Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau has called a snap summer general election.
Trudeau, the son of former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, swept to power in 2015 as a champion of diversity who pledged sunny ways and climate action.
Why call a snap election?
In 2019 his party was relegated to a 157-seat minority government, meaning he has had to rely on opposition parties to help him pass his agenda. By calling this new snap summer general election, Trudeau is hoping to get back a majority.
This will be both a referendum on Mr. Trudeau’s handling of the pandemic and a vote on future plans for the recovery.
What’s on the table?
Recent Canadian polls say about 46% of Canadians believe the country is heading in the right direction—the highest it’s been in about five years.
Climate change will be front-and-centre, against a backdrop of the province of British Columbia’s summer of devastating heatwaves and wildfires, and with parts of the Prairies experiencing severe drought.
The same polls also show almost half of Canadians say the environment is in their top five concerns, up from 39% two years ago.
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