Prime Minister Trudeau's Early Election Gamble to Pass COVID-19 Response Legislation

Official Announcement Expected on the 15th... Canadian General Election Moved Up Two Years to Next Month 20th

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to call an early general election as a gamble to pass a large-scale fiscal spending bill to respond to COVID-19.

Major foreign media, citing government officials, reported on the 12th (local time) that Prime Minister Trudeau plans to announce on the 15th that he will hold an early general election on the 20th of next month. If the early election next month is confirmed, the election timing will be brought forward by two years from the original schedule.

The reason Prime Minister Trudeau chose an early election is that he believes large-scale fiscal spending is necessary to respond to COVID-19. Currently, the ruling Liberal Party does not hold a majority. Out of a total of 338 seats, the Liberal Party holds 155 seats. Although it has secured the most seats, it does not have a majority, so cooperation from other parties is needed to pass legislation. Besides the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party holds 131 seats, the Quebec Bloc, which advocates for Quebec independence, holds 32 seats, and the left-leaning New Democratic Party holds 24 seats.

The ruling Liberal government is pushing a plan to invest an additional 100 billion Canadian dollars over the next three years to respond to COVID-19. The 100 billion Canadian dollars corresponds to about 3-4% of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP). The government’s fiscal deficit has already increased significantly during the COVID-19 response process, causing opposition parties to protest. The Conservative Party points out that the Trudeau government’s fiscal spending is excessive and imposes a significant fiscal burden on future generations. As opposition protests continue, there have been ongoing calls within the Liberal Party to hold an early general election.

Trudeau came to power in 2015. In that election, the Liberal Party won a majority with 184 seats, but failed to secure a majority in the 2019 election. A government official said, "The situation has changed significantly since 2019," adding, "We need to know whether the Canadian people support our economic recovery plan."

The early election is considered a gamble. The Canadian economy is expected to rebound in the third quarter, and the current vaccination rate in Canada is also high. However, the recent start of the fourth wave of COVID-19 is expected to be a negative factor for the ruling party. Canadian health authorities announced that new COVID-19 cases are surging again, with hospitalizations increasing by 12% compared to the previous week.

In a poll released that day, party support rates were tallied at 37% for the Liberal Party and 28% for the Conservative Party.

Prime Minister Trudeau is scheduled to visit Governor General Mary Simon on the morning of the 15th to request the dissolution of parliament, according to officials. The official head of state of Canada is Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, and Governor General Simon acts as her representative.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.