Federal election called for September 20

OTTAWA – Canadians will head to the polls September 20 to elect a new federal government. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Governor General Mary Simon to ask for Parliament to be dissolved and call an election Sunday morning (August 15).nnTrudeau cited the need for a new mandate to deal with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the direction of the economic recovery.nnCanadians last voted less than two years ago in October 2019, which returned a minority government for the Liberals.nnAt dissolution, the Liberals held 155 seats, the Conservatives 119, Bloc Québécois 32, NDP 24, and Green Party 2. Five seats were held by independent MPs and one seat was vacant at dissolution.nnLocally this riding (Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry) has only one confirmed candidate. Incumbent Member of Parliament Eric Duncan will represent the Conservative Party of Canada again this election.nnNDP party officials told The Leader last week that a candidate is undergoing vetting for their candidate in SDSG and will announce shortly. The local Liberal riding association has not announced its intentions or if it has a candidate yet for the riding. Green Party riding association CEO Elaine Kennedy said it will announced its nomination meeting soon. No candidate has been confirmed for the People’s Party of Canada.nnIn the Fall 2019, the riding had five candidates vying to replace Guy Lauzon, who retired from office that year after serving five terms in office.nnThe SDSG riding had a 64 per cent voter turnout in 2019.