OTTAWA, Ontatio — Prime Minister Mark Carney returned to his office as usual after his Liberal Party secured a mandate to govern in the Canadian election.

His main opponent, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, returned to his own district having lost his seat. The Blue Wave that seemed inevitable just three months ago vanished in less than five weeks.

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New Democrats’ leader Jagmeet Singh resigned after the bottom fell out of his party, which will possibly lose official status due to their meager results. The Bloc Québécois is downplaying its separatist aspirations in favor of unity and cooperation with the Liberals against national threats.

Although he fell short of winning a majority, Canada now belongs to Carney, who has the unenviable job of picking up the pieces of a polarized and frustrated nation — steering it straight into the looming trade war with the United States.

Residents of Saskatchewan and Alberta, Conservative strongholds fed up with the last 10 years of Liberal leadership, hope Carney’s promise of taking the country in a new direction was not empty.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe offered cautious congratulations to the prime minister despite his province voting uniformly for the Conservatives, save one seat in the district of Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River that went red.

“While you had very strong support in some parts of Canada, there are many Canadians, including most of us in Saskatchewan, who voted for a degree of change,” the premier said at an event in Regina, directing his comments at the prime minister. “Now it’s up to you to show that you have heard that message and to deliver change.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford regularly criticized his own side during the election season, complaining that the federal Conservative Party failed to properly address the threat of trade tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. He won his own reelection race in a February snap election.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday, the premier pushed for Conservative collaboration with the Liberals as a means of survival.

“This election comes at a crucial time for Ontario and for Canada. Workers, families, and businesses are navigating the economic uncertainty caused by President Trump’s tariffs, and they are counting on all levels of government to work together to protect Canada,” Ford said.

For many, Ford was not the ideal spokesman for such a message.

Ford faced intense criticism from fellow Conservatives following their Election Day losses, with reelected members of parliament pointing the finger at the Ontario premier as an “opportunist” and “hype man to the Liberal party”.

Conservative MP Jamil Jivani, known for his friendship with Vice President JD Vance, used an interview with the CBC following his reelection as an opportunity to call out Ford by name.

“I see Doug Ford as a problem for Ontario and for Canada,” Jivani said. “He has taken the provincial Conservative Party and turned it into something hollow, unprincipled, something that doesn’t solve problems.”

He continued, “When it was our turn to run an election, he couldn’t stay out of our business, always getting his criticisms and all his opinions out, distracting our campaign, trying to make it about him, trying to position himself as some kind of political genius that we need to be taking cues from.”

Carney’s Liberals could seek a partnership with the New Democratic Party, but the near extinction of orange seats and crushing defeat of leader Singh in Burnaby Central leaves the party rudderless.

“Choosing to commit your life to politics obviously comes with some sacrifice, but we choose this life because of the chance to change the country you love for the better,” Singh said in his concession speech Monday night before stepping down from NDP leadership. “We may lose sometimes, and those losses hurt.”

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, who just days ago called Canada an “artificial country with very little meaning”, is now positioning himself as a potential ally of the Liberals after coming in third on Monday.

He acknowledged Quebec continues to have different priorities and concerns than the rest of the nation, but warned “federalist parties will have to be worked with because we have a crisis managed by the Canadian government.”

“We will be different, won’t get along on everything, but we will have to show restraint,” Blanchet told the press on Tuesday morning. “I genuinely believe Quebecers and Canadians expect the new parliament to be stable and responsible.”

French President Emmanuel Macron was among the first to speak with Carney on Tuesday, saying he had an “excellent discussion” with the prime minister.

“I congratulated him on his election, and we reviewed the joint projects between Canada and France, as well as the challenges ahead of the G7 Summit in Kananaskis this June,” Macron said.

France’s immediate support is a payoff from seeds Carney planted early in his leadership.

After being selected to replace former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in March, Carney bucked tradition by skipping an inaugural visit to the United States. Instead, he traveled to Europe to meet with leaders of Canada’s progenitors — France and the United Kingdom.

LIBERAL PARTY WINS CANADIAN ELECTION, BUT CHANCES OF MAJORITY GOVERNMENT FADE

Trump looms over the disjointed landscape of Canadian politics as an existential threat. The punishing tariffs and recurring overtures to annexing the U.S.’s northern neighbor were the defining issue that won Carney his election.

The prime minister acknowledged this reality in his victory speech on Monday night.

“Our old relationship with the United States, a relationship based on steadily increasing integration, is over,” Carney warned, stating that Canada is “over the shock over American betrayal” but “will never forget the lessons.”

Carney must now rally together those bitter about his victory to craft a government capable of striking back at the president seeking to make his nation the “cherished 51st state.”