Historical evidence suggests Trudeau’s task will not be easy. There were three consecutive minority governments from 2004 to 2011 — one Liberal and two Conservative — and none lasted more than 2½ years. “[Liberals] need to change how they do their business. If they continue as usual, it’s sending a signal that they haven’t really been listening to anybody,” said Libby Davies, who was House leader for the smaller left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) for all three of those governments. “Not only the leaders, but the key people around them have got to look at this different political environment,” she said in an interview.