Carney secures Liberal majority after special election wins

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal Party has secured a slim majority in the House of Commons, solidifying its hold on power after being projected by Canadian media to win at least two seats in by-elections on Monday.

The election gains come a year after Carney took office, and follow five defections by opposition members of parliament to the Liberals.

Liberals would now hold 173 of the 343 seats in the House, giving Carney more latitude with his political agenda. Results in a third special election are still unclear.

His party will have the ability to pass legislation without relying on support from opposition benches and he could stave off a federal election until 2029.

CBC, CTV and the Globe and Mail are projecting Liberal wins in two Toronto-area ridings, or constituencies - Scarborough Southwest and University-Rosedale.

The seats in Toronto were left vacant after former Liberal Defence Minister Bill Blair was appointed to be Canada's ambassador to the UK and Chrystia Freeland, who served as deputy prime minister under Trudeau, became an adviser to Ukraine.

Carney congratulated both candidates, Danielle Martin and Doly Begum, on their wins on X on Monday night.

A third by-election, in the Quebec riding of Terrebonne, showed Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste with a slight lead over the Bloc Quebecois's Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné at 22:30 local time on Monday (02:30 GMT), with about 30% of the ballots counted.

Auguste won that riding by a single vote in the last election before the results were tossed by the Supreme Court earlier this year over a clerical error on a mail-in ballot.

The majority marks a significant turnaround of fortunes for the Liberals, who were expected to lose last year's election before former leader Justin Trudeau ended nearly a decade in power and resigned in January.

That paved the way for Carney to succesfully run to lead the party, and last April he led the Liberals to a minority government win as support surged around the party in response to aggressive rhetoric from US President Donald Trump.

This is the first time in Canada that a majority was formed through a combination of special elections and defections to the governing party.

Trudeau was the last prime minister to form a majority government after he swept the 2015 election, but his government was later reduced to a minority.

Before the by-elections, Carney had already been able to shore up his bench in the House of Commons with five defectors - four Conservatives and one member of the left-wing New Democratic Party - over the last five months.

Canadian media have reported in recent days that a handful of other MPs are also being courted by the Liberals to cross the floor.

"The Carney Liberals did not win a majority government through a general election or today's by-elections. Instead, it was won through backroom deals with politicians who betrayed the people who voted for them," said Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre on X on Monday night.

He added: "Liberals expect Canadians to give up, get complacent and go away, so Carney can have total power without any accountability. That will not happen. Our country and its people are worth fighting for."