Justin Trudeau on the cusp of another minority government, but, Tories have other plans
Forty percent is the plotting threshold for a majority government in the Canadian parliamentary system.
As of September 8, Conservative support is pegged at approx. 33.5 while the Liberal Party trails within the margin of error at 31.2, according to CBC. Conservative leader Erin O Toole has flip flopped on the handgun issue opening himself up for attack from Liberal leader, Justin Trudeau. These last two debates will set the stage for the Liberals or Conservatives gathering more popular support in order to form government. That magic number of 40% must be gnawing at O Toole as he sees Justin Trudeau's vulnerability on the campaign trail. Clearly, this was an unnecessary election with two years left in Trudeau's minority mandate and a fourth COVID wave health officials predict is ready to ravage Canadians, as Fall temperatures force people inside.
The English debate this evening was typical of a Prime Minister facing challenges from all leadership hopefuls. Green Party leader- Annamie Paul - played the part of the boar to Adonis in Greek mythology. Paul gored Trudeau on his weak record as a feminist citing Jody Wilson - Raybould, Jane Philpott, and Celina Chavas - Chavannes all former female caucus members of a Trudeau government. Wilson - Raybould and Phlipott were ousted while Cesar-Chavannes announced that she would not seek re-election in 2019. The Prime Minister's Office announced three weeks later that she had resigned from the Liberal caucus. Sadly, with the ouster of Wilson - Raybould who was Justice Minister, Trudeau blew a golden opportunity to further acquiesce the much needed Aboriginal reconciliation that has dogged much of Canadian history. On this night, Justin Trudeau was constantly on the defence and resorted to talking over top of his opponents only to be reprimanded by debate moderator - Shachi Kurl who is President of the Angus Reid Institute, a research non profit foundation. The appearance of Trudeau who called an early election during a fourth wave of COVID and on the day that the Afghan government fell was a look of desperation. Trudeau has been met by angry protesters everywhere on the campaign trail. Too many scandals and missed opportunities have left Adonis falling on his sword and his time looks to be over as Prime Minister. Justin Trudeau still has time to build some momentum and salvage another minority government for the Liberals if they can win the 905 beltway. Erin O Toole performed well and appeared composed and prime ministerial. Trudeau's charming good looks have little effect on voters who are tired of, and no fault of Trudeau, a pandemic that is relentless. It is kind of illusory to see that Erin O Toole is 48 years of age, while the youthful Justin Trudeau will turn 50 on December 25.
A Torie win will depend on the breakdown of the Liberal vote in the 905 region and the Bloc stealing a couple of seats from the Liberals in Quebec. The Vancouver region of B.C . could play havoc on the Liberals if it turns Blue. With over one million mail in ballots needing to be counted, a final result may not be announced until Wednesday.
