Carney strengthens his hold on Canada: Liberals win parliamentary majority after special elections and a wave of defections

Mark Carney, for now, has pulled the Liberals out of the serious predicament they were in under the previous leadership of Justin Trudeau. The party of Canada's prime minister obtained a majority in the House of Commons on Monday after winning two of three special parliamentary elections held that day, as projected by CBC, the country's public broadcasting corporation. The result consolidates the Liberal Party's grip on power and gives Carney a much stronger position to govern and negotiate with the Trump Administration.

The path to achieve the majority was very complex and has been going on for months. In late 2025, five members of opposing parties—four of them conservatives—left their benches to join the liberals, a stance that brought Carney to the threshold of the 172 seats needed. Monday's two victories completed the number, leaving the Conservatives in a negative position.

Carney had come to power under unusual circumstances. He was elected Liberal leader and prime minister in early 2025, after the resignation of former leader Justin Trudeau, who left following the resignation of then-Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in December 2024. In last April's federal election, the Liberals won a narrow victory, failing to achieve an absolute majority, forcing Carney to govern in a minority for almost a year in a complex context and a fragile position where any confidence motion could topple him.

For most of his term, his agenda has been focused on a clear objective: reducing Canada's economic dependence on United States, amid trade tensions with the Trump Administration.

His border security, cybersecurity and judicial reform bills had been systematically held up by opposition in congressional committees. With the majority, that gridlock will eventually disappear, with liberals taking over those committees.

Winners and losers

Just as the Liberals today are shouting victory, the loser of the day is Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party, who had suffered the hard blow of losing his own seat in the April election, though he regained it later through a special election.

Poilievre saw four of his own members leave his bench to bolster the Liberal government. The Conservative leader condemned the defections as undemocratic, and the defectors themselves attributed their departure to Poilievre's aggressive style.

In addition to seeing the Liberals win a majority, a Nanos poll released this month left the Conservative leader looking bad, as 54% of Canadians currently prefer Carney as prime minister compared to only 23% who lean toward Poilievre.

With his majority assured and his numbers rising, Carney has the political leeway to uncompromisingly advance his legislative agenda.