OTTAWA, 22 September 2021, (TON): According to projections by television networks “Canadians returned Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to power in hotly contested elections against a rookie conservative leader, but he failed to gain an absolute majority.”

After a bumpy five weeks of campaigning, his voice was raspy and he appeared set for a repeat of the close 2019 general election that resulted in the one-time golden boy of Canadian politics clinging to power yet weakened after losing his majority in parliament.

At 49, Trudeau had faced tougher political bouts and still came out unscathed.

After six years in power, however, his administration is showing signs of fatigue, and it was an uphill battle for him to convince Canadians to stick with his Liberals after falling short of high expectations set in his 2015 landslide win.

Canadian Prime Minister leader Justin Trudeau (C) watches election results with wife Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau and children, Xavier, Ella-Grace and Hadrien, at Liberal headquarters in Montreal on Sept 20, 2021.

Throughout the day, long lineups outside polling stations were observed by journalists in several major cities.

Douglas O'Hara, 73, casting a ballot in Trudeau's Montreal electoral district of Papineau, said earlier that he was “very disappointed” with the prime minister.

Although he believes Trudeau “did a half-decent job” managing the pandemic, he recalled that the leader had pledged not to go to the polls until the outbreak had subsided.