Trudeau planning snap elections for September: report

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is reportedly planning on holding a snap election for voter approval on government spending to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reports.

Multiple sources close to the matter told Reuters that Trudeau is set to host the election on Sept. 20 with the announcement expected to come on Sunday.

Reuters notes that Trudeau’s Liberal Party, which currently makes up the minority in the Canadian legislature, has racked up record levels of debt in spending to protect individuals and businesses from the pandemic.

Lawmakers in the Conservative Party of Canada, Trudeau’s main adversaries, have accused Liberals of excessive spending and burdening future generations with debt.

“Circumstances have changed massively since 2019. We need to know whether Canadians support our plans for economic recovery,” one source told Reuters.

When Trudeau assumed office in 2015, his party held the majority. However, after a blackface scandal surfaced in 2019, the Liberals lost the majority in Canada’s legislature.

Reuters notes that new polling has suggested that Liberals may have a chance at regaining a majority, with a survey from Abacus Data suggesting that Liberals would win 37 percent of the vote and Conservatives would win 28 percent if an election were to be held right now.

In order to launch the campaign, Trudeau will need to visit Queen Elizabeth’s representative to Canada Governor General Mary Simon. One source told Reuters that this visit is scheduled for Sunday, and the news service reports that experts believe she will agree.

The Hill has reached out to Trudeau’s office for comment.