Trudeau ekes out victory in Canada

Justin Trudeau clinched a second term as Canadian prime minister in Monday’s national elections, but his Liberal Party lost its majority rule. With 156 seats, it still has the most of any party but will have to rely on political opponents to get the 170 votes needed to pass legislation.

How did Trudeau’s campaign go? In August, Canada’s ethics commission found he improperly pressured a former attorney general to stop the criminal prosecution of a company in Quebec. Last month, he apologized for dressing in racially offensive costumes years ago. The scandals tarnished his reputation leading up to the election, but he got a boost in the form of an unprecedented endorsement last week from former U.S. President Barack Obama.

Dig deeper: Read Ashifa Kassam’s deep dive in The Guardian on how Trudeau, the son of a former prime minister, built his political brand.