With polls throughout the election indicating the Liberals and Conservatives have been neck-and-neck, many are expecting no matter the outcome the result will be a minority government. 

There have been many questions about who will form government if it is a minority. While generally, the party with the most seats forms government, it isn’t necessarily how things break down in the Canadian system. 

Technically, the Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor General. Convention is the party with the most seats has their leader appointed to the role. They then serve as Prime Minister until they resign from the post.

When an election is finished, the Governor General either accepts the resignation of the sitting Prime Minister, or the Prime Minister indicates they have the confidence of the House of Commons to remain in the position. When there is a majority government, this doesn’t play a role. However, with a minority, it gets a little tricky.

The test of the confidence comes with the Throne Speech. It lays out the agenda for the current sitting of the House of Commons, and is subject to a vote. If the Prime Minister and his party can secure enough votes to show they have confidence of the House, then things keep moving along. To secure the votes, there will likely be negotiations and deals made. 

Now, if the Prime Minister and his party do not survive the vote of confidence from the Throne Speech, then the Governor-General has two options. 

The first is to dissolve Parliament, and call a new election. The likelihood of this happening is very low. The second option is to approach the party with the most seats, or second most seats, and ask if they have the confidence of the House of Commons to form government. This would result in another Throne Speech.

There are a number of different scenarios which could play out over the next few days. It will all depend on the results of the election, the willingness of parties to work together, and decisions made by the Prime Minister and the Governor General.