Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at an election campaign stop in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, September 14, 2021. OTTAWA, Sept. 15 Reuters - The leader of Canada's main opposition party in October said a surge in inflation the following month highlighted the failure of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's economic policies and called on Canadians to vote out the government in an election next week.
Trudeau is tied ahead of the vote for Erin O'Toole, whose Conservatives are not struggling with the center-left Liberals that were tied to the polls, said it was clear Canadians were experiencing an affordability crisis.
It is troubling that Justin Trudeau seems to be apathetic towards the rising cost of living, which is being imposed on Canadians by inflation, he said in a statement.
Statistics Canada said the annual inflation rate accelerated to 4.1% in August 2000, highest level since March 2003.
The Liberals, in power for the past six years, heavily debated measures to overcome COVID -19 pandemic, racking up record debt and the highest budget deficits since World War Two. Trudeau will get more investments when he wins the election.
O'Toole said a liberal victory on 20 Sept would mean more extreme spending, more massive debt and more rising prices, adding that only his recovery plan would make life easier.
The Conservative leader is promising to make cuts within a decade without making changes but has not explained how.
Trudeau, who heads a minority government that relies on the support of opposition parties to pass legislation, called the election two years early last month to seek voters' support for his recovery plan. The Liberals, however, have watched their early lead in the polls quickly fade amid voter fatigue and unhappiness with the early election call.
A roll-in Nanos Research telephone survey of 1,200 Canadians for CTV on Wednesday put public support for the Liberals at 31,2% with the Liberals at 30.5% and the left-leaning New Democrats at 21.4%. In such a situation, if the result of election day would lead to a deadlock in which no party is able to form a majority government.
The survey has been considered accurate to within 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.