Perhaps the most concise and accurate description of last night’s Canadian election is that it was one in which every major party, including the official winner, ultimately lost.

By way of background: enjoying decent poll numbers and expecting to benefit from a rapid increase in COVID-19 vaccinations throughout the summer, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals opted to call a snap federal election last month. As political gambles go, Trudeau’s was a relatively simple one. Amid rumors of deep internal conflict within the Conservative Party and polling that gave him a decent shot at reclaiming the majority he lost in 2019, Canada’s prime minister decided to dissolve parliament and seek a new mandate two years early. Absent from the calculation, apparently, was any perceived need to explain or rationalize the move — and, given its transparent opportunism, the backlash was swift.

Midway through the campaign, the main beneficiary appeared to be the Conservative Party under Erin O’Toole. Triangulating to the center and doing his utmost to sanitize the perpetually noxious Tory brand, O’Toole enjoyed a real if fleeting bump in the polls that momentarily suggested a surprise Conservative victory might be in the cards. The social democratic New Democratic Party (NDP), meanwhile, seemed to be enjoying unusually high levels of support and, banking on the personal popularity of its leader, Jagmeet Singh, hoped to make gains after a disappointing finish in 2019.