Canadians will be heading to the polls on September 20th. An election was triggered Sunday August 15, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Mary Simon, Canada’s Governor General, to request the dissolution of Parliament.
The election comes as no surprise to many – political pundits and parties have been expecting one since spring. Local candidates for the four major parties have already been nominated.
Incumbent MP Marc Serré is once again running under the Liberal banner, hoping to earn a third term. He will be running against the NDP’s Andréane Chénier, a health and safety representative with CUPE), the Conservatives’ Charles Humphrey, a paramedic, and Michael Gravelle of the Green party, a foodservice professional.
Even though an election was not scheduled until October 2022, Elections Canada has been readying for a pandemic-time election. The agency has implemented what it calls “administrative changes” to the usual voting process, as a bill amending the Canada Elections Act did not pass in Parliament before the election was called. Some of these changes include beefing up their capacity to process and receive mail-in ballots (known formally as special ballots), seeking out larger spaces for polling places to accommodate for physical distancing, as well as providing masks, sanitizer, and single-use pencils at the polls.
Those who wish to vote by mail can request their ballot online (www.elections.ca) or by contacting any Elections Canada office before September 14th. Special ballot boxes to receive these ballots will be available at each polling place and at local offices for voters who would prefer dropping it off in person or fear it may not be received in time.
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