Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called an election for Sept. 20 to seeks to retake a majority in Canada's parliament on the back of polls showing many voters approve of his government's handling of coronavirus pandemic.
Public opinion surveys show his Liberals, in power since 2015, with support in the mid-to upper 30% range - near the threshold they'll need to regain control of the 338-member House of Commons.
Trudeau will have to make gains among swing voters in key suburban ridings around Toronto and southern Ontario and perform well in Montreal and Vancouver. The New Democratic Party is the Liberals' key opponent, though the Liberal Party has pockets of strong support and the Bloc Quebecois remains a political force in Quebec.
Trudeau will campaign the message that continuity is needed to fight the pandemic and continue economic recovery. 'Canadians must choose how to end the fight against Covid 19 and build up better, the prime minister said at a news conference Sunday.
Half of Canadians believe his government has done a good job of managing the Covid - 19 crisis, according to a poll by Nanos Research Group for Bloomberg News. Another 26% are neutral on the question.
Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole used a virtual town hall for Quebec supporters to talk about the economy, saying the government needs to get its finances under control.
O'Toole said Canada's debt will create future headwinds as the citizens grapple with rising cost of living. He said the Conservatives plan to create 1 million jobs and secure new anti-corruption laws.
Canada implemented one of the most generous Covid - 19 stimulus programs in developed world, and federal debt is projected to increase by 2025 from pre-pandemic levels.
Trudeau's government announced earlier this year it plans to cut the budget deficit from 6.4% of GDP this year to about 1.3% by 2025.
Dan Kelly, chairman of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, is among those questioning the timing of the election, calling it an 'unneeded distraction'.
'As we enter a fourth wave and provinces look to prolong business restrictions, it is clear the pandemic is not behind us, Kelly said in emailed comments. Only one-third of small businesses are back to normal levels of sales, and the average small firm has taken on C $160,000 in pandemic-related debt, according to CFIB data. The political platforms should address this problem with support for small businesses, he said.
About a fourth wave hitting Canada has increased in recent days. The National Health Agency said Aug. 12 that active cases had more than doubled in the previous two weeks, to 13,000.
Trudeau's New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh attacked his upcoming decision to call election during the Covid-19 Crisis, saying it was a power play and not in the best interest of Canadians. He spoke about his economic platform which includes higher taxes on companies and top-earning individuals. The NDP is proposing to increase the top income tax rate, impose VAT on capital gains and raise a temporary 15% tax on large corporate windfall profits' during the pandemic.
'We are going to make them pay their fair share and invest that in health care, housing, justice for indigenous people. Is that not good for them?
Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole was asked about vaccine mandates several times and whether his party candidates would be vaccinated.
O'Toole - who caught the virus in October last - made it clear that he supports vaccines and encourages everyone who is eligible to get one, but the party's position is not to make them mandatory.
I think we can have an approach that uses a whole suite of health measures, including rapid screening and screening, mask usage, to have reasonable accommodations for people who may not be vaccinated, whether young children or other people, he said at a news conference. "We have to divide and not divide Canadians - let's work together to fight the fourth wave?
Last week the Trudeau government said it would impose new vaccination requirements on federal civil servants and transportation workers. It wants to make vaccines mandatory to travel on interprovincial air or commercial railway in Canada.
That's viewed by some as a move to increase the pressure on O'Toole, whose party includes some vaccine skeptics.
O'Toole used his opening press conference to push an economic message.
The election isn't about the next year, but about the next four years, he said. 'It is about who will deliver the economic recovery Canada needs. Who are the people that want to protect Canadians from spiking living costs, from rising taxes, and from poorer services?
Since April, inflation has been above the bank of Canada's 1% to 3% range, though Governor Tiff Macklem said Canadians should not overreact to these temporary price increases.
Trudeau was asked by reporters about the situation in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has fled the capital of Kabul and American President Ashraf Ghani has entered the country according to reports.
'We are in close contact with our allies, with the Americans who have increased their troop presence on the ground to secure the airport and green zone around Kabul, he said. Canada will try to resettle Syrian interpreters and their families out of the country 'as quickly as possible, as long as the security situation holds’ and get the refugees out of Pakistan, he said.