdy, CNN
Updated
4:52 PM EDT, Tue October 20, 2015
Story highlights
Justin Trudeau, son of a former Prime Minister, addresses supporters and Canadians as Prime Minister-designate
Trudeau's victory denies fourth term to Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper
(CNN) —
Canada voted in its first new leader in nearly a decade in a general election that handed Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party an absolute majority – and dealt a stunning blow to incumbent Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
“This is what positive politics can do,” Trudeau told supporters in Ottawa early Tuesday as the last few results trickled in.
The victory denied a fourth term to Harper and his Conservative party. Harper has held the position since February 2006.
Photos: Meet Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took office in November 2015. Skeptics had dismissed the son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau as trading off his father's achievements and famous family name. But pundits in Canada praised the younger Trudeau's campaign and the way he led Liberals to a sweeping victory, with a clear majority in Parliament. See photos from his life and career:
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Ben Nelms/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Photos: Meet Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister
The future politician sits in the lap of his mother, Margaret Trudeau, in a car in 1972. He was born in Ottawa on December 25, 1971.
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Dick Loek/Toronto Star/Toronto Public Library/Getty Images
Photos: Meet Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau takes an outing in Winnipeg, Manitoba, while on vacation in 1977 with his sons, from left, Sacha, Justin and Michel. The elder Trudeau was Canada's Prime Minister from 1968 to 1979 and again from 1980 to 1984.
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Don Dutton/Toronto Star/Toronto Public Library/Getty Images
Photos: Meet Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister
From left, Sacha, Justin and their mother, Margaret, look over Pierre Trudeau's casket in the Hall of Honor on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. The former Prime Minister died September 28, 2000, at age 80.
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AARON HARRIS/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Meet Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau is interviewed in his campaign office in Montreal in October 2008, shortly before being elected to represent the Liberals in Parliament from the Montreal electoral district of Papineau.
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DAVID BOILY/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Meet Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister
Trudeau addresses youths at Free the Children's National Me to We Day event in Toronto in October 2008. The annual event aims to empower young people to make a difference in their communities.
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Colin McConnell/Toronto Star/Getty Images/File
Photos: Meet Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister
Trudeau greets supporters at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in April 2013. A short time later, he was elected leader of Canada's Liberal Party.
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David Cooper/Toronto Star/Getty Images
Photos: Meet Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister
Trudeau works the crowd at the 2015 Toronto Pride parade on June 28.
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Rick Madonik/Toronto Star/Getty Images/File
Photos: Meet Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister
Trudeau visits the Paul Brown Boxfit gym in Toronto in August 2015.
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Carlos Osorio/Toronto Star/Getty Images
Photos: Meet Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister
After casting his ballot in Montreal in October 2015, Trudeau leaves with his wife, Sophie, and their children, from left, Hadrien, Ella-Grace and Xavier.
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NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Meet Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister
Trudeau commands the stage in Montreal on after the Liberal Party won the general election in 2015. As the crowd chanted his name, Trudeau said the Liberals won because they listened. "We beat fear with hope, we beat cynicism with hard work. We beat negative, divisive politics with a positive vision that brings Canadians together," he said.
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NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Meet Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister
Trudeau is sworn into office at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.
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Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press/AP
Photos: Meet Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister
Trudeau greets Syrian refugees Kevork Jamkossian and daughter Madeleine during their arrival at Toronto's Pearson International Airport in December 2015. The new Prime Minister pledged to take in and resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees in Canada.
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Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP
He conceded defeat and will resign as leader of the party, but said he’ll remain in parliament as a lawmaker.
“We put everything on the table, we gave everything we had to give and we have no regrets,” he said just before 10 p.m. Monday in Calgary (midnight ET).
“The people of Canada have elected a Liberal government, which we accept without hesitation,” Harper said.
’We beat fear with hope’
Liberal candidates have secured 184 seats – or “ridings,” the Canadian term for federal electoral districts – putting them over the line for forming a majority government. A total of 170 seats are needed for a majority.
Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, as Harper’s Conservatives will now officially be designated, have 99 seats.
As the crowd chanted his name, Trudeau said the Liberals won because “we listened.”
“We beat fear with hope, we beat cynicism with hard work. We beat negative, divisive politics with a positive vision that brings Canadians together,” he said.
“Most of all we defeated the idea that Canadians should be satisfied with less, and that better isn’t possible. My friends, this is Canada, where better is always possible.”
Beginnings of a dynasty?
The son of Pierre Trudeau and scion of Canada’s first, nascent political dynasty, the 43-year-old surged into the lead in recent weeks, largely on the back of anti-Conservative sentiment that saw Harper’s party lagging as Canadians went to the polls.
Before the grueling, 78-day electioneering cycle began, many dismissed the younger Trudeau as trading off of his father’s achievements and the famous family name. But pundits in Canada have praised his campaign and the way he has led the Liberals to what transpired to be a sweeping victory.
Liberal victory – at NDP expense?
Ahead of the election, many pundits were predicting a tight race, with Harper and Trudeau neck-and-neck and the New Democratic Party (NDP) making up the numbers. Thomas Mulcair’s party holds 44 seats in the new parliament. The separatist Bloc Quebecois hold 10 and the Green Party one.
Pundits are suggesting Mulcair may step down after a poor showing at the polls, especially as the rout followed a strong, positive campaign.
The NDP suffered devastating defeats, slipping from official Opposition during the Harper government to a terrible showing on the night, with only 41 seats projected.
Mulcair was gracious in defeat. “From the very outset this election has been about change. Tonight Canadians have turned a page and reject the politics of fear and division,” he said in his concession speech in Montreal. He did not indicate if he would step down as leader.
