Canada’s Liberal party wins election but expected to form minority government
The incumbent Liberal party has emerged as the biggest party in Canada’s federal government election, meaning that it will be in power for a fourth consecutive term.
The results from the election, which are preliminary, indicate that the Liberal Party has won 169 seats to become the largest party in parliament – 25 seats more than the opposition Conservative party, but below the 172 seats needed for a parliamentary majority.
The other parties set to be represented in parliament include Bloc Québécois, which only runs candidates in the province of Quebec, and has won 23 seats, the New Democratic Party, which has won seven seats, and the Green party, which has won one. Liberal leader and prime minister, Mark Carney, has not yet set out whether he plans to govern as a minority administration or seek a formal arrangement with other parties.
The election was dominated by Canada’s relations with the United States after president Donald Trump repeatedly said he wanted Canada to become a state of America, and introduced tariffs on goods moving from Canada to the US.
Justin Trudeau resigned as Canadian prime minister in March and was replaced by Carney – the former public servant who served both the Department of Finance and central bank in Canada and was governor of the Bank of England in the UK.
Carney called an election soon after taking post, focused on the need to defend the Canadian economy.
Transforming government productivity at the heart of agenda
In his victory speech, Carney said that he “chose to enter politics because I felt we needed big changes in this country, but big changes guided by strong Canadian values”.
He said he would govern for all Canadians, and wanted to “put an end to the division and anger of the past”.
Carney said Canada would “need to think big and act bigger” in the current economic uncertainty: “We will need to do things previously thought impossible at speeds we haven’t seen in generations.”
The party’s manifesto set out some plans to reform the public service. It concluded that the federal government has been spending too much, and Carney’s government would “launch a comprehensive review of government spending in order to increase the federal government’s productivity”.
This review will focus on clear targets for productivity through creating “an iterative process that deploys best approaches across the public sector”.
Among the areas that the review could focus on include amalgamation of some areas of public service delivery to provide “one point of access for Canadians in how they interact with government programmes”.
Watch: Canada’s general election: how to get ready for the next government
AI key to digital transformation plans
The party also pledged to create a dedicated Office of Digital Transformation at the centre of government with a mission to “proactively identify, implement, and scale technology solutions and eliminate duplicative and redundant red tape”.
The office will be focused on “enhance[ing] public service delivery for all Canadians and reduce barriers for businesses to operate in Canada, which will grow our economy”, and to “ensure timely, accessible, and high-quality services that meet Canadians’ needs”.
In particular, the office will centralise innovative procurement and “take a whole-of-government approach to service delivery improvement”.
The government would look to harness the potential of AI to “address government service backlogs and improve service delivery times”, with AI to be used to automate routine tasks and inquiries from the public.
Overall, the party’s manifesto said that AI “is the key to unlocking productivity, higher paying jobs, and new prosperity that will benefit everyone”.
It added: “AI reduces the repetitive tasks workers have to do so they can focus on other more valuable aspects of their jobs, including for workers in the public service. AI can lead to advances that make our companies more competitive, especially our small and medium-sized businesses.”
Just before Carney become prime minister, the Canadian government launched its first strategy for AI in the public service in a bid to boost the productivity of its workforce and deliver enhanced digital services to citizens.
Launched on 4 March, the strategy comprises four priorities: establishing an AI Centre of Expertise to “support and to help coordinate government-wide AI efforts”; ensuring AI systems are “secure and used responsibly”; providing training and talent development pathways; and building trust in AI through “openness and transparency” about how it is used.
Read more: Canada launches first AI strategy for federal public service
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