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Canadians are due to go to the polls in fiercely-contested parliamentary elections. Incumbent Conservative PM Stephen Harper is fighting for a rare fourth term but the frontrunner is Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, son of late prime minister Pierre Trudeau.
The performance of the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) could also be decisive, analysts say. Opinion polls have also suggested that many people are still undecided.
On Sunday, party leaders made their final pitch for votes after one of the longest and possibly closest election campaign in Canada’s history, criss-crossing the country to try to sway undecided voters.
Harper, 56, is ‘selling’ himself as the steady hand who can steer Canada’s troubled economy back on track. His campaign has run TV endorsesements saying that Liberal leader Mr Trudeau, 43, is “just not ready” to take office.
“Every single vote for a Conservative candidate is a vote to protect our economy against Liberal and NDP deficits and taxes,” Mr Harper stated to the supporters in Regina, Saskatchewan. Trudeau started the race in third place but the Liberals took the lead in opinion polls in a late surge.
Although he supports the fight against Islamic State (IS), he believes Canada should stop air strikes in Syria and Iraq, and focus on training local forces on the ground, she adds.
Speaking in Calgary, Alberta, on Sunday, Mr Trudeau urged voters to “come together as a country”. Mr Trudeau’s father, Pierre, is considered the father of modern Canada.
NDP leader Tom Mulcair, 60, is hoping to build on his party’s second-place finish in the 2011 elections. However, support for the NDP appeared to have fallen in recent weeks.
Source: BBC
Tags: canada Canadian elections Canadian polls Stephen Harper Stephen Harper is fighting for a rare fourth term but the frontrunner is Liberal leader Justin Trudeau
