Why Trudeau’s Stumbles Point to Gridlock for Canada

In a tight Canadian election that will be remembered for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s self-inflicted wounds, one thing that seems clear is that neither of the two main parties is poised to win enough seats to form a majority government. Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party, would have to join forces with the Green Party or the left-leaning New Democrats to stay in power for a second term. If the opposition Conservatives can muster the most seats by a good margin, their leader, Andrew Scheer, could cozy up to the Quebec separatists to form a government. The horse trading would start in earnest after the Oct. 21 vote.

Re-election was supposed to be a cakewalk for him. Yet missteps and an embarrassing revelation from the past have tarnished his credibility and raised doubts about his leadership. The release of photos and a video of him in blackface make-up decades ago undermined his image as a champion of diversity. So did his push to get Canada’s first indigenous attorney-general -- Jody Wilson-Raybould, whom he’d appointed -- to help allow SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. settle a fraud and corruption case out of court. Photos of Trudeau and his family in what many considered over-the-top garb during a trip to India also didn’t help.