When I traveled around Canada during the 2021 election campaign, the prevailing mood among voters I spoke with was one of ennui. Even some of those involved in many of the campaigns weren’t obviously excited about the election.
A sign outside an advance poll site in Ottawa for Canada’s federal electionCredit…Ian Austen/The New York Times
That’s certainly not the case this year. Advance polls opened on Friday. At the one near my house in Ottawa, there was an hourlong wait during the morning, and poll workers arranged chairs outside the community center hosting the voting to ease the wait. In Montreal that morning, I saw people going into a Chinese community center to cast ballots just after it had opened for voting.
Some of that rush may have occurred because the first day of advance voting was a statutory holiday for many Canadians. But there are other signs of election interest.
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After we published a special edition of this newsletter following the political party leaders’ debate on Thursday evening, a large number of you took the time to send considered examinations of the discussion and thoughts about your voting plans.
[In case you missed it: 5 Takeaways From Canada’s Election Debate]
[Read: Canada Reschedules Political Debate That Conflicted With a Hockey Game]
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