Trudeau Stumbles in Election Gambit, Risking Echo of U.K.’s Theresa May
Trudeau Stumbles in Election Gambit, Risking Echo of U.K.’s May
(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s goal in calling an early election in Canada was to pull off the same feat British Prime Minister Boris Johnson did in 2019 -- turn a parliamentary minority into a decisive majority for his Liberal Party. Instead, he risks looking more like Theresa May, whose decision to call a snap vote in 2017 backfired.
Canada’s Conservative Party, led by Erin O’Toole, has nosed ahead in polls and now has a 54% chance of winning the most seats, according to projections by polling aggregator 338Canada.com. The Tories have pulled even with the Liberals in vote-rich Ontario and have a strong lead in the western provinces.
The polls suggest neither of the main parties has much chance of winning an outright majority in the 338-seat House of Commons. The numbers could shift again in the three weeks that remain before the Sept. 20 vote -- especially with televised debates still to come.
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