Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
Steven Bonk, second from right, is congratulated on his win, the best performance of any MP-elect in Canada.
WEYBURN – In the basement of the Weyburn Legion Hall, Steven Bonk thanked supporters as he was elected in Souris-Moose Mountain with the highest plurality in the country at 83.9 per cent. But the former MLA, first-time Conservative MP also would be joining a caucus sitting in opposition, not government.
“I’m very pleased and thankful for the results here in Souris-Moose Mountain, but I admit that I’m a little bit disappointed with the results nationally. I was hoping that the Conservatives would have a strong majority, and hopefully we can hold the Liberals to minority government, but we’ll see how that goes by the end of the day,” Bonk said.
Asked if a pipeline might be built under the Liberals, he responded, “I struggle to believe too many things that the Liberals say they’ll do. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, and the Liberals have shown have a strong track record of trying to keep our resources in the ground and stopping any major projects from happening. So I don’t have a I don’t have a lot of faith in them, but hopefully the Conservatives can push them to to realize that there’s utility and some potential in Canada, if only they let us just do what we do best.”
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As election results came in, it became clear that the Mark Carney-led Liberals would be returned to power yet again, once more in a minority government. While the Conservatives notably increased their seat count, it was not enough to dethrone the Liberals. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s own seat was still very much in question late into the night, with Poilievre trailing his rookie opponent throughout the evening.
A defiant Poilievre implied he would stay on as leader, saying, “Every single day, our Conservative caucus and I will be holding the government to account on behalf of the millions of Canadians who believed in the message of change.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to supporters on election night in Ottawa, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Chris Young
The NDP were largely obliterated across the country, with just seven seats at midnight, well below official party status. Leader Jagmeet Singh resigned, having lost his own seat well back in third place with only 18.1 per cent of the vote in Burnaby Central. The Greens again elected its co-leader, Elizabeth May.
The Bloc Quebecois were reduced in seat count, but could hold the balance of power in the new parliament. As of midnight the Liberals’ 167 seats was still five short of a 172 majority. The NDP plus the Liberals would be 174, but when you take out one seat for the speaker you get 173, just about the skinniest majority possible. Without the Bloc’s assistance, there is a very real possibility that the Liberals could lose their first confidence vote on the Throne Speech in just a few weeks time. And without either the Block or NDP, they will surely lose.
That leaves open the possibility of a Conservative-Bloc coalition. At least it did before midnight. For a while it looked like the Conservatives and Bloc might have enough for a coalition, but with 145 seats for the Conservatives and 23 for the Bloc, the 168 total was even less promising than a Liberal-NDP coalition.
UPDATE: By 6 a.m. the Liberals had picked up one more seat in the unofficial count, according to CTV. With 168 for the Liberals and seven for the NDP, the combined 175 would provide a working majority, should the now-leaderless NDP throw their support behind the Liberals. At this point, the loss of one seat for the Conservatives was inconsequential, if these numbers hold.
The British call a minority parliament a “hung parliament,” and Canadians seem to have given themselves the closest definition of that term.
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Carney wins while Trump trolls
As for Prime Minister-elect Mark Carney, he has now been elected in his own right, albeit in a minority position.
In a time when foreign interference has been an issue in elections, the boogeyman in the race, President Donald Trump, yet again interfered in the election. Trump’s rhetoric about annexing Canada dramatically changed the polls leading up to the election. And on election day he posted on Truth Social, “Good luck to the Great people of Canada. Elect the man who has the strength and wisdom to cut your taxes in half, increase your military power, for free, to the highest level in the World, have your Car, Steel, Aluminum, Lumber, Energy, and all other businesses, QUADRUPLE in size, WITH ZERO TARIFFS OR TAXES, if Canada becomes the cherished 51st. State of the United States of America. No more artificially drawn line from many years ago. Look how beautiful this land mass would be. Free access with NO BORDER. ALL POSITIVES WITH NO NEGATIVES. IT WAS MEANT TO BE! America can no longer subsidize Canada with the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year that we have been spending in the past. It makes no sense unless Canada is a State!”
Carney responded in his speech, saying, “We are once again at one of those hinge moments of history: Our old relationship with the United States, a relationship based on steadily increasing integration, is over.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addresses supporters at Liberal campaign headquarters in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
“The system of open global trade anchored by the United States, a system that Canada has relied on since the Second World War, a system that, while not perfect, has helped deliver prosperity for a country for decades, is over. These are tragedies, but it’s also our new reality. We are over. We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons we have to look out for ourselves and above all, we have to take care of each other.
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“When I sit down with President Trump, it will be to discuss the future economic and security relationship between two sovereign nations, and it will be with our moral full knowledge that we have many, many other options than the United States to build prosperity for all Canadians, strengthen our relationships with reliable partners in Europe, Asia and elsewhere. If the United States no longer wants to play a top role in the world economy, Canada will do so.”
“We are masters of our own home. We will build 1000s of homes and energy, super power, a good career in the specialized trades in a single Canadian economy, not 13, because this is Canada, and we decide what happens here.
He added, “We will need to do things previously thought impossible at speeds we haven’t seen in generations. It’s time to build twice as many homes every year with an entirely new housing industry using Canadian technology, Canadian skilled workers, Canadian lumber.
“It’s time to build new trade and energy corridors, working in partnership with the provinces, territories and Indigenous peoples. It’s time. It’s time to build hundreds of thousands of not just good jobs, but good careers in the skilled trades. It’s time to build Canada into an energy super power, in both clean and conventional energy. And it’s time to build an industrial strategy that makes Canada more competitive while fighting climate change.”
Carney said, “The point is that we can give ourselves far more than the Americans can ever take away. But even given that, I want to be clear, the coming days and months will be challenging, and they will call for some sacrifices, but we will share those sacrifices by supporting our workers and our businesses.
“Challenges ahead of us are intimidating. That’s normal. Change such as what we’re going through right now is always worry. We have a lot of work to do, but I’m confident. I have confidence in you. I have confidence in Canada,because Canada is more than a nation.”
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