Justin Trudeau has "no plans" to form coalition with other parties

While the idea of a coalition government had been floated amongst political pundits prior to the federal election on Monday, Liberal Party Leader and re-elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quickly put those ideas to rest on Wednesday, during his first post-election press conference.

Asked about the potential possibility of a coalition in the light of the Liberals winning a minority, Trudeau said he intends “to sit down with all party leaders in the coming weeks to talk about their priorities about how we can work together to respond to the preoccupations that Canadians have.”

And while he said those conversations will be “varied and various,” Trudeau said it is not in his government’s plans “at all” to form “any sort of coalition government.”

There was talk of a Liberal-NDP coalition during the advance polling period on Thanksgiving weekend, with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh going as far as to list his priorities in just such an event.

However, both party leaders eventually backed away from the topic.

• See also
  • Trudeau says Canadians rejected “division and negativity” in victory speech
  • Christy Clark doles out unsolicited post-election advice to federal leaders
  • What happens if no party wins a majority in the federal election

Despite the Liberals only winning a minority — as opposed to a majority government like they did in 2015 — Trudeau said during his victory speech on Monday that Canadians “voted in favour of a progressive agenda,” and are sending him and his team back to Ottawa “with a clear mandate.”