Canadian PM Justin Trudeau plans to hold snap elections: Reports

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is planning to hold snap elections on September 20 this year in order to seek voter approval for the government’s costly plan to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, according to media reports citing sources familiar with the matter.

Trudeau is expected to announce the snap election plan later this week. Officials, who according to media reports have requested anonymity, said that the ruling party in Canada would rally to hold the vote before 2021 ends, which is two years before the scheduled timeline.

Trudeau took the Canadian Prime Minister’s office in 2015 and secured 338 seats in the House of Commons. However, his majority was reduced after old photos of him wearing blackface emerged.

“Circumstances have changed massively since 2019. We need to know whether Canadians support our plans for economic recovery”, one of the sources said, according to reports from Reuters.

Due to the loss of political capital, Trudeau’s party majorly relies on support from other parties with similar ideologies to make an impact in the country’s legislative processes. Trudeau, in recent months, has called labelled this backlash as opposition obstruction.

Growth is set to rebound in the third quarter and Canada currently has one of the world’s best inoculation rates.

According to media reports, the snap elections, if conducted, are likely to play in favour of Prime Minister Trudeau as Canada has demonstrated one of the best inoculation rates and the economy is projected to rebound in the third quarter.

Anita Anand, Canada’s Minister of Procurement said last month that the country has received more than 66 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, which according to reports are enough to fully vaccinate every eligible resident.

“This milestone was reached a full two months ahead of the original goal … it is a direct result of our aggressive and proactive procurement approach”, according to reports from Reuters.