Toronto: Nearly a year after the Federal election in April 2025, the ruling Liberal Party finally garnered a majority in the House of Commons after sweeping three byelections on Monday.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will now head a majority government, the first in the country since 2019.
The ruling party held on to the ridings (as constituencies are called in Canada) of University-Rosedale and Scarborough Southwest to take their tally to 174 in the 543-member House. Ruling party candidates easily retained the seats with over 60% of the votes cast after byelections were triggered by the departure of two senior figures from former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s time, former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and former Minister of National Defence Bill Blair.
Canadian media also projected that the Liberal candidate for the Quebec riding of Terrebonne Tatiana Auguste, had managed to retain the seat, though the margin remained slim. In the Federal election, Auguste had edged her Bloc Québécois rival Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné by a single vote. However, that result was annulled by the Supreme Court, forcing the rematch.
In University-Rosedale, healthcare professional Danielle Martin emerged victorious. In Scarborough Southwest, the winner was Bangladesh-origin Doly Begum. She was a member of the provincial parliament in Ontario but for the New Democratic Party (NDP) before she switched parties to contest the Federal bypoll for the Liberals. Carney posted on X, “Doly has fought fiercely and effectively to build a better future for her community, and her tireless voice and experience will help build a stronger and more just Canada for all.”
Begum’s win was fitting on the night, because, in fact, the majority that Prime Minister Mark Carney now enjoys is courtesy five defections from oppositions ranks in the recent months, four who were elected as Conservatives and one from the NDP.
In a post on X, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre said that the Carney Liberals “did not win a majority government through a general election or today’s by-elections” and instead it was “through backroom deals with politicians who betrayed the people who voted for them”.
In the 2025 election, the Liberals captured 169 seats, up nine from 2021, and the Conservatives grew their presence from 119 to 144.