TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th August, 2021) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will pull the trigger on a national election within the next week, potentially as early as Sunday, sources familiar with the matter told Sputnik.
Canada has lived under the swirl of election threats for nearly a year, with the country being on the edge of a call to the polls on several occasions, beginning with the heated discussions regarding the prime minister's COVID-19 recovery plan last September.
The "writ drop" will come on Sunday, one of the sources told Sputnik.
Another source purported that the election would be called immediately following the conclusion of the Nova Scotia general election, set for Tuesday, August 17. Analysts say the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the governing Liberal Party are attentively watching the race in Atlantic Canada, a Liberal stronghold where the party holds 27 out 32 Federal seats.
The rules set out by Elections Canada mandate that campaigns last between 36 and 50 days, meaning the earliest Canadians will go to the polls is September 20. However, one of the sources said that at least one of the opposition parties would be seeking an extended campaign of 50 days, which would see the election date set for some time in early October.
It is widely believed that Trudeau will ask newly minted Governor General of Canada, Mary Simon, to dissolve parliament citing non-confidence in the incumbent Liberal government on the part of opposition parties.
The leaders of Canada's two largest national opposition parties have called on Trudeau to press pause on an election call and put political interests aside ahead of an expected fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
"We shouldn't be rushing to an election," Conservative Party Leader Erin O'Toole said during a press briefing in Belleville, Ontario on Monday, adding, "Mr. Trudeau always seems to put his own self-interest ahead of the interest of Canadians."
New Democrat Party Leader Jagmeet Singh echoed O'Toole's comments, saying that the election "does not have to happen," while slamming Trudeau's alleged reasoning for calling an election. Singh stressed that the Liberals have been able to pass key legislation throughout the pandemic, rejecting the prime minister's claims that "toxicity" and "obstructionism" are hampering the minority parliament.
Trudeau's Liberals hold a nationwide lead as large as 12 percent, according to some of the latest polling numbers, which projections say would be enough for Trudeau to regain the majority mandate he lost in the 2019 federal election.
