Canada will decide on whether to re-elect Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a second term in office on October 21.
Before we look at the prevailing sentiment over Trudeau's tenure, let's look at how elections in Canada take place.
Canada is a bicameral parliamentary democracy like India. The upper house of parliament is called the Senate. Senate members are appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Governor General acts as the representative to the constitutional monarch and the Head of State, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
The lower house is the House of Commons, which consist of 338 seats. These members are elected by federal elections.
The constituencies in Canada are called "ridings". Candidates compete in the ridings to capture the most votes. The party with the largest number of seats in the House of Commons is called by the Governor General to form the government. An absolute majority of the electorate is not needed.
There can be three types of government in the parliament — the majority, coalition and minority. If a single party wins at least 170 seats, it forms the majority government. The leader of the party with the maximum number of votes generally becomes the Prime Minister of Canada.
Justin Trudeau belongs to the Liberal Party. It secured 177 seats in the October 2015 elections. Major competitors to the 47-year-old Prime Minister are Andrew Scheer from the Conservatives(opposition) and Jagmeet Singh from the NDP.
Trudeau has enjoyed a fair amount of popularity during his tenure with major changes like his child benefits programme and legalising recreational marijuana in Canada.
But he has also attracted much opposition from decisions like not cancelling a controversial arms deal with Saudi Arabia. The government also went ahead and nationalized the Trans Mountain oil pipeline, which tarnished Trudeau's image as a climate activist. This would not sit well with voters from certain constituencies like B.C. and Quebec that are much more sensitive to environmental issues. Reports suggest that environment and climate change are one of the top issues that have emerged this election.
Trudeau has been defending his government's record of a strong economy that has seen low levels of unemployment during his tenure with lower poverty.
Scheer, on the other hand, said in his campaign that he will cut deficits by reducing "frivolous spending" unlike Trudeau,as per a CBC report. He also spoke about bringing in affordability, tax cuts and support for the country's natural resource in his campaign.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh's campaign promises include working on policies like universal pharmacare, dental care and environmental protections.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
