Canadian PM Carney secures a majority government in a special election

TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney secured a majority government with a special election outcome Monday night, allowing his Liberals to pass legislation without the support of opposition parties.

Voters cast ballots for three vacant seats of the 343 districts represented in Parliament. The public Canadian Broadcasting Corporation projected a Liberal win in a Toronto district. Results for two other districts are expected Monday night.

Carney won Canada’s election last year fueled by public anger over U.S. President Donald Trump’s annexation threats.

His Liberal party could stay in power until 2029 after Monday’s results.

Five defections from opposition parties to Carney, including four from the main opposition Conservative party, put Carney’s Liberals on the cusp of the majority.

Before Monday’s results, the Liberals had 171 members of Parliament in the House of Commons.

One of those defectors referenced Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as helping his decision. In the speech, Carney condemned economic coercion by great powers against smaller countries and received widespread praise for his remarks.

Carney, former head of the Bank of England as well as Canada’s central bank, has moved the Liberals to the center-right since replacing Justin Trudeau as prime minister in 2025.

Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said the Liberals were almost certain to win the two Toronto seats and had a shot at winning in Terrebonne.

Béland said the deterioration of Canada-U.S. relations under the second Trump presidency has convinced many Canadians, including people who do not identify as Liberal, to rally behind the prime minister.

“Carney has thus far proved that he is an astute politician, despite the fact that he only formally entered the political arena in January of last year,” Béland said.