OTTAWA – There will be no snap election this fall, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday.
Responding to a question about the prospect of the government calling a federal election a year early, Trudeau said: "It has never been in our plans and it is not in our plans, there will be no federal election this fall."
There had been some murmurings about why the "conditions are almost perfect" for a snap fall election and that "Canadians deserve a federal election this fall" from political columnists.
Their arguments cite the drastically changed dynamics between Canada and the U.S. since the federal Liberals came to power in 2015 with a majority government; and the increasing disagreement over implementing a national carbon tax, as possible reasons for voters to go to the polls a year before scheduled.
The federal Conservative Party sent out a fundraising pitch to their supporters on Wednesday raising the possibility of an early election being called, and asking the party faithful to chip in to an "early election fund." Citing the same opinion pieces, the party said they need to be ready because "the Liberals want to catch us off guard."
“We have a lot of work that we’ve done, we have a lot of work that we’re going to continue to do,” Trudeau said to media in Quebec, offering the economy, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, and renegotiating NAFTA as examples.
The next federal election is set for Oct. 21, 2019.
