Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Formally Announces He Will Seek Re-Election


On Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally announced that he will seek re-election to the office of prime minister in the 2019 federal election. The announcement was made during a party event in his Montreal riding of Papineau, as reported by CBC News. The Liberal leader also took the opportunity to land a few jabs at Conservative leader Andrew Scheer. The partisan crowd cheered, wildly at times, with each jab Trudeau landed. Some of his biggest cheers, however, came when he talked about his plans for the future.

Trudeau listed two of his major initiatives if re-elected: protecting Canada’s oceans and raising the standard of living for indigenous people. He also addressed the need to do something about the income and wealth gap that exists between the rich and the poor. Trudeau touched on several other issues he hopes to have the opportunity to work on during a second term in office, including both domestic and foreign affairs.

As reported by The News, he also discussed the need for Canadians to recognize and strengthen their common bonds rather than emphasizing their differences, taking a not so subtle jab at U.S. President Donald Trump.

“[I have] deep conviction that despite the politics of fear and division, staying positive, pulling people together, looking for ways to emphasize our common ground, our shared values among our differences, is the only way to build a stronger country, a stronger world.”

With Conservative party opponents making ground on Liberal candidates and their agenda over the past several months, particularly in issues regarding the trade war with the U.S., Trudeau has been making moves to help strengthen his re-election odds and his party. He shuffled cabinet positions in mid-July in the hopes it would address the rise of populism and ease the trade war tensions. Whether the moves will provide the desired boost to the party remains to be seen.

According to Elizabeth Kelly at Narcity, not everyone is looking forward to another term for Trudeau. She reported that the reaction to his announcement was neither surprising nor exciting outside of his own party and that even within it, not everyone is sold on him running again. She said that while some people expressed mild disappointment on social media, some got salty, and a fair portion were even downright hateful in what they posted regarding his nomination.

Some of the concerns people are expressing are the refugee crisis and trans-mountain pipeline. Despite Twitter’s reaction to Trudeau’s re-election campaign, Calculated Politics has the Liberal Party currently holding a 38 percent lead.

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