Trudeau’s gamble pays off, but is he alienating the population?

Justin Trudeau managed to win after calling for a snap election – however, there are warning signs for the leader of the Liberal Party thatcould have far-reaching ramifications in the future. Trudeau wanted to get a majority in the latest election, but he fell 12 seats short as of the preliminary results, taking just 158 seats. It means that he will once again have to reach out to smaller parties in order to govern in the manner he wants. This move was always seen as a risk, especially with COVID-19rearing its head again. On top of this, there are other legislations that he will be seeking to get passed during his third stint as Prime Minister. We have taken a look at what he might try to push through, as well as the problems with the decision to call for the election.

Casino legislation

 This is something that many people have been calling for recently. Gambling is a little bit of a grey area in Canada at the moment, with the laws being slightly different depending on the province where you are located. However, it does look like there are plans for legislation to come more in line with each other. It means that online casinos and online sportsbooks will both be given the opportunity to work on a level playing field moving forward.

This is especially important as online casinos have become much more popular during the pandemic as players have spent more time at home. Of course, this could change as things start to open up again, but even if that does happen in the near future, as a relatively progressive country, it makes sense for Canada to have progressive laws in regard to gambling, online or otherwise.

Dealing with the aftermath of COVID-19

 This is the biggest aspect that Trudeau will be fighting. COVID-19has left the whole world at a disadvantage. It means that there is some serious rebuilding to do in a number of different ways. What will make this difficult is that Trudeau doesn’t have a majority. The lack of a majority means that he will have to get support from some of the smaller parties in parliament.

One of the most likely to offer support is Jagmeet Singh. This might come as a shock to some people as he spent a lot of the election campaign firing shots at his opponent, but the reality of the situation is that the two men are a lot closer on the issues than they are apart. They are also more likely to support each other in order to ensure that the Conservatives aren’t able to cause any trouble. The election saw the Liberals lose some of their previously held seats, including those of some of Trudeau’s ministers. By coming together, this will help to limit some of the damage that has been done.

It has been said a number of times that this was an election that didn’t really benefit anyone. Trudeau was hoping that he could get a majority, but instead he has caused division within his own party and galvanized some of the opposition. While he has managed to grab a third term as Prime Minister, if he’s unable to regain the trust of the electorate, then this could easily be his last.

Earned the most seats of any single party but lost the popular vote

 The main headlines will be that Trudeau has won the latest election. However, this doesn’t tell the true story of what has taken place. Under the first-past-the-post system, the party with the most overall votes doesn’t always win. This is the case with the latest election. The Conservatives actually won the popular vote even though they didn’t win the most seats.

While this hasn’t helped them during this election cycle, it does show that the tide could be turning against Trudeau. He will have to work hard to get people back on his side going into the next election. Whether he is still the leader of the Liberals at that point or not is irrelevant – he has undermined the faith in the party, especially with the reported infighting that is taking place.

Of course, it would be safe to assume that any leader during these times would have struggled to retain high levels of support. Whatever decisions were made were likely to alienate part of the population. However, the decision to call the snap election is what has truly upset people.

At a time when the country is struggling in a financial sense, the fact that Trudeau called an election that is estimated to have cost $600m has eaten into the support for the Liberals. This could be something that the party is unable to get past in the future, especially when the next election is called. Losing a generation of people is often hard to come back from, so Trudeau has to step carefully.

The Conservatives are relatively positive about their prospects moving forward. The leader of the party, Erin O’Toole, commented that support for the party was growing across the country. While it wasn’t a win in terms of taking seats, it was a positive step forward and was likely to be the foundation for a potential Conservative win in the near future. The Conservatives stood on a centrist platform in the latest elections, which is shown to have been a sensible move as the right-leaning parties tended to have very little success this time out.

This was especially the case with the People’s Party of Canada, which got zero seats. It means that the divisive, right-leaning party is unlikely to have much impact in parliament itself. However, it still holds sway with the court of public opinion and is likely to use media outlets to try toinfluence proceedings. This is mostly problematic as the party is against health mandates, which could cause some issues if Trudeau attempts to bring in more mandates in the future.