Justin Trudeau, the son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, will be Canada’s next leader, after a dramatic federal election that ended the divisive reign of the Conservative prime minister, Stephen Harper.
The Liberal party won a surprise majority, taking 184 of the 338 seats in parliament with representatives in every province and roughly 40% of the popular vote.
After rousing his party from third in the polls to first place on voting day, Trudeau promised “sunny ways” for all Canadians.
Trudeau’s victory speech omitted any mention of his flamboyant father Pierre who led Canada from 1968 to 1984 with one brief interruption. “In Canada better is always possible,” a hoarse but jubilant Trudeau told cheering supporters at Liberal headquarters in Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth hotel.
He added: “This is what positive politics can do. This is what a positive, hopeful, a hopeful vision, and a platform and a team together can make happen.
“Canadians from all across this great country sent a clear message tonight, it’s time for a change in this country, my friends, a real change.”
Switching between French and English, Trudeau held out an olive branch to his defeated rivals after a vicious and divisive campaign. “As I’ve said many times over the course of this campaign, conservatives are not our enemies, they’re our neighbors,” he said.
And in an implicit rebuke to Harper – who had attempted to exploit a row over Muslim women’s right to cover their face – he said, “We know in our bones that Canada was built by people from all corners of the world, who worship every faith, who belong to every culture, who speak every language.”
THE GUARDIAN