Canadian voters hand Liberals 4th term, Indigenous candidates win, leading in a number of ridings

Mi’kmaw MP Jaime Battiste has won his riding and will return to Ottawa representing the people of Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish. Battiste lives in Eskasoni, one of five First Nations in the riding. He thanked the people in his riding. “They came out for me tonight. They came out in record numbers in the advanced polls,” he told APTN News. Battiste was elected to represent Sydney-Victoria in 2019 and was re-elected in 2021. His former riding shrunk in size after a boundary review in 2023 and only included Membertou First Nation – and left out his home of Eskasoni. He chose to run in Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish which includes Eskasoni, Potlotek, Wagmatcook and We’koma’q – or four of the five First Nations on Cape Breton. One First Nation, Paqtnkek, which is located on the mainland, is also included in the riding. “I’m very proud to continue to be one of the only First Nations in the House of Commons who lives in the First Nations reserve,” he said. “That means I can continue to advocate for those people who live on the reserve. I can continue to advocate for the things that we need to do to advance reconciliation, to close the gap to advance, you know, advanced economic reconciliation, address the harms of colonization and the lack of implementation of treaty rights. “I’ll be there to continue to work hard for not just my riding, but Indigenous people all across Canada.” Gazan, right, with former NDP MP Romeo Saganash. Photo: Cierra Bettens/APTN. Leah Gazan won her riding of Winnipeg Centre by a slim margin and is one of only a handful of seats for the NDP. The party pushed the Liberal minority to bring in dentalcare and pharmacare but weren’t a factor in the election that was more about which leader would be capable of taking on U.S. President Donald Trump. Gazan has got the Liberals to work toward implementing a “red dress alert” for missing Indigenous women. She also has a private members bill to make residential school denialism a criminal code offence. She beat Liberal Rahul Walia of the Liberal Party. “For everybody that didn’t vote for me, I love you,” she told her supporters. “For all of you that came out to win a really tough battle, I love you. And for all those who are struggling, that are doing their best everyday, I love you. And if I don’t know your name, you have a place in my heart. I love this community. I am so proud to be a representative of such an amazing community. Thank you for having faith in me.” “Thank you so much for keeping community at the centre in Winnipeg Centre.” Conservative Billy Morin won his riding of Edmonton-Northwest but could not be reached for comment. As of the posting of this story, Liberal Rebecca Chartrand was leading in the riding of Churchill-Keewatinook Aski in Manitoba. Liberal Mandy Gull-Masty was leading in the riding of Nunavik-Baie-James-Eeyou in Quebec. Canadians give Liberals 4th mandate; Carney wins Ottawa riding Prime Minister Mark Carney steps out on an Ottawa stage to deliver his victory speech. Photo: Karyn Pugliese/APTN. Canadians have handed the Liberals a slim fourth mandate, with Prime Minister Mark Carney to lead Canada through an economic crisis triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump. The NDP venue on the west coast had scant initial turnout immediately following the closure of polls. The Liberals have seen a massive rebound since the start of the year, after more than a year of the Conservatives being favoured to win a majority government while Justin Trudeau was in power. The Newfoundland riding that had been held for a decade by Gudie Hutchings, a Liberal cabinet minister, has flipped to the Conservatives. Hutchings had opted not to seek another mandate in this election. The Tories have lost the South Shore-St. Margarets riding in Nova Scotia, which had been held by Rick Perkins since 2021. Liberal candidate Jessica Fancy-Landry is projected to take the riding. Each of the main party leaders settled into their home ridings Monday after an eventful but compressed election period that lasted the minimum 37 days. Carney, a former central banker and a political neophyte, presented himself during the campaign as a safe pair of hands for a country facing Trump’s economic threats, while Poilievre focused on addressing crime and the high cost of living. While Singh started the campaign saying he was running for prime minister, he changed his message after two weeks and started calling on Canadians to elect New Democrats to protect social programs. His party was reduced to seven seats at the time this story was published. Singh, who lost his seat, announced that he will quit as party leader when an interim leader is chosen. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh addressing party faithful. Photo: Tina House/APTN. Trump loomed large over the campaign with his tariff threats and calls for Canada to become a U.S. state, causing Carney to leave the campaign trail at various times to hold meetings in his capacity as prime minister. The American president even weighed in early on election day with a post on his Truth Social platform, where he repeated calls for Canada to join the U.S. and wished “good luck to the Great people of Canada.” On the final full day of the campaign, all major party leaders paused to address a deadly vehicle attack at a Filipino community event in Vancouver that took the lives of at least 11 attendees, leaving more injured in hospital. When Parliament was dissolved, the Liberals held 153 seats in a minority government and the Conservatives formed the official Opposition with 120 seats. The Bloc Québécois held 33 seats, the NDP 24 and the Greens two. There were three independent MPs. Because of changes to riding boundaries, the 2025 general election had 343 seats contested, up from 338. Majority government status requires a minimum of 172 seats. With files from the Canadian Press.  Continue Reading