ELXN2021 on the Unpublished Cafe: Is this the most important federal election in Canadian history?

We’ve been hearing the drums beating since the spring. A federal election is on the horizon. Maybe early summer, maybe mid-summer. Well, here we are in the first week of the 44^th federal election campaign. Is this what Canadians want?

The federal Liberals have governed through the pandemic with a minority government propped up by the NDP. In this country we have fixed election dates. This election comes early as there was no need to have one until 2023 unless the government lost a vote of confidence on a money Bill. That hasn’t happened.

Pollsters have been touting the Grits are within striking distance of a majority, which many observers say is the driving force behind this election. Many see it as opportunistic of the Liberals to call it while the country deals with the fourth wave of the pandemic, fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant.

At the same time, BC is being ravaged by wildfires, ground penetrating radar continues to find more children victims of the residential school system and just last weekend, 20 years of work in Afghanistan went up in smoke as the Taliban (remember them?) has taken control of the country again.

Our Unpublished.vote question asks:

Do you feel Canadians need a federal election now?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure

You can log on and vote right now at Unpublished.vote and have your voice heard.

Coming upon the Unpublished Cafe, we’ll take a look where the parties are now with Abacus Data. Later, Stéphanie Chouinard will join us from Queens University to look at how the provinces could impact the results. First up is Warren Kinsella, political commentator as well as former PM Jean Chrétien‘s Chief of Staff.

Guests:

1. Warren Kinsella, Political commentator and former Chief of Staff for PM Jean Chretien
2. Ihor Korbabicz, Executive Director Abacus Data
3. Stephanie Chouinard, Assistant Professor in Political Science at Queens University