Political Demystification

Wait a minute, aren’t federal elections only supposed to happen every 4 years? Why do we have one now, AND in the middle of a pandemic? Well, in 2019, the Liberal government formed a minority government, meaning that they did not win at least 50% of the total number of seats in the House of Commons[1] (they only won ~39% actually, while others had roughly 32%, 20%, 5%, and 3% - so the Liberal government still had the most out of all other parties but not enough to be in majority).[1] In minority governments, snap elections, meaning elections that occur sooner than the next planned date (which was supposed to be October 16, 2023), can be called if the Prime Minister asks (which he did) for dissolution of parliament, meaning to end the parliamentary term which begins after each election before it’s organically scheduled end date (October 16, 2023).[2]

But why? First, some background: polling is how parties track their likability among the public. In August 2021, the time when the snap election was called, the polls were increasingly in favour of the Liberal government (you know, may the odds be ever in our favour) so Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal government, called a snap election while he was ahead (I mean, who doesn’t like to win, right?).

So here we are, in the middle of a pandemic, in the middle of a federal election, IN THE MIDDLE OF A CLIMATE CRISIS, with a lot going on? Yes. Overwhelming? For sure. Nonetheless, it’s happening, and we need to make our vote count #VOTECLIMATE because

1. Young people make up 40% of the voting population this election!;
2. Voter turnout of 18 - 24 and 24 - 34-year-olds was the lowest amongst all other age groups for the 2019 federal election![3]; and
3. The climate crisis is here, and we need leaders who will do their best!