By the A.M. Costa Rica staff


Canada's Liberal Party managed to take the more seats in Parliament Monday and assured that Justin Trudeau would continue as prime minister.

The Liberal Party appears to have won nearly 33.1% of the vote or about 157 seats in the new Parliament.

That's just short of the 170 needed for a majority in the 338-seat Parliament.

Trudeau's Liberal party is likely to form a government with the Conservative Party, which appears to have captured 121 seats, nearly 34.4% of the vote.

The resurgent Bloc Québécois appears to have captured at least 32 seats, nearly 7.7 % of the vote .

The Conservative Party, promised austerity and an effort to balance the county's budget in five years.

Trudeau is the son of the late prime minister Pierre Trudeau, but his campaign suffered with revelations that he wore blackface multiple times. He has promoted a progressive agenda.

The Canadian vote came down to what was essentially a choice between the handsome and charismatic Trudeau and Andrew  Scheer, the Conservatives’ unassuming leader who was seen as the perfect antidote to Trudeau’s flash and celebrity, said the Associated Press. Scheer had promised to end a national carbon tax and cut government spending, including foreign aid, by 25%.

Trudeau is a big believer in the theory the carbon dioxide promotes climate change. He also welcomed illegal immigrants from elsewhere and promoted legalization of marijuana.

Former U.S. president Barrack Obama broke protocol and endorsed Trudeau in a twitter posting.


Barack Obama was urging Canadians to re-elect Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, an apparently unprecedented endorsement of a candidate in a Canadian election by a former American president, reported AP news on Wednesday 16th.

Obama tweeted that he was proud to work with Trudeau and described him as a hard-working, effective leader who takes on big issues like climate change.

“The world needs his progressive leadership now, and I hope our neighbors to the north support him for another term,” Obama wrote.

Trudeau later responded with his own tweet: “Thanks my friend, we’re working hard to keep our progress going.”

Robert Bothwell, a professor of Canadian history and international relations at the University of Toronto, said that might have something to do with Obama’s intervention.

“Trudeau is in real danger,” Bothwell said. “If I were a Liberal (Party) campaigner I would quietly point with pride to Obama’s endorsement. I don’t know if I’d run around toting it as a major political issue.”

Bothwell said you would have to go back more than 100 years to find an American president intervening in a Canadian federal election.

He said former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, who was president from 1901 to 1909, visited Toronto in 1917 when Canada was having an election about conscription and spoke in favor of it. But Bothwell said he didn’t know how explicit he was.

Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, called Obama’s endorsement rare and said it possibly has not happened before but he doesn’t think it will move the polls.

“In fact, some people may feel this is an unwarranted foreign intrusion in Canada’s election,” Wiseman said.

Obama also endorsed Emmanuel Macron for president in France’s 2017 election, and he warned British voters against backing leaving the European Union.

Trudeau formed a close relationship with Obama when he was president and the two were pictured having dinner in Ottawa earlier this year.

The former president has long been popular with many Canadians. Trudeau’s Liberal party posted Obama’s message into a party fundraising pitch that was emailed directly to potential donors

Trudeau’s rival, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, said that he is “not very interested what former foreign leaders are saying.” He said he would let Canadians judge whether Obama’s endorsement is appropriate.

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