The 2021 federal election campaign is officially underway, even if not everyone is wanting it to be.  

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau met with Governor-General Mary Simon Sunday morning and requested that she dissolve Parliament. This allowed for the election campaign to officially start. The 36-day long campaign will culminate in a full vote on September 20th. 

The opposition parties in Parliament have all decried the need for the election, citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the start of what appears to be a fourth wave of the virus starting across the country.  

To deal with the pandemic, Elections Canada has stated there are a number of voting options available in Canada, such as voting on election day, at an advance poll, by mail-in ballot or at an Elections Canada office. Those options have always been present, but they will be working to find administrative changes that will make the voting options safer. Details are expected to be released in the coming days.

At the time Parliament was dissolved, the Liberals held 155 seats, and the Conservatives 119. The NDP held the balance of power in the minority government with their 24 seats, while the Bloc Quebecois had 32 seats. There were five independents in Parliament, along with two Green Party MPs. One seat was vacant at the time of dissolution.  

In Saskatchewan, the Conservative Party of Canada held all 14 seats, winning them by a relatively large margin in the 2019 election.