This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Canadians head into a nail-bitingly close election on Monday in which the incumbent Conservative, Stephen Harper, is struggling to hold on to power in the face of a challenge by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party.



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The election appears set to be the closest in the country’s history. Just in the last three weeks the centre-left Liberals, led by the son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, have surged into the lead.

Barring a surprise, Trudeau is on course to oust Harper as he seeks a rare fourth term as prime minister.

Polls put the Liberals about seven points ahead but current projections suggest the party will not be able to win the 170 seats required for a parliamentary majority on its own. There have been hints throughout the campaign that the left-wing New Democratic Party would be willing to enter into a coalition with the Liberals, but no outright promises.

The NDP leader, Thomas Mulcair, held events in Toronto on Sunday before travelling to Montreal.



A Trudeau victory could ease Canada’s tensions with the administration of Barack Obama, whose reluctance to approve a major Canada-US pipeline has damaged ties between the two major trading partners. While Trudeau supports the Alberta-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline, it is not a do-or-die issue for him as it is for Harper, who represents a district in oil-rich Alberta.

Experts say that a Trudeau victory would make a thaw in relations between the two countries more likely, and would help to facilitate action on issues such as climate change.

Harper spent the final weekend of campaigning making his pitch to the Ford Nation, the diehard conservative fans who coalesce around Toronto’s former crack-smoking mayor, Rob Ford, and his family.

About 1,500 supporters gathered to hear Ford’s brother Doug, who replaced Rob Ford in the mayoral election after the latter was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, introduce Harper. At Ford’s first mention of Trudeau, the room erupted into loud booing and cries of “shame”.

In Quebec, Harper touted his economic track record and dodged questions about his relationship with the Fords.

Polling has been staggered across Canada’s timezones in the hope that a result might be available at roughly the same time.

Polling opens at 9.30am eastern time in Ontario, and an hour later in British Columbia, on the Pacific coast at 7.30am local time. Results are expected at 9.30pm eastern time in Ontario and 10.30pm eastern in British Columbia.







