Canada renews Liberal mandate, with new cautions and conditions

Canadians have returned the Liberal government to Ottawa, though with new limits on that government’s authority. Businesses, consumers and families may find new opportunities— as well as a few new risks—as the government seeks to enact budgetary, tax and environmental policies that can bridge regional and political divisions.

_{SOURCE: The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-federal-election-2019-results-trudeau-liberal-minority-explainer/}

Canada’s 2019 federal election has concluded, ballots have been counted and the Liberal party will be returning to Ottawa to form government, although this time without a majority in Parliament.

After a 40-day campaign, the election results answer some key questions, but also raise new questions and uncertainties stemming from regional and political divisions:

• The Bloc Quebecois has surged since the last election, dominating Quebec at the expense of the other parties.
• The two top political parties received almost the same share of the popular vote, although the party with the higher popular vote, the Conservatives, will not be forming government.
• Sentiment in the West, particularly in Alberta and Saskatchewan, has leaned even further towards the Conservative party, with both the Liberals losing the few seats they held in those provinces and the NDP losing all but one.

Prior to the election, Grant Thornton released a summary of the major party platforms with a particular focus on tax and business-related items. Today we are revisiting our comparison to consider what policy changes we might expect now that the election results are in, and what those policy changes might mean for Canadians. The focus of this analysis will be on key policy proposals through the following lenses:

1. Impact on Canadian businesses and business owners;
2. Impact on Canadian families and homeowners; and
3. Impact on Canadian consumers.

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