Election results show Prime Minister Justin Trudeau‘s Liberal Party will return to power, but as a minority government after Monday’s general election, according to CBC News and CTV News.
The victory ensures that Trudeau will serve as Prime Minister for a second term. Trudeau spoke to a cheering crowd in Montreal about his victory.
“From coast to coast to coast, tonight Canadians rejected division and negativity. They rejected cuts and austerity. They voted in favor of a progressive agenda and strong action on climate change,” he said. “We will make life more affordable, we will continue to fight climate change, we will get guns off our streets.”
Trudeau, the Liberal leader, and Conservative leader Andrew Scheer were the two top contenders in Monday’s competitive general election. More than 300 parliamentary seats were up for grabs. Health care, the climate crisis and the cost of living reportedly are voters’ top issues.
Trudeau, 47, picked up a key endorsement last week from former President Barack Obama but the Prime Minister has faced a difficult campaign after revelations that he wore blackface in the past. He said he didn’t know how many times he put the racist makeup on.
Last month, Time magazine posted a photo of Trudeau wearing brownface when he was a school teacher in 2001. Trudeau said he had attended an end-of-the-year gala with an “Arabian Nights” theme when the photo was taken. He said it was a racist photo, but he didn’t consider it racist then.
In his apology, Trudeau admitted he wore dark makeup when he was in high school as part of a talent show in which he sang the Jamaican folk song “Day-O.” CNN partner CTV News obtained that second photo from a source who said it was a picture of Trudeau in a yearbook at Brebeuf College.
By Darran Simon, CNN
CNN’s Caroline Kelly, Paula Newton, Rebekah Riess, Steve Almasy, Eric Levenson, Julia Jones, Joe Sutton and Dave Alsup contributed to this report.
