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The 2019 Canadian election begins

» A lot has changed in the last four years; how will that affect this year’s election?

Craig Allan
Staff Writer

 

n September u, Prime Minister Justin

Trudeau met with Governor General
Julie Payette to declare dissolving of
parliament and the official start of the 2019
Canadian Federal Election campaign.

As Canada enters another federal
election, the world has changed
significantly since the previous election
four years earlier. 2015 was a very different
time when Trudeau beat Progressive
Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper
to lead the country. The concept of the
United Kingdom leaving the European
Union was still unlikely, and the prospect
of Donald Trump being president of the
United States was still laughable cannon
fodder. Four years on, and those ideas are
now reality. With a changing world and
changing ideas, Canada’s political parties
will be tested on how they can galvanize
the Canadian voters into electing their
party to possibly lead the next four years.

When Trudeau won back in 2015, he
was the leader of change. Squeaky clean
compared to his nine-year predecessor
in Harper. However, with four years as
Canada’s leader, Trudeau's reputation is
not as shiny as it once was. Between the
SNC-Lavalin scandal, his trip to India, and
his government backing the twinning of
the Trans Mountain Pipeline, things have
changed for him.

With Trudeau's less than stellar
reputation, the rise of populism, and more
right-leaning governments established
in the United States, Britain , Brazil, and
other major democracies, Trudeau hopes
to stem the tide; advertising himself as a
steady ship and pointing to the policies he
has made that have helped improve the
lives of Canadians over the last four years.

Trudeaus main competition will
be Conservative Party leader Andrew
Scheer. Scheer claimed the Conservative
Party leadership after winning a tight
race between him and leadership hopeful
Maxime Bernier, who would later defect
from the party and start his own, the
People’s Party of Canada. Scheer is
trying to place himself as the alternative
to Trudeau's policies. However, many
are worried about Scheer on issues like
abortion and gay rights —due to his
statements on gay marriage in 2005 and
his statement to CityNews on abortion that
“[he] will not be bringing forward motions
or legislations that would re-open those
types of debates.” Many are also worried
about his environmental policies as he is a
supporter of the Alberta oil sands, avery
worrying position to voters now. This is
no doubt a key issue to Canadians in this
election.

The plight of the environment will
be a big part of the New Democratic Party
(NDP), and Green Party platforms this
year. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Green
leader Elizabeth May both have declared

comprehensive climate action plans that
include committees and funding for low
emission vehicles.

For both of these parties this election
could be monumental for different reasons.
For the NDP, this election is critical for
their status as a party.

After being the official opposition for
the first time after the 20n election, the
party was quickly losing money under the
stewardship of their new leader Jagmeet
Singh; who became Canada’s first non-
white leader of a major political party
in 2017. If Singh loses anymore political

 

 

ground for his party this time around it
could spell disaster for the party. As for the
Greens, this year could be a breakthrough
year for them. With environmental
concerns a top priority this election
year and the Green Party positioning
themselves as the strongest representative
for environmental issues, this election may
see them break through their small party
status and into a position of being a real
political player.

With the election date set for October
14, polls are showing that the Liberals and
Conservatives are neck and neck. CBC poll

Photo by Billy Bui

analyst Eric Grenier’s Poll Tracker indicates
on September 22 that the Conservatives are
leading in the polls, but that the Liberals
would still win more seats. With Trudeau
looking for approval to his leadership,
Scheer looking to unseat the legacy prime
minister, and the NDP and Greens looking
not to lose ground—or looking to gain
ground for their respective parties, this
election is primed to be an important one
for the countries future. The campaigning
will no doubt be fierce and passionate as
the parties race to election night.