- Mariah Wilson
What You Need to Know About the Federal Election
On September 20th, less than a month from now, millions of Canadians will be heading to the polls to elect the new cohort of Federal Members of Parliament. Usually elections happen every four years, so with the sudden announcement of this election halfway through the current term it's understandable to feel a little overwhelmed. Without the customary build-up to voting as well as continued COVID-19 restrictions, it may be hard to find out information and follow each candidate's campaign trail. To give you a head start on your research, we've compiled a few resources to give you an overview of the election as well some information about each major party's platform.
Elections Canada has released a lot of useful of information on their website, such as how to register to vote, when early voting is taking place, what parties you can vote for, and where you can vote on September 20th.
Here are some quick links:
Update voter registration here
Advance polling takes place from September 10th to 13th
Applying for an election-related job
Party Platform Information
There are many different ways to compare each party's platform and main goals for their term in office. We recommend using Elections Canada's registered list of parties to find their official website and contact information. Usually each party posts their detailed platform to their official website and social media channels. Otherwise, you can use summaries published by well-recognized news agencies, like Maclean's, to understand each party's take on important topics, like climate change, taxes, and health. If you're having a hard time aligning yourself with a particular party, you can use CBC's voter compass to see how your values align with those of the major political parties running in this election.
Voting Disinformation
It is becoming increasingly difficult to decipher disinformation from the truth due to the amount of information available on the internet. From infographics shared on Facebook to aggressive campaign ads aired on tv, it's a stressful to know what information to trust. We recommend using trusted and well-established news outlets, like CBC, Global, and Maclean's, to gather information about the election.
Remember to pay attention to whether an article is from the news section or is an opinion, and always try to find questionable facts in two other sources (specifically the party's campaign and another news agency). Here are some more tips on how to spot disinformation, or popularly known as "fake news."
