Former Canadian Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has suggested that Mark Carney should make a deal with the Conservative Party following his election victory last night. Speaking to UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers today, Ignatieff claimed that the country’s two main parties “could actually work together in some ways to address some of these long-term challenges” as Canada continues to respond to the “national emergency” of US President Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs and annexation.

Though a small proportion of votes are still being counted, at the time of writing Carney’s party is leading in 168 seats in the Canadian parliament, four short of the 172 it needs for a majority. Ignatieff told UnHerd this morning that the Prime Minister is “very close to a majority, so he may feel he can do without grand coalitions”, and instead opt for “some kind of confidence-and-supply arrangement” in order to push through his budget plan.

Ignatieff became Liberal leader in 2008 following a rapid political rise, having only been elected as an MP two years earlier — not dissimilarly to Carney, who succeeded Justin Trudeau as party leader and prime minister in March despite not being an MP or having previously held any kind of political office. In the 2011 federal election Ignatieff lost his seat as the Liberals fell to their worst ever showing, coming in third place behind the Conservatives and the Left-wing New Democratic Party.

While Ignatieff told UnHerd that “grand coalitions don’t have a long a history in Canada”, he added that “if this is a national crisis, it’s pretty important to find some way to talk to the Conservatives.” The former politician highlighted the “convergence between the Liberal and Conservative platforms” that has arisen from the response to Trump’s decision to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada. “All of these choices about how to get the economy going depend on maintaining the national unity of the country,” Ignatieff said, “and so you need to reach across the aisle to bring Conservative voters over to a kind of national programme.”

Though the Canadian Tories are projected to win 144 seats and over 41% of the popular vote, party leader Pierre Poilievre lost his own seat in Carleton, coming second to Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy. Speaking before the Carleton result was confirmed, Ignatieff said to UnHerd: “If, for example, Poilievre were to lose his seat, that then puts the whole of the Conservative Party in a kind of suspended animation until they can figure out what to do about the leadership problem. That would give Carney more time.”

The Liberals could also seek a deal with the separatist Bloc Québécois party, which is projected to win 23 seats. Ignatieff cautioned, however, that “when parties combine in coalitions the smaller party ends up getting eaten.”

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is UnHerd’s Deputy Editor, Newsroom.

RobLownie

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