Race is on: Canadians head to polls Sept. 20
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asks new Gov. Gen. Mary Simon to dissolve Parliament, calls snap election
An unidentified voter heads into a polling station in Iqaluit in October 2019, the last time Canadians went to the polls in a federal election. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called an election Sunday for Sept. 20. (Nunatsiaq News file photo by Dustin Patar)
The race is on but Nunavummiut and Nunavimmiut don’t yet know who’s all in the running.
On Sunday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a federal election for Sept. 20, and in the Nunavut riding, Iqaluit lawyer Lori Idlout, who is running for the NDP, is the only candidate who has been named so far.
Idlout won the NDP’s nomination last week, which was decided by a coin toss after she was tied with another contender.
The NDP needed a new candidate in Nunavut because MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq announced in May she would not seek a second term in the job she won in 2019.
In Nunavik, the picture is a little clearer. Bloc Québécois MP Sylvie Bérubé is seeking re-election in the Abitibi-Baie James-Eeyou-Nunavik riding but is facing a challenge from Liberal Lise Kistabish. Other parties’ websites did not indicate on Sunday who their candidates are yet.
To call an election, Trudeau first needed to visit Gov. Gen. Mary Simon at Rideau Hall in Ottawa to ask her to dissolve the Parliament that was elected in October 2019. Simon, an Inuk from Nunavik, became Canada’s first Indigenous governor general just a few weeks ago, at the end of July. Dissolving Parliament was her first high-profile responsibility since taking on her new role.
Sincere question to the pundits and spectators among us, is there any good reason to have an election now, especially during a pandemic?
It seems we are doing this because Trudeau wants a majority Liberal government, and nothing else. Are we really going to reward him with that?
Traditionally in Canada, voter turnout is highest amongst elders. Also, Canada has a lot of ridings where the margin of victory was very small in the last elelction.
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It’s curious that on Friday elders received a letter from the Federal government, telling them that it was giving each of them $500, and on Sunday an election is called.
But I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.
Not all elders. Only elders who are at least 75 years of age. Those are the World War Two veterans and their spouces, some of whom were soldiers and others who worked in the factories.
The Greatest Generation is still a force to be reconned with in Canadian politics.
Orange seems an appropriate colour to vote for. 🙂
It really doesn’t though…
Too bad she did not exericise her power to first ask if anyone else wanted to try to form a government. Would have been interesting, but now we will never know.
Sept 20th can’t come fast enough.
I’ve had enough of Mumilaaq. Our territory and our people deserve better and on Sept 20th we get to fix a mistake made 2 years ago.
The time is right for an election. Trudeau has a very good chance of forming a majority government and the voters have the opportunity of giving him a strong mandate or not. Carrying on with a minority government is not strategic for anyone. Frankly, none of the other parties have strong enough leaders to take the helm right now. Given all that has happened over the last 2 years I suspect he will take the reigns again. Whether it is minority again or majority remains to be seen. I do hope Trudeau has matured over the last few years as a politician and won’t besmirch the office with any more stupid scandals or missteps.
Crystal, the time might be right for an election, if your only calculus is to enhance power, reduce accountability and alleviate the nuisance of having to work with others and build consensus. I don’t see any of that being in the interests of the country, only the Liberal party.
You seem to allude to a greater good when you suggest that to continue with a minority “is not strategic for anyone.” But I’m struggling to make sense of what that means. Can you explain?
He thinks he’s getting a majority election. Sick that he is calling an election during the middle of this 4th wave. I will not give Justin the satisfaction of a majority government. I am a liberal at heart but I will be voting blue this year
I am with you and will likely vote blue too, even though I am not that impressed with their leadership. I just can not vote for Justin again. I would be happy with a very thin Liberal minority.