A record 7.3 million people have cast their ballots over four days of advanced voting in Canada’s election, official figures showed on Tuesday, in a possible sign of elevated interest in the 28 April poll.
Elections Canada said its estimated tally for voting from Friday through Monday marked a 25% increase over the 5.8m advanced ballots cast in the 2021 vote.
Canada, a country with a population of 41 million, has 28.9 million eligible voters, Elections Canada said in November.
There are further indications the election campaign dominated by threats from Donald Trump has galvanized voters, including unusually high ratings for two debates last week.
The Liberal leader, Prime Minister Mark Carney, is the frontrunner, but some polls show Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative party incrementally gaining ground.
As of Tuesday, the public broadcaster CBC’s poll aggregator gives the Liberals 43.1% support, with the Tories at 38.4%. The Conservatives have gained one point in the last two weeks, according to the CBC data.
Carney, a 60-year-old who previously led the central banks of Canada and Britain, says his global experience managing economic crises makes him the ideal candidate to guide Canada through a trade war brought on by Trump’s tariffs.
Poilievre, meanwhile, says that lacklustre growth under ex-premier Justin Trudeau’s decade in power left Canada vulnerable to Trump and the country cannot afford a fourth consecutive Liberal government.
Most Canadian elections are multi-party battles with the leftwing New Democratic party and Quebec separatist Bloc Quebecois playing crucial roles in the makeup of parliament.
This year, polling points to a two-party Liberal-Conservative race, with smaller parties facing significant setbacks.
Source: theguardian.com
