Justin Trudeau officially announces start of 2019 federal election campaign

Justin Trudeau / Shutterstock

It’s official. Canada is heading to the polls.

On Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Governor General Julie Payette at Ottawa’s Rideau Hall, where he asked her to dissolve parliament in order to call a general election.

Opening his official announcement with a quick tribute to the victims of 9/11, Trudeau said “18 years ago this morning, thousands of people were murdered in brutal acts of terror in the United States, including many Canadians.”

Today, he continued, “as we prepare to exercise our democratic rights we recognize and honour their lives. May their memories be a blessing to us all.”

Trudeau then confirmed he had just met with Payette who accepted his request to dissolve parliament.

“In every election, as Canadians, we get to make an important choice about the future of our country,” he said. “In 2015, after a decade of failed Conservative policy… Canadians chose a new team that was ready to invest in people and in their communities. A team that understood that even though we live in the best country in the world, it’s always possible to do better.”

Even though there is “still a huge amount of work to do, we spent the last four years making things better and we have the record to prove it,” he said. “This fall, Canadians once again get to vote for the kind of Canada they want to live in. Will we go back to the the failed policies of the past, or will we continue to move forward? That’s the choice. It’s that clear, and it’s that important. I’m for moving forward for everyone.”

While the federal party leaders have already been busy travelling across the country, revealing slogans, and releasing ads in advance of today’s announcement, the election campaign officially begins when Canada’s Governor General issues a proclamation on behalf of The Queen to dissolve parliament.

Following the announcement, Trudeau is scheduled to fly directly to Vancouver to visit the riding of Vancouver-Kingsway this afternoon, currently held by the NDP’s Don Davies.

“In 2015, we launched our election campaign by attending the Pride parade in Vancouver. We demonstrated campaigns happen out there across Canada.” he said. “Launching the campaign in my second home of British Columbia felt right both in 2015, and it feels right, right now in 2019.”

And although he “can’t wait to get out to BC,” Trudeau said he’s “very much looking forward to getting right across the country in the coming weeks.”

The prime minister had until September 15 to call the election, as the minimum length of the federal election campaign is 36 days.

Election day is October 21.

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