Canada PM Justin Trudeau Announces Snap Elections on 20 September

As required by law, the campaign for Canada's 44th general election will last 36 days.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday called for a snap election which will take place on 20 September.

(Photo: AP/PTI)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday, 15 August, called for a snap election, which will take place on 20 September.

Calling for an early election, the prime minister said that he needed a new mandate to ensure that the Canadian citizens approved of his Liberal government's plans for recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, news agency Reuters reported.

"We will be taking decisions that will last not just for the coming months but for the coming decades. Canadians deserve their say. That's exactly what we're going to give them," Trudeau was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The election comes at a "pivotal, consequential moment" for Canada, he further said.

The announcement was made after the prime minister met Governor General Mary Simon to request her to dissolve Parliament. As required by law, the campaign for the country's 44th general election will last 36 days, news agency IANS reported.

Erin O'Toole, leader of the Conservatives, has censured Trudeau's action of calling for an election as the country faces a fourth wave of COVID-19, asserting that it undermines the efforts Canadians took to fight the pandemic.

Trudeau's Liberal Party has been running a minority government for over two years now and the next general election was due in October 2023.

The latest opinion polls give the ruling Liberal Party (35.6 percent) a lead of over seven points over the opposition Conservative Party (28.8 percent), IANS reported.

The Jagmeet Singh-led New Democratic Party is in third place with 19.3 percent support.

If the trends hold, Trudeau's party is likely to cross the majority mark of 170 seats in the House of Commons.

(With inputs from IANS and Reuters)