Canadians Can Expect An Election For September 20

Trudeau is planning to visit Rideau Hall on Sunday to ask that Parliament be dissolved, said sources close to the Prime Minister.

Parliament Hill sources also stated that the Prime Minister is then expected to announce a 36 day campaign — the minimum campaign length permitted by law — meaning voting day would be Monday, September 20.

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole has criticized the idea of calling a federal election during a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic but said he’s ready to take on the Liberals.

“Justin Trudeau’s planning an election in the middle of a pandemic because he’s focused on politics,” he tweeted. “It’s time we had a Prime Minister planning an economic recovery focused on Canadians. We’re ready.”

As of now, the Liberal Party holds 155 seats in the House of Commons. The Conservatives have 119, the Bloc has 32, the NDP holds 24 and the Greens have two seats. Five members sit as Independents and one seat is vacant.

Undoubtedly, Trudeau is eager to call an election due to polling indicating that if an election were held today, the current state of the Canadian parliament would change from a Liberal minority government to a majority.

OUR VIEW:

No surprises here. It has been highly expected over the past month that Trudeau would call an election given his current popularity in the polls.

However, the question remains: why is it okay for our Prime Minister to call a snap election and expect Canadians to go to the polls, when the same government mandates that Canadians refrain from travelling abroad and quarantine in COVID-19 hotels upon return to Canada (if unvaccinated)?

It is convenient that Trudeau trusts Canadians to use their sense of safety and judgement when heading to the polls, but will not risk COVID-19 infections when it comes to granting Canadians their basic rights to travel.

If an election is indeed called this Sunday, it will be yet another example of Trudeau demonstrating his disregard for Canadians in pursuit of his own self interests.

(Photo credit: Peter Power/CP)