Clock starts ticking for Canada's Trudeau after bid for majority fails

FILE PHOTO: Canada's Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at an election campaign stop on the last campaign day before the election, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada September, 19, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau failed in his bid to win a Liberal majority government after a low-energy campaign in the middle of the pandemic, and party insiders see an increasing chance he will step down before the next vote.

Trudeau, 49, called Monday's election two years early seeking to benefit from his government's handling of COVID-19. But provisional results showed he came away with another minority administration, which will once again force him to work with opposition legislators.