Elections Canada says an estimated 7.3 million Canadians cast their ballots in the advance polls over the long Easter weekend—a 25 per cent increase from the 5.8 million votes cast in the advance poll in 2021.
Dalhousie University political scientist Lori Turnbull says it’s clear that people feel strongly about having their voices heard. She cites the line-ups seen on Good Friday as an example.
Lori Turnbull (Submitted)
“It’s not that elections are typically not consequential, but there is something about this that it feels like there’s an awful lot at stake. You know, what our economic future is going to look like, what future trading partners are going to look like, whether or not we manage to sort this out somehow with the United States, and go back to smoother waters. Even if they did, there’s a unpredictability here; that we’ve been shaken. We know we can’t just trust this like we used to. So those are pivotal questions, those are existential questions for Canada.”
Turnbull believes that even for those who have not yet cast their ballots, their minds are made up; which changes the strategy for parties in the final days of the campaign.
The parties and the candidates will now focus on those who may still be on the fence says Turnbull. “It’s really about getting the ground game together, making sure people actually go, and show up and cast their ballot.”
