OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday announced snap elections for September 20 to seek a new mandate to steer the nation's pandemic exit, much to the dismay of his rival parties.
"Canadians need to choose how we finish the fight against COVID-19 and build back better - from getting the job done on vaccines, to having people's backs all the way through to the end of this crisis," Trudeau said after the meeting. "This was the only window of opportunity for him because with students' return to school and universities in two weeks, Covid cases will inevitably go up," Felix Mathieu, political science professor at the University of Winnipeg, told AFP.
To regain a majority on Sep 20, the Liberals must win at least 170 of the 338 seats in the House of Commons, up 15 seats from its current standing.