Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, facing a potential defeat in the September 20 election, on Friday defended his decision to call the election early, saying his main rival would undermine the fight against him. COVID-19.
Trudeau, who leads a minority liberal government that requires the support of the opposition to pass legislation, had hoped that the Canadian people would reward his management. coronavirus Pandemic with a majority in the House of Commons.
But polls show voters are unhappy that Trudeau, 49, who has held power for six years, voted during the fourth wave of the pandemic. The poll shows Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, 48, has a slight edge over the Liberal leader.
Asked if he regretted the election call, Trudeau told reporters in Hamilton, Ontario: “Not at all… what do I need to do going forward?
“Attacked daily by rivals for taking Canadians to the polls this month, Trudeau has struggled to turn the campaign towards policy issues. They are running out of time. On Friday, a day after an inconclusive leaders’ debate, Trudeau rebuked O’Toole for arguing that COVID-19 vaccination is a personal choice and should not be made mandatory.
Unlike the Conservative leader, Trudeau requires his fellow Liberal candidates to be vaccinated against the virus and last month his centre-left government introduced a vaccine mandate for domestic travel.
“He is better and quicker to stand up for the rights of those who do not want to be vaccinated than the rights to protect your wife and your children from COVID-19,” Trudeau said. he said.
Liberals compete for the same centre-left voters as Jagmeet Singh’s young New Democrats. Trudeau followed the strategy adopted in the 2019 election, saying that O’Toole could become prime minister if the progressive vote was divided.
“The choice is clear in this election. Don’t let Jagmeet Singh say that there is no difference between a liberal government or a conservative government.
Speaking earlier, Singh told reporters that “you don’t have to choose between two parties who are arguing about who is worse…better is possible.”
The campaign’s final expansion began after Statistics Canada reported that the national unemployment rate fell to 7.1% in August, the lowest during the pandemic.
Speaking with Trudeau, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said, “We have now regained 95% of the jobs lost during the COVID recession.”
On Thursday, a rolling Nano Research poll of 1,200 voters showed 33.3% support for Conservatives and 31.3% for Liberals. Left-leaning New Democrats had 19.2%.
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