Official: Canadian PM Trudeau to call election for Sept 20

A source familiar with the plans says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will announce Sunday he is calling a snap election for September 20

TORONTO -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will announce Sunday he is calling a snap election for Sept. 20, an official familiar with the plans told The Associated Press. The source, who was not authorized to talk publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the election date on Thursday. Trudeau is seeking to win the majority of seats in Parliament. His Liberal party fell just short of that two years ago and must rely on the opposition to pass legislation. Trudeau wants to capitalize on the fact that Canada is now one of the most fully vaccinated countries in the world. Canada's prime minister is less personally popular than he once was but his government’s handling of the pandemic has been widely viewed as a success. Canada has enough vaccines for every citizen and the country flattened the epidemic curve while spending hundreds of billions to prop up the economy amid lockdowns.