The Canadian federal election will get underway on Wednesday.
Global News has confirmed that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to ask Governor General Julie Payette to dissolve Parliament and issue the writs required to hold elections in each of Canada’s 338 ridings.
The deadline for Trudeau to make that request was this coming Sunday.
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Trudeau is set to arrive at Rideau Hall, the official residence of the governor general, at 10 AM on Wednesday accompanied by Sophe Grégoire Trudeau.
Afterwards, he will make a speech and take media questions, according to a press release issued late Tuesday afternoon.
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This news means Canadians will see a campaign lasting five and a half weeks – a far cry from the last federal election in 2015, which ran for a record 78 days.
The election will then be held on Oct. 21.
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Traditional political thinking is that a short campaign offers greater potential benefit to incumbent governments, while longer campaigns can run the risk of more time for scandals and missteps to emerge to voters.
This campaign comes on the heels of a summer that saw the incumbent Liberals criticized by the Conservatives for a spree of spending announcements worth billions of dollars — something the Conservatives also did towards the end of their government in 2015.
Already, the parties have been jockeying for traction with voters as their unveil their campaign slogans over recent weeks.
WATCH: Canadian federal election campaign to begin Wednesday
The Liberals picked “choose forward “as their re-election pitch to Canadians, while the Conservatives are running with “it’s time for you to get ahead.”
The NDP will be using “in it for you” as their slogan.
The Green Party picked “forward together.”
Their leader, Elizabeth May, will kick off the campaign launch on Wednesday from Victoria, B.C.
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Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is also expected to launch his campaign following the official announcement on Wednesday.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh launched his campaign over the weekend.
The campaign comes as both the Liberals and Conservatives are effectively tied in the polls, which means the differences between the two parties fall within the statistical margin of error.
It also comes amid indications there is a growing sense of voter unease and concern about the future of the country, according to an Ipsos poll which suggested populist attitudes are gaining ground in Canada.
Fifty-two per cent of respondents to that poll said they feel that Canadian society is “broken.” That’s up 15 per cent from three years ago.
Another 67 per cent said they feel the economy is rigged to support the most powerful.