Justin Trudeau Narrowly Wins Second Term

Justin Trudeau will remain as Canada's prime minister after Monday's general election—but to pass legislation, his Liberals will have to work with other parties. The CBC reports the party won 157 seats Monday, down from 184 and below the 170 needed for a majority in Canada's Parliament, meaning the country's next government will be a Liberal minority one. The Conservative Party, led by Andrew Scheer, won a slightly larger share of the popular vote than the Liberal Party—34.4% versus 33.1%—but won just 121 seats. The separatist Bloc Québecois surged to 32 seats, all of them in Quebec, while the social democratic NDP won 24 seats, down from 44 in 2015 and 103 in 2011. More:

• Bloc Québecois leader Yves-François Blanchet vowed Monday night that his party would not join any governing coalition, leaving the NDP as Trudeau's only potential partner for a coalition government, the BBC reports.

• With Trudeau weakened by scandal, including blackface photos that surfaced during the campaign, Scheer and his Conservatives had been hoping for a win, which polls as recently as a few days ago showed was possible. Some analysts predict that Scheer will now step down, though he praised the results Monday as "an endorsement from Canadians that we are the government in waiting."
• "Tonight Canadians rejected division and negativity. They rejected cuts and austerity," Trudeau told supporters early Tuesday. "They elected a progressive agenda and strong action on climate change." He added: "To those who did not vote for us, know that we will work every single day for you, we will govern for everyone."
• In a tweet, President Trump congratulated Trudeau on "a wonderful and hard fought victory." "Canada is well served. I look forward to working with you toward the betterment of both of our countries!" he wrote.
• Conservative support was highest in Western provinces, including Alberta, where the party took more than 70% of the vote. The election result appears to have given new life to the Western separatist movement, CTV reports. #Wexit was trending on Twitter early Tuesday.
• "I'm surprised at how well Trudeau has done," Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, tells the AP. "I don't think anybody expected Trudeau to get a majority but they are not that far off."

(More Canadian election stories.)