SpotlightOctober2019

— Canadians are heading to the polls in tight election race 2019 Federal Election Campaign

When the election was called, according to CBC's Canada Poll Tracker, an aggregation of all publicly available pollingdata, theConservatives and Liberals have identical poll numbers with 33.8 percent of the decided voters, with the NDP at 12.9 percent, The Green Party at 10.7 percent, The Bloc Québécois at 4.4 percent and the newly formed People Party at 3.3 percent. Lookinga littledeeper intotheactual ridingsnumbers the polls show that the Liberals are projected to win the most seats — but whether any party can secure a majority after the 40-day campaign remains to be seen as the probability of the Liberals winning a majority is only 41 percent with the odds of a Conservatives majority only being11percent. Thatmakes it for an interesting

by Greg Rodman T he Federal Election is officially on as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits Governor General Julie Payette at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada asking her to dissolve Parliament, launching Canada's 43rd general election. It will be a short campaign as voters will head to the poll to cast their vote on October 21st for what the Liberals are hoping is Trudeau's second four-year mandate. Early in the polls it shows that the Liberals andConservatives are in a dead heat amongdecided voters. Trudeau's Liberals will spend the next 40 days pitching Canadians on the party's accomplishments — especially their efforts to lift children out of poverty and create jobs for the middle class and those trying to get there — while trying to contrast themselves on social issues with their main rivals, the Conservatives and New Democratic Party. Liberals will also be working hard to distance themselves from the lingering SNC-Lavalin scandal, which re-emerged just hours before the election call, as reports come in that the RCMP's probe into potential obstruction of justice in the SNC-Lavalin affair has been hindered because the federal government won't lift cabinet confidentiality for all witnesses. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, starting his first general election campaign as leader of the party has gone on the attack going after aspects of the government's record — especially Trudeau's ethics breach in the SNC-Lavalin affair — while promising to ease Canadians' economic anxieties. Last month, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion found Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Act by trying to urge Wilson-Raybould to overrule a decision

But the NDP are not the only ones pitching the third-party alternative as the Green Party and their leader Elizabeth May campaign with hopes to make a breakthrough in this election and build on her party's current two-seat caucus in the House of Commons. The Bloc Québécois and their leader Yves-François Blanchet will be looking to win at least 12 seats in Quebec and regain official party status. Something it has not had since 2011. Former Conservative Maxime Bernier is hoping to take some of the hard-core Tory votes for his new party, the People's Party of Canada (PPC) and not only hold on to his own seat but also bring new MPs to Parliament for the party. We all know that during the 40-day campaign all the party leaders will cover a lot of issues as they attempt to win over Canadians, but the economy will be a big one. So, these are the things that we believe will be the talking points for the economy as we head to the polls in October.

race for who comes in third as they would have the swing votes needed in the House of Commons. The NDP and their leader, Jagmeet Singh, have been flighting slumping poll figures but now find themselves pitching the party as a viable alternative to the two front-running political parties, appealing to those that are looking for sweeping changes to government in Ottawa.

denying a deferred prosecution agreement to Quebec-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin. "He has lost the moral authority to govern," Scheer said. Calling for the PM to resign, saying that “Canadians just cannot trust Justin Trudeau." We are sure that you are going to hear a lot of that over the next 40 days as all political parties try to sway voters to place an X by their name.

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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2019

43 OCTOBER 2019 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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