Canada’s Trudeau Expected To Kick Off Federal Election Campaign Wednesday

Now that the controversy over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s attempt to interfere in an investigation of a Quebec-based engineer firm has finally died down, the PM is expected to kick off federal elections on Wednesday, the Globe and Mail reports, citing sources from within Trudeau’s Liberal Party.

Trudeau will visit Governor-General Julie Payette at Ottawa’s Rideau Hall on Wednesday morning to ask that she dissolve Parliament and launch the official campaign season. Per Canada’s fixed-date election law, federal elections will be held on Oct. 21.

According to the CBC, Trudeau will visit the governor general at 10 am ET.

Trudeau and his rivals have rallies planned for Wednesday to mark the kick-off of campaign season. Trudeau is expected to hold a rally shortly after the campaign launch. Afterwards, Trudeau will board the Liberal Party’s plane to start campaigning around the country.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer will hold a “rally-style” event in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec on Wednesday morning shortly after Parliament is dissolved. Then he will make his way to the Ontario riding of Vaghan-Woodbridge.

Canada’s New Democratic Party soft-launched its campaign on Sunday with a rally in Toronto. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh will travel to London, Ontario on Wednesday before spending the week criss-crossing Greater Toronto and Southwestern Ontario in his new campaign bus.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May will launch her campaign in British Columbia, her home province (both Green MPs represent districts on Vancouver Island).

Scheer and Singh will be fighting their first campaigns as party leaders.

Trudeau is launching campaign season one day before the first debate in Toronto, where every party leader will participate except for Trudeau, who is still uneasy about the scandal that nearly toppled his administration earlier this year.

The Liberals, who control the government, have 177 MPs in the 338-seat Canadian House of Commons. Conservatives have 95 MPs, while the NDP has 39 MPs. Meanwhile, there are 10 Bloc Québécois MPs, 2 Green MPs, and 1 People’s Party of Canada MP, one Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MP, 8 independents and 5 vacant seats.

Trudeau’s Liberals will be seeking a second four-year mandate. During the campaign, they’re expected to tout the party’s accomplishments on reducing child poverty and creating jobs, while hoping to sidestep criticism over the SNC-Lavalin ethics scandal.

The most recent CBC poll shows Liberals and Conservatives neck-and-neck at 34% each.