The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, has triggered the formal launch of the 2019 federal election campaign.
On Wednesday the 11th of September, Trudeau met with Governor General Julie Payette to request the dissolution of Parliament, marking the start of the campaign season for Canada’s 43rd general election.
The election of the 338 members of the House of Commons is scheduled to hold on the 21st of October.
An Important Choice
Trudeau, who is seeking a second four-year mandate, said Canadians have “an important choice to make.”
He told reporters outside the Governor General’s Rideau Hall: “We’ve done a lot together these past four years, but the truth is, we’re just getting started. So Canadians have an important choice to make. Will we go back to the failed policies of the past, or will we continue to move forward? That’s the choice. It’s that clear. And it’s that important. I’m for moving forward for everyone.”
A Tough Campaign
Trudeau’s campaign is tainted by a recent ethics scandal, which opposition politicians are keen to capitalise on.
In August, news broke that the prime minister had breached ethics rules by interfering in the prosecution of an engineering firm, SNC-Lavalin. Trudeau said he did it to save Canadian jobs.
The SNC-Lavalin affair has, nonetheless, dwindled his popularity.
Trudeau, leader of the Liberal party, will be facing off against Andrew Scheer, leader of the Conservative Party, Canada’s other main political party. Scheer, formerly less popular than Trudeau, has recorded significant gains in popularity since the start of election season in the country.
Other contenders include the New Democratic Party’s Jagmeet Singh, the first non-white leader of a federal party in Canada, and the Greens’ Elizabeth May.
Trudeau has history on his side, as Reuters notes that since 1935, a Canadian prime minister who won a parliamentary majority in his first term has never been booted from office in the next election.
Polls suggest the Liberals and Conservatives are in a near tie in Canada.
