Riding high in the polls, the government of Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada came tantalizingly close to forming a parliamentary majority on Wednesday after another opposition lawmaker joined his Liberal Party.<\/p>\n
The defection by Marilyn Gladu, who had served a district in southwestern Ontario since 2015 as a Conservative, put Mr. Carney just one Liberal seat short of a majority. That would give his government broader powers to pass legislation and reshape Canada in the face of a changing global order.<\/p>\n
But it may be just a matter of days before Mr. Carney secures a majority. Liberal Party candidates are favored to win two special elections next Monday in Ontario, and are neck and neck in a third race in Quebec.<\/p>\n
Popular support for Mr. Carney, a centrist who has led a minority government since being elected a year ago, has continued to increase as he has positioned Canada to confront President Trump\u2019s economic and political threats.<\/p>\n
Mr. Carney has called for middle-power nations to rally together amid the breakdown<\/a> of the American-led, rules-based international order. Nearly 60 percent of Canadians approve of his performance as prime minister, according to polls<\/a>.<\/p>\n Four Conservative members of Parliament have quit their party to join the Liberals in recent months, further weakening the unpopular Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre<\/a>. One lawmaker from the left-leaning New Democrats also joined the Liberals.<\/p>\n Special elections will be held Monday to fill vacancies in two Liberal strongholds in the Toronto area, both won by Liberals with extremely wide margins last year.<\/p>\n In Canada, minority governments typically last 18 months before they are forced to call an election by opposition parties. But with a majority, Mr. Carney\u2019s government would be safe until 2029 when the next general election will have to be called, said Elizabeth McCallion, an expert on Parliament at the University of Toronto.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the biggest advantages of having a majority government is the stability that it offers,\u2019\u2019 Ms. McCallion said. \u201cIt gives the prime minister more confidence in moving forward.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n With the latest defection, Mr. Carney\u2019s Liberals currently hold 171 seats out of 343 in Parliament\u2019s House of Commons \u2014 one shy of a majority.<\/p>\n Many high-profile government members, including Mr. Carney, have made campaign visits to the electoral district of Terrebonne, northeast of Montreal, in Quebec, where the special election will be held Monday.<\/p>\n