Canadians vote in crucial elections

KABUL (Pajhwok): In a key election overshadowed by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and annexation threat, Canadians set to elect a new government today (Monday).

Mark Carney’s Liberals are in a bid to extend their hold on power against Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives, Bloomberg reported.

For winning the vote, the Liberals are looking to benefit from the slumping support for the New Democrats, the Bloc Quebecois and even the Green.

After an end to voting in all of Atlantic Canada, less than 10 percent of districts across the country will be reporting results at 7:30pm.

Ontario with 122 seats and Quebec, having 78 berths, make up 58% of seats in play.

Initial results will pour in just after 7:30pm, when voting ends in the four Atlantic provinces, which account for less than 10% of the seats in play.

Most of results will come in at 9:30pm. The outcome of the ballot could be known shortly afterwards.

Earlier in the year, Trump’s tariffs and barbs about making Canada the “51st state” upended Canada’s politics and lent Liberal Party a new lease of life.

According to the BBC, the final polls indicate the Liberals are slightly ahead, although the race has become tough in the past week.

Given the anger over the US president’s provocative moves, the electoral contest is widely seen as a referendum on how Canada should approach Trump.

PAN Monitor/mud