Here’s how the federal leaders will pitch voters as an election campaign kicks off

OTTAWA — The lines of attack have been traced for months, but now federal parties’ battle plans are poised to go into effect with an election campaign set to kick off Sunday.

The Liberals hope to tout their record of steering the country through a global pandemic that threatened Canadians’ health and economic stability, and can be expected to continue casting doubt on Conservatives’ commitment to emissions reduction, LGBTQ rights and child-care funding.

Hamish Telford, an associate professor of political science at the University of the Fraser Valley, says the Tories will fire back by framing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as elite and out of touch while portraying leader Erin O’Toole as the “competent everyman.”

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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, adopting a tax-the-rich populism and a “happy warrior” demeanour, will test out whether his engaged delivery style and outsized social media presence will translate into votes as he accuses Trudeau of inaction on progressive goals.

Meanwhile, Telford says the Bloc Québécois’ Yves-François Blanchet is targeting Conservative seats in and around Quebec City where he hopes his message of nationalism — though not outright sovereignty — will resonate, while the Greens’ Annamie Paul fights an uphill battle to win a downtown Toronto riding and retain the party’s two remaining spots in the House of Commons.

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Trudeau intends to visit Gov. Gen. Mary Simon on Sunday with a request to dissolve Parliament, triggering an election that would take place Sept. 20, according to a senior Liberal party source who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2021.

The Canadian Press