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Photo by Kevin King/Winnipeg Sun/Postmedia Network

But Conrad Winn, a political science professor at Carleton University, believes that the high advanced turnout this time around is indicative of some kind of passion bubbling in the electorate — one that is either very positive or very negative for the incumbent.

“It’s still not clear what this passion could be. Normally, you would think there would be passion for the prime minister of the country. But he’s done some uncomfortable things — mistreated senior women in the Liberal Party, and formed a close relationship with a corrupt company. So the only reason why you might think people have a passion for him is he is not liked right now,” Winn said, in reference to former cabinet ministers Jane Philpott and Jody Wilson-Raybould being turfed from the Liberal party due to their disapproval of Trudeau’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Winn, who characterizes next Monday’s election as a “referendum” on Trudeau added that Conservative leader Andrew Scheer is generally “too boring to be disliked” and therefore unlikely to get voters out in droves. “The central issue in this campaign is how people truly feel about Justin Trudeau,” he said.

It could be NDP momentum that is getting people out to vote. But there’s also been a push by all parties to get their confirmed voters in and to utilize advanced voting

The Liberals and NDP are fighting for the progressive vote, with the latter party having gained momentum among Canadians after Jagmeet Singh’s solid performance in the English-language debate last week.

The newest data from an Angus Reid poll showed Conservatives in the lead at 33 per cent, Liberals at 29 per cent and the NDP at an impressive 19 per cent, up five percentage points since the beginning of the month. Singh’s favourability ratings are the highest among the leaders, up 25 per cent since the start of the campaign season.