Canadian voters will be deciding who will be voted into power in Ottawa on September 20th 2021. The current Prime minister, Justin Trudeau, issued a snap election with the intent to attain a renewed majority in parliament. He is currently in power with a minority government of 157 seats. Trudeau explained that this election might be seen as one of the most important in our history due to the current global pandemic.
According to Daniel Beland, McGill university professor, the liberals won’t have an easy path to victory. Rather, their position in the province of Quebec and British Columbia remains unsure. Beland, McGill professor, explained to Al Jazeera that “The Liberals have been ahead of the Conservatives for a very long time … but if you look at seat projections it’s basically like you flip a coin and maybe 50-50 chance they will get a majority,” (Jillian Kestler D’Amours, AL Jazeera, august 15 2021)
According to Global News reporter Daniel Tisch, the leading parties in the upcoming election have only a few dividing policies. On the liberal front, Trudeau is aiming at policy concerning climate change and child care which have been popular subjects of interest for him in the past.
More importantly, he is focused on mandatory vaccinations for government workers and travelers. This is definitely a point of contention between the different parties.
According to Tisch, the biggest risk for Trudeau is how he will handle the upcoming wave of the delta variant. In other words, his handling of the pandemic might well be the answer to the contention of his continued political power.
On the conservative side, Erin O’Toole, has proposed a plan to recover from the economic issues caused by the current pandemic and will hope to lead the charge through greater wages and subsidizing investments. According to Tisch, the conservative’s chances lie in the feeling of a need for change, and other parties such as the NDP are too close to the liberals to mark a real change. On the other hand, Tisch argues that the conservative’s position on mandatory vaccination for travelers and public workers has positioned them away from the majority of voters.
The NDP Jagmeet Sing, is well-positioned to be favored by generation z according to Global News reporter Daniel Tisch. Sing’s continued positivism and optimism has been met with increased popularity. On the other hand, the concern with his policies is the lack of realism when it comes to actualizing his propositions.
The case of the Canadian Greens
Annamie Paul, leader of the Canadian Greens has to climb an uphill battle to win her own seat as she decided to run in a historically liberal riding. Furthermore, the continued lack of unity within the Green party has done everything but help her case.
According to Frazer Snowden, the Canadian Greens will have to deal with a number of issues. Their leader, Annamie Paul, remains hopeful and argues that the pandemic has woken up a need for change. According to Tim Abray, professor of political science at Queenes University, the biggest issue for paul will be to win her own seat. He explains that “I don’t envy her position. It was already going to be tough because of the riding she chose to run in.” (Frazer Snowden, Global News, August 15, 2021)
Moreover, an expert in voter behavior, Abray, continues to explain the difficulty of Paul’s position by arguing that her current lack of stability within the Greens will make it even more difficult for her to win over the general voter population. He finishes by explaining that we can compare her current state in the run as “starting a race without a driver”.(Frazer Snowden, Global News, August 15, 2021) Paul needs to overcome the liberal MP ,Marci Ien, in the Toronto riding. This is no walk in the park as Ien was a CTV news anchor and quite well known in the community. Moreover, Ian has a history of beating Paul in the Toronto riding as Ien won last year, as well as in 2019.
For more information:
https://globalnews.ca/news/8114517/green-party-annamie-paul-election-challenges/
https://globalnews.ca/news/8120159/canada-election-how-the-major-party-leaders-stack-up-so-far/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/15/canada-trudeau-triggers-snap-election-in-push-for-majority
English (Canada) 
Français 